Arrived in Big Bear today. A report on the last three days follows.
April 25, Day 26, kilometers 360-378
Wet Feet
April 25th began with a nice, easy, 4-kilometer "walk" to Mission Creek, where we took a break to wash a few things and have a bath – a welcome cool-down in 90-degree weather. Ate some Clif Bars,
a high-calorie energy (supposedly) snack.
Then the real torture began: The over 15-kilometer trail follows a creek that requires fording dozens of times. Only rarely were we able to do this without getting our shoes wet. At first we took
off our boots every time we had to ford the creek, but this took too much time. After a while we just waded through the water with our shoes on – pleasant for our feet, but not good for our
boots. But that wasn't the worst: after fording the creek, we had to pick up the trail again, which proved difficult whenever the creek bed became wide and impenetrable. At the same time, the
trail went uphill, from an altitude of 954 to 1790 meters! Every kilometer was a struggle – no fun at all! We made some video clips of the wading, but unfortunately no photographs.
At some point the trail petered out somewhere in the dry, sandy streambed, which was littered with logs, branches, and scree. In the late afternoon, to regain our strength, we cooked a meal in
the shade in the middle of the streambed. After sundown, to cover some more mileage, we hiked for another two hours in darkness. Once we found a spot to camp, we decided to sleep under the stars,
having no desire to pitch our tent. And we'd enjoyed the "plein-air" cowboy camping the day before.
April 26, Day 27, kilometers 378-400
The Climb
Fording Mission Creek lay behind us, but we now faced another steep climb: from 1790 to 2665 meters, leaving the San Gorgonio wilderness and arriving at the San Bernardino forest. Adding insult
to injury, around midday Sabine was stung directly between the eyes by a wild bee. This must feel a bit like getting a shot of Botox: for a brief period, Sabine was unable to knit her brows.
After cooling with a wet cloth, we continued on our way.
In the afternoon, at the last waterhole for the next 28 km, we met Umberto from Mexico. As a 15-year-old, he and his sister illegally crossed the border to the USA, hoping to find a better life.
Meanwhile, he's a 55-year-old American citizen, retired after a 30-year career in education. When asked what remains of the PCT, his spontaneous response was "Memories." On we hiked in the
evening sun. Over the past few days, we've been adding electrolytes and various powdered flavorings to our water supplies.
That evening at Coon Creek Cabin, a slightly derelict cluster of mountain cabins, we met up with Thomas and his friends again, along with Jaqueline and her friend Matthias. They were cozily
curled up by the fireplace for the night. Thomas told us about his new plan to hitchhike to Big Bear in the morning, after 6 kilometers, which means skipping 22 kilometers of the trail. We don't
want to skip anything, so next day we hiked the entire 28 kilometers. Did an extra 3 km, took some great photos of the sunset, and found a lovely spot to cowboy camp. We even cooked a meal:
soy-beef flavored Asian noodle soup. At an altitude of 2665 meters, at 4 degrees Celsius. But we weren't cold. It's a wonderful feeling: falling asleep under the starry sky, waking to the
immediacy of a new day.
Pictures