Mile 268 to 292.4

Bedazzled and I woke up to frozen condensation on our sleeping bags this morning after a chilly night. We scrapped it off with our fingers, which made them cold down to the bone.

In the middle of the night, a jeep came up a dirt road and almost turned into our camp. The guy got out played with his phone and then turned around and went down the hill. In the morning, I saw him sleeping on the ground next to his jeep. I would call it strange, but I guess it isn’t any stranger than what I am doing out here.

Classic Burnout face.

We made good miles in the morning walking among the pines with few glimpses of bigger views. Burnout remarked that it felt like hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Yes, it was that boring  (JK).

Eventually, we looped around a hill and had a great view of Big Bear Lake from a far. I hadn’t realized there were snow capped peaks just beyond the town because they were blocked by a lower range of mountains. Now I understand why it had so many ski and snowboard shops.

As we continued along, we came upon a hiker in his mid-50s sitting down awkwardly on trail with another hiker holding a sun umbrella over him. When we got closer, I called out to see if the were ok, and the hiker holding the umbrella said he had already called 911. I asked if they needed food or water, but the guy responded that the dispatcher said not to give him any water. It wasn’t that hot out so we guessed that maybe the altitude got to him or he broke something. There didn’t seem to be anything we could do so we carried on. (*update – we got word that the hiker was severely dehydrated).

We filtered water and Bedazzled was taking longer than the rest of us and told us to go on ahead. That was the last we would see of her until our lunch break around noon. It turns out she got lost, but luckily so did another hiker who helped her get back on trail. We leave her alone for a second and see what happens ;-).

We got news that Achey Breaky, a German hiker, is getting off trail. That is the first I have heard of someone I have meet ending their hike. He thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail a few years ago so it was a little surprising. We all reflected on the news during our morning hike.

We ended up doing more than 17 miles by noon and took a two hour lunch break with Super Sloshed, GQ, Peanut, and Mike.

We carried on for the remaining miles descensing into the hot desert again with the trail looking similar to the section before Mike’s Place and the part past Paradise Valley Cafe.

We ended the day hiking along a stream with a good flow and found some campsites near it.

After setting up, we dipped our feet in the river and rubbed the dirt off our toes as we ate our dinner snacks. The simple pleasures after a long day.