Days 20-22 Miles 241.5-266

Day 20 Start: 241.5 End: 261.6 Total: 20.1

Awoke early to a beautiful sunrise that was soon over taken by fog. The forecast said no rain but my tent was wet. It was still quite windy and cold so I had my coffee and breakfast in the shelter of my tent before braving the weather and packing up in a hurry. As I was about to head out I saw Red Bull just ahead of me getting on trail. I caught up quickly and passed him, he had been camped about 100 yards away from me the night before. 

The trail continued its climb up and I kept my gloves and rain layer on as it was quite cold. There were some snowy sections still but my microspikes were at the bottom of my pack and the sections were short so I just went slowly and matched my foot prints with the already existing ones and it was fine. Continued upward until I hit a ridge and walked along it then down the other side. I listened to some of my audiobook and trudged along. It was so windy still so I had a quick lunch before continuing downward. 

I got water from a nice spring around 15 miles in. Took a quick shoes and socks off break while filtering and continued on my way. I had planned on camping around 18 miles in but it was so windy there and still quite early in the day so I kept going for a couple miles until I found a fairly protected from the wind spot. I set up my tent and and did some journaling and stretching, made some dinner and got ready for bed, would have a easy 4.6 the next day into big Bear!

Day 21

Start 261.6 End 266 Total 4.4

I awoke dreaming of breakfast and I had the quickest pack up and take down ever, around 10 minutes and began my brisk walk. It was so windy & cold so I had my sweater and gloves on but would go around the mountain and get warm because the wind was blocked. I took of my sweater and gloves then became frigid. I was going quite fast but I couldn’t warm myself up so I stopped once more and put on my warm layers. 

I got to the road in record time, cars kept wizzing by but within a few minutes a hummer stopped and a very kind older couple from New Jersey offered to give me a ride to town. Their appointment down the mountain had been canceled but they supposed they were destined to give me a ride! It was a pleasant hitch in, they had lived in Florida but then they had retired in Big Bear. They told me plenty of stories of tourists coming into town from LA in sports cars and flip flops not realizing how much snow they get up there in the winter! They dropped me off at the grizzley manor cafe where I heard tales of large breakfast. 

It was a tiny cafe but I had a delicious breakfast and drank as much coffee as I could before leaving. I had posted an Instagram story to see if anyone knew anyone I could stay with in big Bear and had gotten a couple of leads but I hadn’t heard back from them yet. I had time to kill so I walked the 2 miles to the grocery store. Went into a grocery outlet, got a couple things then went to Vons and got the rest of my needs. I then went to the post office and mailed my ice axe and microspikes ahead. I then went to Starbucks and charged my things and made some calls. 

One of the contacts in big Bear, Sami, had gotten back to me and she ran a camp nearby and said I could crash in one of the open cabins! She said her friend had a climbing wall in their attic and asked if I wanted to check it out later. I said yes so she would pick me up after work and we would go!

A friend I had met on the AT and hiked a good amount with, Lucky, happened to be doing the PCT this year. He started a couple days behind me and had finally caught up.  He had made it into Big Bear and we were reunited in the Starbucks! Sami had plenty of room so Lucky was able to tag along on our adventure as well. Lucky is from Northern Ireland and was also 18 on his AT adventure. He went to university in Manchester and has been teaching physics at a school in the gran canaries the last few years.

I went to the indoor climbing space with Sami and her friends who had renevated the space so they could stay strong during the winter season. Met some cool folks and they had cooked a bunch of beef stew! After the climbing I went back to Sami’s camp and she set me up in a cabin with indoor plumbing and a shower! I was very grateful to be indoors as it was starting to become a blizzard outside. 

Day 22 start 266 end 266 total ZERO

In the morning I awoke to a few inches of snow on the ground. We had bought a bunch of food to make dinner with but having filled up on beef stew we were able to use it for breakfast! We made a dish called shashuka and Sami offered for us to stay another night if we wanted. It was very cold wet and snowy outside so we decided to take her up on her offer!

It was a lovely rest day, I drank a bunch of coffee, watched a movie, made cookies, ate ice cream, took a nap and later in the day we went to a different climbing gym. We got home late, made an awesome dinner and I took another hot shower, this time with all the soaps Sami had to offer. It was amazing. I went to bed way past my bed time but slept very soundly!