Hikey Mike

Day 19 – Zero in Banning

With the heatwave continuing, and the trail hitting 40c today, we decided it would be best to stay an extra day and rest rather than attempt a famously unshaded section of the trail.

With the hostel we stayed at the night before fully booked, everyone started making new plans and nine of us booked two hotel rooms in a nearby town. In typical hiker fashion, no one cared about the fact that we’d be squeezed into these rooms, but were more excited by the fact the hotel had a pool.

Before going to the hotel, food was the main thing on everyone’s mind. We stopped at a Walmart to resupply, a shop so ridiculously big that it took me an hour to find everything I needed, and then crossed the road to what I had been really excited for, an In N Out

This fast food chain is only available on the west coast of America and has been in my thoughts since living here almost 10 years ago, so I was very happy to return.

The rest of the day was very relaxing, napping in the hotel before hanging out by the pool for a few hours to cool off, ready for a day back in the heat tomorrow.

Day 20 – 13 miles

Making the most of the free breakfast, including a waffle maker which went down very well, we got an uber back to trail and I was ready to walk by 7am, however if I was hoping to avoid the heat I was sadly disappointed. Already it was in the high 20s and the heat really slowed down my progress

We had again entered a stretch of long water carries, and so coming to Whitewater Preserve after 9 miles I made the 0.5 mile detour with the promise of water and shade. After the hot and dry day, entering this campground felt like an oasis and I spent the next 3 hours eating, sleeping and generally hiding from the sun

After a long break, I managed another 4 miles before reaching a river that looked impossible to cross without getting wet and with the temperature and my energy levels beginning to drop, I decided to camp on the shores of the river before attempting it in the morning

Day 21 – 15 miles

It took me about 30 seconds in the morning to realise there was a crossing about 100 metres away from me, again proving how bad my awareness is when tired, but was glad that I would not be starting the day with wet feet (as long as I didn’t fall off the logs)

Today was a day that had caused a lot of discussion between hikers, with a 15 mile stretch climbing 5,000ft up a riverbed. The trail used to run above the river, however after a storm and hurricane a few years ago, the trail is now completely destroyed. This meant 15 miles of walking along loose stone and wet feet with around 40 river crossings

The first 10 miles were relatively easy, with focus needed on where to step but the gradient being fairly easy climbing. However after that, the climb got continuously steeper and by mile 12 it became hard to continue. I decided to stop, 30 miles away from Big Bear and with the news that Luke and David, two of my friends from LA, had booked a cabin in the area in two nights time for us to stay. I went to bed knowing that with a 20 mile day tomorrow now that the worst of the river was out the way , I could easily do 10 the day after and spend the whole day with them

Day 22 – 16 miles

Yet again, I quickly realised I had underestimated the terrain. With only two miles left of the river, the gradient became unsustainable and rather than walking I was very quickly scrambling and climbing up rock slides as the river had turned into more of a series of waterfalls

After completing 1.5 of the 2 miles in a little over 2 hours, the way became almost impossible to continue and I double checked my map app only to see comments saying that I was supposed to get back onto trail 3 miles back, with the path now 200ft above me. Disheartened and annoyed at myself for missing the turning, I found a route where I could scramble back up to the trail rather than do the 6 mile detour. It took almost an hour to complete this climb, slowly edging up the hill until I reached the trail and straight away lay on the ground, letting out a laugh of pure relief, before turning around to see a hiker had witness my whole outburst. By this point, everyone had seen weirder and she walked straight past without questioning.

With this detour over, the trail flattened out however it was now nearly lunchtime and I had only completed 3 of the 30 miles I needed to finish by tomorrow afternoon. Recalculating my plan, I decided to do another 12 miles that afternoon and wake up early the next day to complete 15 miles by midday to meet my friends.

The rest of that afternoon was spent in the zone, hiking at a quick pace and only disrupted by my third rattlesnake encounter of the trip

Day 23 – 15 miles

I woke up at sunrise at 5:15am with the plan of walking by 6am, knowing that 3 miles an hour would get my to the highway in time to meet my friends when I’d asked them to pick me up. The trail was nice this morning, with very few climbs and a lot of shade, meaning the walking was pretty easy

I reached the highway 5 minutes before they were due to pick me up, and after only a few seconds of sitting down they arrived, with cold water and watermelon for me to devour

We went to the wood cabin and relaxed for a few hours, with a much needed shower and nap for me, before heading out into town so I could resupply and head to the gear store to replace some broken bits, before stopping at a very quirky Hawaiian themed bar for a well earned cocktail

We went back to the cabin where they cooked me dinner while I lay down, being as pampered as possible, before we spent the night watching School of Rock which I proceeded to sleep through the whole second half of before bed. Well fed and rested, I planned to head out from Big Bear in the morning to take on the next stretch.