Day 27 (May 18): Miles 342 - 360

I left the Best Western and hit the trail at about 10am this morning. I had about 6 litres with me because this was a dry stretch. Over the next 20 miles I would ascend about 5000 feet.

Leaving Cajon Pass I was in awe at the hundreds of vehicles and many freight trains going through this area. While climbing I had great views over the pass below with it's constant wave of cars and trucks going by.

It wasn't too hot but the climb was pretty tough. I didn't notice untill late afternoon that my arms had sun burn so I ripped out the trusty umbrella. There was a section where I had to walk a dirt road to avoid the Poodle Dog bush on the trail.

I was wearing a pair of Rian's Brookes Cascadia shoes. He had a new pair shipped to him too early and was going to leave this pair in a hiker box. They were still pretty new so I decided to try them to see if they help with the pains I have been having in the balls of my feet. The feet feel pretty good. Ankle is still the main concern though. It was not too bad today after 18 miles. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

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Day 24 (May 15): Miles 314 - 334

Today was a mostly good but very hot walking. We had some good views along Silverwood dam and I got to soak my feet in it a couple of times.

We spent time chilling at a picnic area by the lake. Most of the conversation over the last two days has been about the Mcdonalds at Cajon Pass. We hit that tomorrow and in about 8 miles!

Ankle is hurting. Will have to take a rest day or two.

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Day 23 (May 14): Miles 297 - 314

We did a few miles this morning and spent a long time at the Deep Creek hot springs. The hot springs are pretty cool but there were a few naked people hanging around so we moved down the creek and found a nice shady spot away from the crowd. There was a pretty cool rope swing into the creek and we tried it a few times. Very nice.

Myself, Bryan, Ryan and Ngu (from Japan) headed out from the springs quite late in the day. But we were just in time to find trail magic at the around mile 314 at highway 173. Trail angels called Shepard and Cant Wait were there with hot dogs, powerade drinks and loads of other sweets. We spent about 45 mins chatting and eating, then headed out another mile to camp for the night.

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Day 22 (May 13): Miles 280 - 297

Firstly, it was Mothers day today. Happy mothers day mom! Sorry I couldn't phone you!

We were up and away by 6am this morning and even though the trail was pretty easy we made slow progress. We talked about Cajon Pass and the Mcdonalds regularly.

Much of the terrain around Gold Mountain and beyond was burnt but later in the day the scenes along Holcomb Creek improved and the desert landscape was again present.

A few miles in along Holcomb Creek I walk right over a King snake. It had just slithered onto the path as I was taking a step and I almost stepped on it. It quickly moved off the path as I equally quickly dodged over it. At first I thought it was some other snake. It stopped right next to the path under the shade of a bush. I was able to take a picture. Little guy made my day! It's not poisonous but looks a lot like a Coral snake which is highly poisonous.

We took an excellent lunch and siesta break at one of the camp sites along the creek and had a quick dip in the creek.

Rest of the day was uneventful except for my painful left ankle bothering me. We are camping next to Deep Creek tonight. We also saw Ryan whom I met in Idyllwild. He catched up with us after staying another day in Idyllwild.

I'm contemplating taking a zero at Cajon Pass to see if my ankle improves.

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Day 21 (May 12): Miles 265 - 280

This morning one of the guys from the hostel dropped a group of us off at highway 18 where the trail crosses. It was comical to see 9 guys in a station wagon with a huge load of packs strapped to the roof.

We started walking at about 9am and had a slow day. We did about 14 or 15 miles. The ankle still hurts slightly but overall I feel pretty rested. There were some nice views over the lake and Big Bear. We set up camp at about 17:30 and took it easy.

From tomorrow onwards the plan is to get going by 6am to get our big miles done in the morning.

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Day 20 (May 11): Zero Day

So we had a lazy night last night at motel 6 with pizza, beer and HBO on TV.

This morning we organised our bounce supplies and sent it off to Agua Dulce, our next big stop. We shopped for food supplies, had starbucks coffee and subway for lunch and then took a long walk to the hostel where we planned to stay the night. The hostel cost the same as motel 6 per person but it's a cool place and we also had a lift organised with them back to the trail on Saturday morning.

We walked around the village a bit, ate snow cones and then headed back to the hostel where we chilled for the rest of the afternoon. We drank a few beers and ate chocolate chip cookies while watching the sun set over the lake below.

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Days 17 - 19 (May 8 - 10): Miles 219 - 265

On Tuesday morning Andrew left early. Brian and I only headed out from Whitewater preserve at about 9am looking to have an easy 14 mile day. We took a nice long break where the trail meets Mission Creek. After about another 7 miles we made camp further up the creek.

The Wednesday morning we got up at 5am with the plan to do 20 or more miles so we could get into Big Bear early on Thursday. We ended up doing 14 miles before lunch and about another 9 or 10 miles after. It was a long day but worth the effort.

Thursday we got up at 5am again and hit mile 265 and the highway by 11. It took us about 20 mins to get s ride. Two guys going to get scrap metal in town took us in with their pick-up but we got off at the Big Bear Lake post office instead of the one in Big Bear City (Big Bear is supposed to be one town but is split in two sections like that). A friendly local, called Sergio, gave us a lift to the other PO where we got our supplies. He gave us a tip that Thelma's was the place to have lunch and so we did. I'm amazed at how friendly and helpful some people have been. We had a great lunch with lots of coffee and some desert. Sergio came by again to give me a small magazine about Yosemite because we were talking about it in his car. He is going there with his family in July. Really friendly guy. We are at Motel 6 tonight and will maybe camp at the lake tomorrow. Taking a zero day tomorrow as my left ankle has been bothering me a bit and the body just needs to rest a bit.

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