Feelin' breezy

Saturday, May 10
Mile 285, Humbolt Creek

Big Bear Lake, where we stayed last night. Totally digging these sweet little mountain towns!

The day went our way: glorious views of Big Bear Lake, long trail conversations, a billowing breeze to take some of the heat out of our climbs. Just lovely!

Laugh Track nails the uber-gnarly ford!!

The Gypsy Town reunion in the evening was so energizing. We've formed our own mutating bands within the larger group, and I'm loving getting to see everyone here and there. We decided to call it a day at twenty miles and ducked into some willows to ward off the wind. It's only 8:00 and the sound of their boughs rustling is putting me right to sleep.

The Simplest Things

Friday, May 9
Mile 266, Big Bear City

Hiking into Big Bear Lake and peering into the great Mojave

After hiking in six miles and getting shuttled from trail to hostel in Big Bear City, we had breakfast with Sarge, an ex-military sniper with some incredible stories. One thing I want to keep in my memory forever is Smooth Operator's totally blissed-out face as he demolished massive chicken fried steak burger. His hands were literally shaking with happiness. Sarge chimed in with "THIS is why I love hikers. You guys appreciate basic things so much more." It's true. The scrubby I used in the shower? Rocked my world.

It was a typical town day, complete with showering most of the grime off, real laundry (as opposed to stream laundry), and a grocery run. We finished the day off with a marvelous grill feast on the hostel's back deck overlooking the lake, and I proceeded to down a burger and a hotdog and beer and cookies and some salad. Then we watched a terrible horror flick and rolled ourselves to bed. Such a good day!



Th

e Zone, Tenacious Rainbow, and Smooth Operator feelin fresh and fancy in their loaner clothes at Big Bear Hostel

Magic Couch

Thursday, May 8
Mile 360, 6 miles southeast of Big Bear City

Quote of the day, from Itis (Liam), as written in a trail register: "why did I stop for lunch a quarter mile back? I had itis in the dirt instead of on this couch."

Another gorgeous day, though it dawned VERY chilly. I performed almost all of my morning packing ritual from inside my sleeping bag, which, it turns out, is a great way to never leave camp. We got rolling late, around 8, for a 12-mile morning climb to Onyx Point, the next water source. Most of the trail was forested, and the parts that weren't leant stunning views of the surrounding peaks, including Mt Baden-Powell, which I believe the PCT summits pretty soon.. So cool!

After a few of us stopped for lunch at the onyx point water cache, we only made it a half-mile or so before stumbling upon THIS glorious sight:

I'm sorry, WHAT?! A couch in the woods, a bin stuffed with fruit, cookies, fig newtons, canned soup, wet wipes, and sodas. Trail magic at its finest, left by Big Bear Hostel, presumably to persuade us grimy hikers to rest our sore bodies at their establishment. Smart business strategy!

Parkin it tonight six miles from town, so we'll hitch in around 9 for a huge breakfast. So stoked! My metabolism has really kicked in this stretch, maybe from all the climbing. But man, am I ravenous! Constantly! I may have challenged Wizard Stick and Wreckin to an eating contest. Which I may actually win.

Serendipity

Wednesday, May 7
Mile 239, San Bernardino National Forest

One of the coolest parts of being on this trail is how many different landscapes it covers in 20 miles. We started down in Whitewater valley this morning, with Smooth Operator pointing out tanagers and goldfinches for us in the willows that rustled in the wide, silty valley. The rain yesterday replenished the thirsty riverbeds and made for a beautiful, mellow morning of babbling stream and rolling clouds crowning the distant ridges we came from a couple days ago.

Tuneboost up high

This afternoon was hot and a little tough as we moved up the valley and Mission Creek petered out. Tuneboost and I traded music players for the afternoon, which made all the difference for me. We have the same ear and completely different sets of music, and I loved every song! I also chatted with another hiker called Just Tim, who's a doctor, which turned out to be pretty serendipitous. I've had this flemmy, deep-chest cough for over a week now that reminds me of the couple times I had pneumonia. Tim told me that if it wasn't gone by the time we reached Big Bear City in a couple days, then he would write me a prescription for some antibiotics. Seriously, serendipity!

Our forest grove sleep spot

Now I'm cuddled up all cozy in my tent, which has sat abandoned and unused at the bottom of my pack since day 2 of the trail. The rumor maybe snow tonight? We're high in a cloud forest, with huge ancient Jeffrey pine and redwoods watching over us and a nearby stream tumbling. Seeing bright stars out of my vestibule, so all is peace for now.

Trout pond at the end of the rainbow

Tuesday, May 6
Mile 219, Whitewater Preserve

High on Fuller Ridge

Yesterday: absolutely high mountainous GORGEOUS morning—definitely a euphoric feeling cresting fuller ridge and its pines and alpine meadows. But I have this thing where when I have high mornings, I deflate by afternoon. I'm not entirely sure why this happens... But yesterday was definitely one of those times. Luckily I had Laugh Track with me, who is such a positive beam of light that I was able to stay mostly sane on our 20-mile downhill descent of Fuller Ridge. It was one of the only times I've felt actually pissed at the trail as it wound unnecessarily (I thought) all over the hot, exposed face.

By the bottom both Laugh Track and I were loopy with dehydration, but we filled up at a spigot and managed to strugglefest our way across the windy valley to Ziggy and the Bear, another trail angel hiker oasis. Gypsy town reunion, huge bowls of ice cream, and the best company.

This morning dawned lazy and blustery, and I took some true relaxation- not the kind where I'm running around town doing random errands, but the kind where my world shrinks to a fifty-square-foot backyard stocked with fruit, coffee, warmish showers, and carpets EVERYWHERE for our poor abused feet. And Ewok was there with his steel drum (which he packs around, an extra 25 pounds!), which was just magic. Moxa and I had a little duetting thing going on for a while where we faced each other and worked out rhythms together. Love!

Just a selfie with my idol. Nbd

And here's where I start to believe in the (sometimes eerily incredible) magic of this trail. I'm organizing my pack and a couple rolls in midmorning, calling themselves "Scott and Jenny —well, actually, El Vorado and Raven." After ten minutes of the kind of sideways conversation you have with someone while you're both half-occupied with something else, it suddenly clicked that I was talking to Scott Jurek, a vegan ultramarathoner whose book I devoured last year and found incredibly inspiring. This just added to my super blissed-out morning, and by the time Tuneboost, Magic Stick and Smooth Operator rolled in midday I was a happy puddle swaddled in my sleeping bag.

Gypsy town by the ornamental trout pond: Laugh Track, Tenacious Rainbow, Tuneboost, Magic Stick, Smooth Operator, Happy Pants, The Zone, and Itis.

And more eerily incredible magic: as we were pelted with rain on our hike out of the valley, just as I was feeling annoyed and down about the cold and damp, Smooth-O and I crested a ridge to see a full rainbow over the distant sun-dappled mountains. It was a beautiful bandaid to our cold hike. Now, we are nestled into a campground we're calling Narnia, because it has a trout pond, gazebo and inspirational quotes on boulders. Cuddle puddle in afore-mentioned gazebo now, with Ewok playing us to sleep with his dreamy drums. Pure perfect bliss.

Up x5600'

Sunday, May 4
Mile 185, Mt. San Jacinto State Park

Shoes! Brand new shoes! The rumors are true; always go up at least one size from your normal shoe. My toes started snugging up to the ends of my shoes round day two, and blisters followed soon after, as they do. The heat and strain just puff up my feet, apparently, so now I'm a size nine. So far, no more pain. Yes!!

Ice cream cones in hand and a day of rest under our belts, Laugh Track and I walked straight out of town and up, up, up into the San Jacinto Wilderness. Gypsy Town is still divided—the guys who road walked into Idyllwild yesterday are taking a "zero" today and are heading out tomorrow. Patches, Grams, Berkeley, and the Zone decided to hitch closer to the trail, so hopefully we'll catch em tomorrow. Til then, me and Laugh Track are rockin it. It's awesome to have such a positive and sensible lady to share the joys and pains of the day with.

We climbed a total of 5600 feet today and my skinning legs are feeling it! The scenery is just incredible, with that delicious California granite looming above and below and all around us. Our campsite tonight overlooks the hills we'll hit in a few days, with city lights fanning out and sparkling below. It's reassuring, in a way, and I'm feeling more at home out here every day.

Paradise and Purity

Saturday, May 3
Mile 179, Town of Idyllwild

Paradise in sight! A little café nestled into a gorgeous mountain valley in the San jacinto mountains was my morning destination. I hiked 10 miles without stopping; that is trail hunger. It's unreal. An omelette, biscuits, iced coffee, and a chocolate milkshake later I finally felt satisfied.

Over breakfast, gypsy town weighed our options about dealing with a fire closure that made getting to the town of idyllwild tricky. I decided to hitch the 17 miles into town after brunch because I had a package to pick up before the post office closed tomorrow, and because walking a winding mountain highway seemed very sketchy. A few of the guys from my group--magic stick, tuneboost, and smooth operator—decided to walk to maintain trail "purity". I understand, but.. Yeah. My parents instilled a healthy fear of roads in me and I'm taking enough risks out here as is.

The better half of gypsy town kickin it at our campsite in Idyllwild: patches, grams, Berkeley, strawberry, and laugh track

So, to Idyllwild! We got a ride with a local we met at Paradise Café and did a GORGEOUS drive through paradise valley. I hope i can come back one day and spend some time taking in the peaceful air and high desert landscapes. Errands all afternoon in the quaint little mountain town, followed by a potluck dinner and beers at the campground. Talking about bouncing out tomorrow afternoon to get a start on a vicious-looking climb out of idyllwild. Mmmhmm, good life!