Josh and Sammy's PCT Adventure : Rattlers, Roadwalks and Poodle Dog oh my!

Mt. Baden Powell summit

Last we left you we had just finished our town chores in Big Bear Lake, much has happened since then. We hitched out of Big Bear with a very nice gentleman, hitching with great people who are truly enjoyable to talk to is always wonderful. We took a slow start out of Big Bear but it was well worth it. The day started out with humor as I told our friend Cheesesnake not to forget his water filter at our snack spot, but of course he did. We took a break in the shade of some trees while he hiked back 2 miles to get it

The rest of the day was very scenic. Starring at the lake while walking during the afternoon made us all want to run down the hill and jump in but we hiked on. We had joined with our new friend Rubix at this point, Josh and him powered through the afternoon quickly while I strolled behind taking tons of pictures. We got to camp fairly early and finally used the playing cards we had been carrying for 20 days but hadn't used till earlier that morning at the filter incident break.

We arrived at the hot springs a few days later and spent almost all day there. What a relaxing way to spend 8 hours of a day instead of hiking. Sunbathing, eating, napping, soaking in the hot spring, more eating, more soaking and finally leaving to put some more miles in on the trail. The hike out was truly gorgeous as we winded across the hill towards the sunset.

The next day was also scenic with another lake! If it hadn't been so windy we would have jumped in but a nice mid day lunch spot was good enough for us. We pushed on and arrived at another picnic area to find a hiker who had met up with his family. They were find enough to let us eat some fresh fruit and sip down some Gatorade. Clint, Cheesesnake, Josh and I made plans to hike on but the idea of camping in such a nice spot with our good friends Tuck and Molly enticed us to stay. We also had the great idea of trying to get pizza delivered and it was a success!

Pizza on trail!

We went to bed with full tummies and awoke to the goal of reaching McDonald's for lunch. Hiking along the trail at a good pace we came to a halt with a rattlesnake on the trail. It wouldn't move, it was frozen soaking in the sun and we thought it might be dead. Josh nudged it with his trekking pole, nothing. So he moved it off trail with his trekking pole, it rattled as soon as he set it down. We looked at each other then the snake. Molly came around the corner and we all waited. Eventually we passed when another hiker, Dan, breezed through with no harm. McDonald's bound we were again.

We arrived at Cajon Pass to fill our bellies with warm food. After tons of calories we got a little claustrophobic from sitting in a building and decided to grab some snacks from the convenience store and push on to a shady spot for a mid day break. After a nice break we hiked to the base of the large hike we had in front of us the next day. We started the day going up, and up and up. We also got to experience with poodle dog bush on the trail. If you don't know what this is google it, nasty stuff.

Anyway it was easy enough to get around, we just had to really focus on that short stretch. The goal was to reach the highway to get us into Wrightwood and we finally did at about 9:30pm, well past hiker midnight. We made a poor decision to sleep on the concrete by the info center, needless to say we all woke up early. We had to put a couple miles on the road but we finally got a hitch from a great local who gave us the tour of the town and dropped us off at breakfast. The only sad part of town was the new shoes I had ordered to replace my pair that was breaking didn't arrive, I was bummed but got over it and got them shipped to the next town.

We did all the normal town stuff in Wrightwood and even got the luxury of crashing on our friends motel room floor. The next day we set out of town to do the climb of Mt. Baden-Powell. While tiring we made it to the top and were rewarded with a view. The next day we got the do some road walking for a trail detour for an endangered frog. We left Cheesesnake in the morning and when we took a break for lunch we still hadn't seen him. Another hiker passed and said we were the first hikers he had seen all day and he started from the base of the mountain, we knew Cheesesnake went wrong somewhere.

Eventually we camped in a wonderful spot that made us forget we were in southern California with multiple stream, large trees and tons of green all around. We set up camp and a few hours later Cheesesnake came rolling by, come to find out he had been off trail twice that day but he made his way back. We all decided to put two big days in to get us closer to Agua Dulce.

We hiked roughly a 24 mile day to get to a fire station where we spent a sandy and windy night sleeping under the bright moon, it lit up the sky like a spot light. From there we pushed out a 25 mile day, a lot of which involved road walking. Again this section was covered in poodle dog bush but it was everywhere. At one point in my mind I was comparing the view to that of a scary movie. Burnt trees loomed overhead and poodle dog pushed surrounded the hill side reaching into the trial every now and then. The bush may not bark like the dog but we didn't want to experience its bite.

Road walking allowed us to get to the same destination but avoid the next fields of the nasty plant. Some road was paved other sections we were lucky enough for it to be dirt. We made it to our destination and camped by a creek just 10 miles from Agua Dulce. Josh and I got up early, for once, and decided to put "10 by 10" in. A lot of hiker around us use this term as getting 10 miles done by 10am but usually we don't break camp until 8am so it's usually hard to do. But today we were successful and treated greatly for it.

View from one of our road walks.

We arrived at Hiker Heaven which is the perfect oasis in the heat this week. We got to shower, do laundry, ride bikes to town to get supplies and the people that run the place are incredibly nice. Josh and I got to lunch today and a local even bought our food to show some trial magic even though they remained anonymous. We set out tomorrow on the trail again! Oh also I got my new shoes and just in time as mine were on their last thread, literally. Josh's mom Karen will be joining us soon as we hike north. Look for a post soon and adventure on!

-Grimace