Hikey Mike

Day 24 – 9 miles

Waking up in a bed always makes the thought of hiking less appealing, especially after a day of being pampered. After a slow start to the day and a big breakfast (again cooked for me while I did nothing), it was finally time to head back to trail. Luke and David dropped me back on trail at 10am with the hope of them coming to visit me again in the Sierra section in a few months.

After quite a tough stretch over the last few days, my body was probably ready for a longer break which I quickly realised within 10 minutes with low energy and tired legs and decided to make it a short day, planning for a 9 mile stretch.

The whole day was slow progress, including a long lunch time siesta, but eventually I made it to the campsite I had originally planned on expecting it to be empty being so close to the prior town, but to my surprise there was a hiker there drinking a beer. Who would have guessed, more trail magic! The campsite had a cooler filled with beer and a bag filled with individually bagged brownies. In the end four people camped here, lured in by the beer and after saving some brownies for breakfast I settled in for an early night.

Day 25 – 19 miles

Today was the first day that felt truly mundane. After nearly 4 weeks of walking the desert, the sights that were originally blowing me away were now common and overtaken by the focus of getting through the next climb or getting to the next water source.

Today was a day of hiking alone, without any major landmarks, climbs or moments, with the majority of the day walking on the crest above Big Bear Lake.

At lunch, I found that there was a bar in 30 miles just off the trail that does fresh sandwiches and allows camping, so I decided to push another 10 miles to be able to get there tomorrow night.

The afternoon was straight forward, with multiple water crossings and finally found a tucked away spot to camp, although it did come with one visitor

Day 26 – 20 miles

The morning carried on largely as yesterday went, with the trail consistently skirting the edge of the mountains at 3000ft with little to differentiate the miles. The trail crossed a dry river bed multiple times which meant some fun bridge crossings (yes this is the peak of entertainment)

The afternoon came with the first sight in a while, Deep Creek Hot Springs. The springs are a famous local landmark, with hikers and locals alike coming to relax with a very strong ‘clothing optional’ vibe. The springs are also however known for spreading illness, with bacteria in the water and many cases of norovirus in the area. I decided to just dip my legs in and get out quickly, with a few too many old naked men after 48 hours of isolation.

After this, it was only a few miles to the bar, crossing a large dam and a few rivers to finally get to the highway.

After a short hitch, the night was improved with a beer and a meatball sandwich, with the bar owner taking pity on us and also giving us a free slice of cheesecake.

Five of us cowboy camped outside the bar, periodically managing to sleep between barking dogs and the local traffic

Day 27 – 21 miles

Finding out the people I was with had requested a 6am lift in the morning was a shock, but it did mean that I was able to take the day very slowly. This was particularly useful as the day started instantly with a climb, my favourite.

I didn’t really want to do a long distance today but I was driven by an exciting stop tomorrow, so after a short lunch break I continued on. I was rewarded by a hot but beautiful hike around Silverwood Lake, dropping down to the coastline for over 5 miles

This was a great opportunity to cool off before climbing back up into the mountains to find somewhere to camp

Day 28 – 13 miles

The day was finally upon us, after a short morning walk I saw the iconic sign

The only McDonald’s on trail; not normally exciting but after 4 days out of town the thought of food was all encompassing. I camped close enough to get there in time for breakfast and very quickly got sucked in to a 4 hour rest which included 3000 calories and a LOT of hikers

Surprisingly after that much time with AC and two large meals, there was not much hiking after this. The next 20 miles included a 7000ft climb so breaking this up was top of my agenda.

Managing another 6 miles and 1500ft of the climb, I stopped for the night at a large water cache, the last source of water for the rest of the climb and it turned out I was not the only person with that idea, with almost 20 people camping in the same spot, a PCT party.

Day 29 – 17 miles

Post McDonald’s excitement, getting to Wrightwood was now the only focus, a 28 mile stretch largely up hill to town. As is becoming typical by now, any days with large climbs seemed to be unbearably hot, meaning we were walking by 6am

The day started very exposed but thankfully by the afternoon, it turned into another oak forest and cooled down as we climbed higher. The whole day was climbing and after nearly 6000ft I was ready to lie down. Unfortunately to get up to the campsite, it was one final extremely steep climb. Getting up there panting, I lay straight down, before quickly being told by the people up there that the only water source is back down another steep hill. Typical.

I eventually made it down and back up and ended up having a fun night, with many of the same people from last night camping there and a campfire to sit around. We ended up with a group of 10 who had booked an Airbnb in wrightwood and invited us over for dinner when in town.

Day 30 – 5 miles

Thankfully the trail finally reached the peak of the mountain and took us back down hill, with a short path to get us to the highway. The mornings walk was actually lovely, hiking through a ski resort throughout the whole morning

Getting to the highway, worried that hitching might take a while, there was a car parked waiting for hikers who instantly not only offered me a lift into town, but also a place to stay for free. The three of us from the group who hadn’t yet booked accommodation were thrilled, due to it being ridiculously expensive due to the fact it was Memorial Day weekend (a fact that every single person forgot after a week in the mountains). After a shower and nap at the trail angels house, we completed our town chores made better by the plethora of fast food options in the town, finally settling on a Wingstop and we returned back to the accommodation for a relaxed evening. Five of us ended up staying there, sharing a joint dinner and playing cards and Uno all night before an early night with a chance to explore Wrightwood tomorrow.