We got up at 5:00 am and enjoyed a “breakfast by firelight” in our room at Nature’s Inn.  We let Ed, the owner, know that we were starting back to the PCT and that we would be praying for him, 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!

We were just in time to catch the Erwin Lake bus, and enjoyed a fascinating “tour” of the many little neighborhoods in the area as the bus followed a very convoluted route! The friendly bus driver took us as close as he could to the PCT (he said he’s done this for many hikers!), then 2 miles of walking past Erwin Lake, up the hill 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. What a contrast! I find it hard to believe that some thruhikers grump about southern California scenery being “boring and ugly”.  No way!

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!  We ate lunch at Doble Trail Camp, and found that a new “outhouse” had been installed.  It’s basically a pit toilet with a gated fence around it, completely open to the sky…which is fine on a nice day like today, but in the rain, well, not so nice. 

We met only a few thruhikers on the trail today. We heard at Nature’s Inn yesterday that there were plans for a BIG “hiker BBQ” at the hostel today.  Maybe that’s where everybody went??  I’m glad they had such a nice day for it, after all the wind and cold we’ve been having.  At 6:00 pm, we got to a sign that said it was 3.75 miles to Little Bear Springs Trail Camp.  A number of hikers had stopped to camp nearby.  Bill and I stood by the sign and discussed what to do. We had a choice between “camp now” or push on.  Could we do almost 4 miles before dark?   We chose “go on” and hiked as fast as we could through what turned out to be a forest fire zone of blackened trees and ashy ground. 

Just after the sun went down, we made it to the “camp”  (which fortunately had escaped the fire) and ended up laying out our sleeping bags IN a brand new horse corral, the only flat spot we could find!  Since the corral was new, there were no “meadow muffins” to deal with. We were tired, after doing almost 30 miles, and it was very nice to lie down and listen to Holcomb Creek rushing along not far away.  It is wonderful to be back on the trail!

Walk to Rivendell: Second day from Weathertop

Tags: Big Bear Lake, Erwin Lake, Little Bear Springs Trail Camp