Good day on the trail today. Got a somewhat late start as we were leaving the hostel. Our ride up to the trail from where we left off was entertaining. Grayson, the owner of the hostel, had his four wheel drive truck to take us up to the trail. Some of the edges of the road were steep banks that had been cut down and he would ride up them with the truck…good fun…kind of like a wallride in a truck.
First part of the day we were walking in the tall pine and cedar forest around Big Bear lake…that went on for several miles. In that stretch we came across a large rattlesnake. A couple other hikers had awakened him and he was ready in attack mode. We just watched him for a bit and took some photos.
Took a pretty long break at a small creek with some other hikers relaxing in the shade. Zen and Wampuscat were there. They both had done the AT in 09, and knew JJ and Wolfpack.
Had another long break at a larger stream in the late evening. There was about 15 of us hanging out there washing our legs and wading around in the water. Felt really good on a warm day like today.
Walked through a forest that had been burnt by wildfire in recent years. For quite a long section, it was only burnt mountains that one could see. They have an interesting look, some trees are charred and others look like standing driftwood. Oddly, there were a lot of lupins growing in one section.
After leaving the second creek, we walked about 4 miles and decided to camp on a small footbridge. We were all getting hungry and we were walking on trail on the edge of a canyon that provided no flat spaces to lay down and sleep, so the bridge is it. Hopefully no one rolls off in the night 🙂
Daily Distance: 24
Trip Distance: 219.6
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