Last night, a sort of tule fog formed on the canyon bottom where we camped, so we woke up to everything soaking wet— sleeping bags, packs, etc. But we could afford to be cheery, because we were headed for McD’s and then Best Western. At McD’s we ordered the biggest breakfast platters they had and scarfed it all down. Another hiker, Curly, came along, too.

We got to Best Western Cajon Pass at 7:20am— no problem. The fantastic staff people there soon had a room for us, maps of all the fire detours, and even did our laundry for free because one of the coin-up machines was broken down! What a wonderful bunch of people. We soaked in the hot tub, talked to other hikers, ate a huge lunch at Subway, and relaxed.

“Chuck Norris,” one of the other hikers says everyone should aspire to be a Cajon Pass Triple Crowner— meaning that while you were there, you ate at all 3 of the restaurants— McD’s, Subway and Del Taco. “Just say ‘I’m a Triple Crowner’” he grinned, “they don’t need to know it’s not the AT, the PCT and the CDT!”

Our time today was spent fixing up/going through our packs and supplies, making plans for the detour sections, eating (yes, we are now Triple Crowners after consuming a “footlong” each at Subway and big taco salads from Del Taco!), and resting. I also took advantage of the Gideon Bible to read Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah (they go together, history-wise, and really have a lot to say about priorities in your life). Now it’s hiker bedtime (7:30pm)— time to hit the hay!

Walk to Rivendell: Low hills, fifth day from Weathertop

Today was “learn to love the gullies day”. We were up at 5:30am (tired a bit from yesterday) and spent most of the morning contouring and climbing in and out of 10 zillion gullies, on our way around the valley to reach the Silverwood Lake dam. The wildflowers continue to be awesome, and views of the green valley below with snowy mountain backdrop were very enjoyable. We (surprised!) reached the dam by just before 11:00am, and decided for “eat lunch at the picnic area”— on the other side of the lake.

It took till after 12 noon to get there, and I was so exhausted that I just collapsed under a tree for 20 minutes. We had done 16 miles already! (But the hike around the lake really is wonderful— gorgeous lake views, lots of little pocket beaches. I would have loved to swim at one— it was a hot day!)

Lunch and plenty to drink revived us both to face the big climb up to the top of Little Horsethief Canyon. The climb was a bit hard, but it rewards you with ever-bigger vistas of rugged mountains and the lake. Some naughty/bad bike riders passed us as we headed down again and just laughed at the cheerful scolding we gave them for trespassing on the PCT. We also met two SOBO ladies who were anxious to know “How far to the lake?” We ate supper at some powerlines, then headed into “The Badlands” as the sun grew low. The badlands are awesome, knarly cliffs with big dropoffs! What a sight in the beautiful evening light!

Note from Alexa: Did you see Voyager? Or any Bajoran ships?

Finally we hurried down to Crowder Canyon where we camped in a sandy wash. We could hear the trains at Cajon Pass.

Walk to Rivendell: Reached end of valley, fifth day from Weathertop

Clouds moved in overnight, and we woke up to a 30 degree morning with Bill’s socks he’d hung up to dry all frozen stiff. My platypus tube was frozen, and the tops of our sleeping bags were wet. The first part of the morning, we were traveling through a “burn zone”; I felt as if it were the black and white ball, with dead white graceful manzanita and stalwart black tree trunks.

The trail went down finally to Holcomb Creek, which we had to cross 4 times. Each time it got deeper— thigh deep on me at the end, with the water really moving, and so cold that after you get out and your legs “un-numb”, you are in pain for a few minutes! Ow!

Several other hikers were also leapfrogging with us, and everyone was encouraging the others about the fords! Finally we reached Deep Creek and met a very cute trail angel (an injured thru-hiker waiting for her knee to get better.) She gave us an orange and M&Ms, which we promptly ate for lunch. The entire rest of the day we followed the PCT through spectacular Deep Creek Canyon— cliffs, cascades, rock formations, wildflowers— wow!

Near sunset we reached the canyon bottom and one deep (thigh deep on me) ford of the creek before we made camp in a grove of sycamore trees. Again, we were very tired, but what a spectacular day!

Walk to Rivendell: In valley, fourth day from Weathertop

We ate “breakfast by firelight” in our room at Nature’s Inn, then headed out on a cold (frost on roofs; could see your breath), clear, NO wind morning! What a relief not to be battling a cold wind all day! The friendly Erwin Lake bus driver took us as close as he could to the PCT, then 2 miles of walking and we were “home” again on the trail. We both feel 100% better than we did 3 days ago! The first miles were quintessential “west” with sagebrush, ranches and horse tracks, but most amazing of all was that if you turn your head right, you’re looking at desert below, but turn left and you’re looking at snowy mountains, forests and lakes.

Note from Alexa: Sounds like Peter Jackson’s opinion of the Rohan landscape.

The PCT was basically fairly easy going, except for a lot of fallen trees to negotiate and snow to get across— fortunately the snow was not as scary, but I am still slower at it than Bill. We also enjoyed the stunning views of Big Bear Lake, and views of several large open-pit gold mines. The mines are much more extensive than they were in 2005!

At the end of the day we had a choice between “camp now” or push on 3.75 miles more. We chose “go on” and ended up camped in a brand new horse corral, the only flat spot we could find at Little Bear Springs Trail Camp. We were tired, after doing almost 30 miles.

Walk to Rivendell: Second day from Weathertop

Last night we ended up having a long and very fun “theological discussion” with Ed, who owns and runs Nature’s Inn. It ended up with Ed inviting Bill to a 6:00am men’s Bible study at Thelma’s (a local restaurant very popular with thru-hikers!) So Bill went, had a fine time, and I walked over and met him there for breakfast. After that, we spent the morning walking 4 miles over to the Discovery Center on North Shore. It was a great walk— beautiful lake and mountain views. Despite the cold weather, the snow is melting!

The Center wasn’t much, but was very nice— I talked for awhile with the volunteers about the Solar Observatory a bit further down the lake, then we hitchhiked “home” and our ride this time was from a deputy sheriff in his patrol car! First time I have ever ridden in a police car! He said he was bored— nothing was “happening” in Big Bear!

For lunch we ate up all the leftovers in our food bags, then went to the post office and mailed my camera back to the manufacturer for repair. It’s been misbehaving ever since Campo. We had a great dinner of hiker box items + the store, and a quiet evening of reading, ready to get back ontrail tomorrow! Hooray!

Walk to Rivendell: Thickets along Great East Road