Today is always a day we look forward to—town day! After a week out, we are craving beds, chairs, showers, porcelain, and food that doesn’t require boiling water to eat. Prometheus was one of the first up and rebuilt the fire to give everyone extra incentive to get out of their tents (not that it was needed). Bunny and I were the 3rd and 4th (out of approximately 20 hikers) out of camp, right at 8. We were trying to get a leg up on Blue’s Clues today.
One of the ways we make it out early is by cheating on the morning routine. Since it’s a town day, I know porcelain is waiting and I have bowel control extraordinaire, knowing that I’m just 10 miles and a hitch from relief. I am married to an older woman who lacks the same self control. Less than half an hour down the trail, we had to pull into the woods for Bunny to leave her tracks behind. I took the opportunity to call to the Vintage Lakeside Lodge and make room reservations for us. This is also when Ivy caught up and passed us. The older Bunny bowels are of mixed worth to us.
We quickly descended several hundred feet down the valley to return to a transition zone between alpine and desert. We came to a road junction and accidentally took a wrong turn for a couple hundred feet. This actually turned out to be a crucial mistake which will have repercussions for us in town as will soon be seen.
The mountain range we are in is a fairly barrow range, only 4 or 5 ridges wide. We crossed past the middle of the range yesterday and are walking just one ridge from the edge of the range. This means we only have a single ridge between us and open desert. This also gives us a rare combination of Joshua Trees and pine trees living right next to each other. As with yesterday, there is no water after we leave the alpine zone after the first couple of miles.
We met one sobo day hiker that told us he had passed 18 people heading north since he got on the trail at 8. We only knew of 4 people ahead of us that left camp before us. Other than Ivy, no one had passed us all morning (or so we thought). Bunny’s track leaving did not do the trick for her stomach, so we were forced to take another break. We only had 4 miles left at 10:30 when the old gal started breaking down.
Still, no one passed us. We were certain we would have seen Blue’s by now. We were starting to get a little worried about him, but secretly happy and confident that we were going to make it to town before him. We caught up with another hiker that we could see was physically struggling. When we caught up with him, we finally recognized him as Keith who we had met last evening. He is going to have to get off trail for a while and return home to Colorado to allow his back to recuperate. He has had multiple surgeries in the past and recognizes when issues are starting up.
Meanwhile, Wolf had texted us that he couldn’t get a hitch. I thought he was just impatient like Bunny tends to be when more than 2 cars pass and she doesn’t get a ride. We were only a mile and a half away so I felt confident we’d walk up just as he and Ivy got lifts. Just before the road, we ran into a lot of trail magic in the form of cold sodas and water. Bunny and I each grabbed a soda and walked out to the road. Only Keith was there.
Just as we walked up to the parking lot, a car pulled up, turned around to drop off a hiker, and asked us if we needed a ride into town. Tough hitch? We hadn’t even made it to the road yet to stick out our thumb proving once again that being early doesn’t help in the least. The three of us gladly accepted.
Doc had hiked the PCT last year and decided to come to Big Bear City after he finished. He’s paying back by giving trail magic to this year’s hikers. He offered to take Keith to Papa Smurph’s Place to spend the night (the same Papa Smurph that keeps the water cache right where I needed it yesterday). He also offered to take us all the way to our hotel.
After we dropped off Keith, I asked Doc if we could stop at the Post Office to pick up a couple packages. We had an order from REI and my new pack from Osprey sent to the wrong town. Doc agreed to stop so we killed two problems with one ride. I had sent my pack to Osprey for repair or replacement after last year’s AT thru-hike. I really thought they’d replace it, but they chose to repair it instead. It’s really falling apart now so I called them in Idyllwild and they said they’d have it waiting here for me in a Big Bear (and they did).
When Doc dropped us off, Ivy was waiting to check in. The office was closed until 1 which was just a few minutes away. Wolf came up already checked in and showered. We told them we had no idea what happened to Blue’s as he never passed us. Wolf told us he was in the shower right now. We couldn’t believe it. We had never left the trail (until Ivy reminded us of the wrong turn which gave Blue’s the opportunity to pass us). The damn young legs did it again.
It was early and we already had our Post Office dilemma taken care of, so number 1 priority was…(food, shower, laundry, more food?) Food, of course. All else in due time. Food is always first (unless we find a hotel with a swim up restaurant and bar).
EFG