Stats

Start: Big Bear Lake – Mile 266.1
End: Tent site – Mile 289.9
Elevation Max: 7,830
Elevation Min: 6,085
Elevation Change: 3,259 up & 3,873 down
Average Heart Rate: 125
Walking Time: 7 hrs 4 minutes

The Walk

I woke up on a kitchen floor. There’s a first time for everything. I had an hour before my ride to the trail. So I laid in bed and relaxed for a few more minutes.

I ate as much life cereal as possible, then announced fair game to the crew. It was gone within 10 minutes. Hiker hunger is real. My pack without water weighed 26.5 pounds. It felt heavy, but not too bad for a 5 day food carry.

Shawna was an awesome host. She helped us with gear fixes, and went out of her way to make us comfortable. She hiked most of the trail on the past.

I hopped in the first shuttle to the trail at 7:30. I felt content looking out of the open truck window into the cloudy sunrise.

I grabbed my pack out of the truck bed and slug it over my shoulders. It felt heavy. And was digging into my left shoulder. I think my food bag was off balance. But I started moving anyways.

The morning started with a tranquil forest walk with mild ups and downs. After 5-6 miles the trail opened up to views into Big Bear and the snow capped mountains behind. It was beautiful. The lake was way bigger than I expected.

I kept moving. My pack felt lighter as I loosened up. The Nero and zero and Big Bear must have paid off. I cruised until I found a shady log to sit on for lunch. Sometimes the best part about eating is a lighter pack.

I had cheese and pepperoni on a tortilla. It was a nice change from tuna. I also figured the faster I ate the cheese the better.

I kept on moving. At 3 I arrived at the spot I planned to camp, 19 miles in for the day. I didn’t want to sit around for 5 hours so I decided to walk another 4 miles.

The wind picked up during the second half of the day and I noticed I was in a wind advisory with possible 50-60 mph gusts at night.

Unfortunately the next spot to camp was on top of a ridge with minimal wind cover. But the sunset would be amazing. I decided to risk it. I could easily hike another 45 minutes to the next spot, but I had alrwady gone far enough. Why wear myself out already?

I set up a cowboy spot. The wind threatened to blow away my sleeping bag. Either I had to lay on it or out my pack on it.

The sunset was unreal. Better than I expected. Clouds moving in, a distant mountain range painted orange, the sun disappearing behind a near mountain range, showering the peaks in color.

After sunset the wind died down. And one other hiker joined me in this spot. I haven’t spent a single night without a person close by! The trail is pretty busy with limited camping spots.

Tomorrow I’ll stop by a hot spring and soak my feet. Not sure how long I’ll stay, but I’m looking forward to it.