110(ish) miles – 4/19/18(ish) – 4/24/18
As soon as I got into Idyllwild I made my way to the Idyllwild Brew Pub and had a burger with a few beers. I got settled in at the Fireside Inn, took a long shower and stretched out in a big comfy bed which felt amazing after the long hot hike in.
I spent the next day and a half relaxing, eating and getting ready for the next stretch of the trail to Big Bear City. The entire time my tummy was still not happy with me, but I felt fine otherwise. I kept thinking “ok, that has to be the end of it” since I felt fine otherwise but was continuously proven wrong.
After my day off I headed up the Taquitz Peak trail, just north of where the PCT fire closure ended. This trail has a fair bit of gain so it took me some time to make it back to the PCT, but the views along the way we’re amazing.
As I approached Saddle Junction my tummy issues returned again. I pushed on, digging a few holes along the way until I made it to Strawberry Junction, which somehow had a porta-potty, a very welcomed sight. I set up camp and made use of the facilities multiple times that night. The next day I made the wise decision to return to Idyllwild to see a doctor, this time via the Deer Springs trail.
I managed to get in to see the doctor right away, whom had already seen 3 injured PCT hikers that morning. After a quick conversation he gave a couple prescriptions, advised a couple days of rest and sent me on my way. So back to the Fireside Inn I went, this time I stayed in a room with a tub! After picking up my meds and some tummy friendly foods I settled in and binge watched Catfish. I continued to rest, catch up with friends and family about my ordeal, eat bland food and make use of the tub.
The day I headed back to the trail it was snowing so I stopped for a real breakfast and lunch on my way out of town while it passed, my tummy handled both without issue. I got a hitch back to Deer Springs trail and got back on the PCT, which had patches of snow from earlier in the day. This is when the clouds and wind started to roll in.
I pushed past my intended campsite for a lower elevation even though I wanted to stop, I had some miles to make up as well. Along the way I passed an older, somewhat heavy, man from Alabama that asked where the desert was. He didn’t look like he was having fun. When I arrived at my destination for the night it was pretty cold, even at the lower elevation. I ate dinner, beef jerky andpeanut butter m&m’s in my tent as struggled to get warm.
The next morning I got moving quickly and started down the mountain towards I-10. Once I continued down it warmed up quickly and returned to the desert landscape from earlier on the trail. Luckily it wasn’t too hot but I still drank water like a fish trying to stay hydrated. The downhill hiking got a little tedious so I started listening to a podcast, which proved to be hazardous as I walked right by a rattlesnake and didn’t even notice it. It wasn’t until I heard a loud shriek behind me that I took out my earbuds and went back to take a look
When I finally made it to the bottom I arrived at a water faucet where I was able refill my water before pushing through the dry sandy stretch to I-10. On my way I thought about setting up camp but seeing all the giant windmills made me push on, camping in the wind isn’t fun. A southbound hiker at the water faucet mentioned that she had seen a bunch of hikers camp under the interstate, where there was a small water cache. When I arrived at the overpass the sound didn’t seem “too bad”. I took a break and weighed my options, wind or noise. It was then when the train came by, I decided to move on.
Just as I hit a road a truck with three guys pulled up and tried to give me a beer, I had to decline as one of the medications I was taking would apparently make me projectile vomit if I had any alcohol. The guys said they had just finished hiking a section of the PCT and we’re going to set up and cook food for passing hikers. I returned to under the interstate with them and chatted as they cooked up some burgers in a frying pan. While their gesture was nice their company was less than desirable, they had maybe done 100 miles but talked like they had done the entire trail. However, since they made me a burger I felt obligated to talk to them. It’s at this point I made the mistake of deciding to sleep under I-10. It was loud and I didn’t get much sleep.
The next day I started the climb out of the valley and really felt it, I had next to no energy. I pushed on to the office of a wind farm that had a small shelter and water for PCT hikers. They even had WiFi. The next push up hill was rough, even though it was still early it still felt hot. I could tell that despite drinking a lot of water I was dehydrated. I pushed on until I hit the junction for the Whitewater Persevere, once I saw the river I immediately got in, it felt amazing.
O
nce I got to the persevere I sat down in the shade and decided I needed to stop for the day. There were toilets, potable water and plenty of room to camp. I spent the rest of the day rehydrating and eyeballing all the food people had brought for picnics.
The next morning was an early start to beat the heat. The trail crossed a big, mostly dry, river bed before pushing into the hills and then dropping down the other side where it followed a creek lined with trees.
Most of the day was a climb but the trees provided plenty of shade and being next a creek meant that I didn’t have to carry as much water.I took a nice long break under a giant tree stretched out on my tent footprint.
Towards the end of the day the trees gave way to open exposed trail and the creek disappeared the trail before I made camp next to a much smaller creek.
In the morning I started my day by making a pretty intense climb up to a spring where I collected enough water for a 15 mile dry stretch. I pushed uphil to the abandoned Coon Creek Cabin and had lunch before making another up hill push before before starting the decent into Big Bear.
On the way I passed a private zoo where they keep and train animals for movies. I saw one sad looking bear, so sad I didn’t even take a picture. A little further down I came across a cache supplied by Papa Smurf and Mountain Mama. Then I came across a trail couch. It was a day full of random trail attractions. After a few more miles of downhill I ended the day at Arrastre campsite where a surprising amount of hikers ended up at, the most I’ve camped with on trail.
The final day before Big Bear was a short one, only about 10 miles, and mostly downhill. Although I was surprised by a few uphill stretches.
I arrived at the I-18 junction just before Papa Smurf showed up dropping hikers off at the trail. I caught a ride with him and spent most of the day visiting with other hikers, doing laundry, buying food, eating food and even stopping at a Starbucks. Tonight I get to sleep at Papa Smurf’s & Mountain Mama’s in a sweet bunkbed.