It was a very chilly morning, making it quite difficult to get moving.
Tortilla(/Yaara) exited the cabin, greeting the day with an enthusiastic, “TODAY I’M GETTING FUCKIN PANCAKES!” in her beautiful Israeli accent. That’s right, kids, today is another town day!!! But first, we had 19.6 miles to hike…
Tortilla, Kassie (who now goes by the name Big Mama, complete with a dance!), She-Wee, and Columbia were planning to hitch from mile 250 to make it to the post office before it closed at noon. Matthew and I had given up hope on making it in time for the post office so we opted for a zero day in Big Bear on Sunday, allowing us to grab our box on Monday am. We planned to get to mile 266 to hitch to town, while Woodpecker and Bear Chills had planned to get to Big Bear on Sunday.
We had wanted to get to town around 5 so we had time to hitch in the sunlight and get food in town. We set off at 0725, starting the day with a climb. We hit the highest peak of the day, at 8743 feet, then quickly dropped down to 8100, then back up above 8600. We passed a creepy, old, abandoned “private zoo” that as of last year was the home to lions, tigers, and bears that were trained for TV/movies- so sad! All that remains are the small empty cages and a “for sale” sign.
We stopped around mile 256 for a quick lunch, but with less than 10 miles to go, I was anxious to get to town! We passed a few creeks and swamps, at times opting for balancing on a large fallen log surrounded by thorn bushes vs getting wet again.
The hike today was absolutely beautiful with ever-changing scenery and greenery, and it was not terribly challenging, which was a nice change! The last 200 and 300 feet of elevation gain felt like mountains, but that’s only because it was the end of our hiking day.
We caught a hitch into town, picked up a few snacks for the night and a venti frap from Starbucks, ate a quick late lunch, then Ubered to our Airbnb for the night!
Ali Walks Far 