- Date: 2023-05-28
- Pct day: 23
- Start: Mile 266
- End: Mile 285
- Distance: 19 Miles
- Ascent: 2135 feet
- Descent: 2506 feet
- Start name: Big Bear Lake
- End name: Little Bear Springs Camp
- Wake up: 06:30
- Start hiking: 08:30
- At camp: 17:15
- In bed: 20:30
- Where I slept: tent
- Shower: yes
Key moments
- it was a bit of a flurry as we all packed up our bags and packed up the house to head out on the trail
- Our trail angel was a bit early and I realised I left a drink bottle somewhere and needed to buy another one at the 711 down the road
- So a mildly stressful morning before getting out to the trail
- It felt good to be back on the trail
- I saw some friends arriving to be picked up on the trail so I told Jeremy, Kristi and Nicole I’d catch up with them
- It was good to see CJ and Frank and some other trail friends. Frank had some new shorts from a thrift store that had chillies on them.
- We saw our first Joshua tree! Sort of reminded me of a pandanas tree but if it was covered in leaves the whole way down.
- Lots of lovely wild flowers growing in little clumps that made it look like they were planted there
- Small fields of sparsely growing violet flowers, the photos don’t do them justice
- Sections of track were just rubble stones that sounded like cracking porcelain as you walked over them
- Saw Beth out on the trail again, haven’t seen her for about a week, always nice to see a familiar face, we hiked the rest of the day together
- Had a patch of good reception so I was able to call Katie, which was really lovely
- Saw heaps of day hikers out, it’s Memorial Day long weekend here and only about 2 hours from LA so people come out here
- Lots of questions from people about if we were doing the PCT - where were we going, when did we start, etc. this is always nice but when it’s like 5 people in a row in 30 minutes it starts to be hard to keep talking, we’ve got some walking to do!
- There’s heaps of 4 wheel drive tracks about - I think they call it Jeep Tracks here. Loads of cars out.
- Saw a nice big rattlesnake in some bushes, just chilling out
- got into camp by a nice stream by 5:15, so good! 19 miles by that time considering we started about 3 hours after I’d normally start, I was really happy with that.
- Had a nice foot soak in the cold creek
- Some friendly jeep drivers came over and gave us a beer and a kombucha and had a nice chat. One of the guys was from New Zealand, so nice to hear a familiar accent
- That’s some good trail magic there - you’re not expecting it!
- Heard fireworks at night, I guess to celebrate Memorial Day?
Plan from here
- hike 23 miles tomorrow to get to the hot springs. That’s right, there are hot springs right on the trail.
Animals sighted
- rattle snake
- Chipmunks
- Lizards
Gear thoughts
- need a way to attach my new sleeping bag/quilt to my sleeping pad
- Really love the new sleeping bag from Feathered Friends
- might not need ice axe for Baden Powell, apparently it’s fine.
Physical condition
- good - feet hurt a bit, right foot blisters might be reappearing. I really need to try replacing the elastic laces with the shoe laces…
Thoughts and Observations
- the good cool weather we are having this week means we can cover more distance
Some of the bad things
- man blisters really can slow you down
- I feel refreshed but I really need to stretch more
Quotes of the day
- Drinking wine in the evenings, classical French coming on the daytime
#pct #pct2023 #pctclassof2023
