Last night  Bill went over to visit with Ed, who owns Nature’s Inn, and it wasn’t long before the two of them were in an animated “theological discussion.”  Turns out Ed is a real follower of Christ, but he’s had a long rough road to get there, and things are still pretty tough for him.   He told us how he grew up going to church.  “It was like having all the pieces of the puzzle in front of me,” he said.  “Only I didn’t know how to put them together.”  It was only a few years ago, he said, that he finally “got it” and truly gave himself to Christ.

Ed’s unbelievably busy job as singlehanded owner/manager makes it impossible for him to go to a church on Sunday, but  he attends a 6 am men’s Bible study at Thelmas’ (a nearby restaurant), and used to be able to help with a Bible study at the local jail.  Ed is a supernice guy, but he’s having a hard time making ends meet.  The PCT thruhikers are a big help to him, and that’s why he gives us all such awesomely good rates to stay here!

So this morning, Bill and Ed went to the Bible study, and later on I walked down the road to meet up with Bill once the Bible study was over.   The sky was clear, but it was freezing cold with a strong wind blowing.  Brrrr!  I was glad to reach the warmth of Thelma’s and met Bill there for a great breakfast.  We weren’t the only PCT hikers!  Lots of hungry guys (and a few of us gals) were busy eating everything in sight.  Many were staying at  Nature’s Inn.  Ed joked last night about how he was full up (people were even sleeping in the exercise room!), yet there was not a single car in the parking lot!

 After that, we spent the morning walking 5 miles over to the Discovery Center on North Shore. It was a great walk with beautiful lake and mountain views. Despite the cold weather, the snow is melting! In just the two days we’ve been here, we’ve seen quite a change in the size of the snowfields on the mountainsides.  We passed St. Columba’s Anglican-Episcopal church.  I wondered how they’d been able to bridge that huge controversy and be “both” sides.  But one of my favorite churches back home is St. Columba’s out in beautiful Point Reyes.  So this makes TWO “St. Columbas”, both in beautiful forests!

As we walked along the hike/bike path on the north side of Big Bear Lake, we were impressed at how different it was from the south side.  On the south side of the Lake, it’s tall evergreen trees and snowy mountains–very alpine-looking.  The north side is much dryer, and it’s mostly chaparral and junipers.  I guess that’s because it’s closer to the desert??  At any rate, it’s like two different worlds right next to one lake.  We passed a very nice “Bay-size” boat for sale, at only $2,300.  Bill said that was unbelievably cheap.  There were no boats on the lake today–the wind was making whitecaps and it was pretty rough out there.

When we reached the Discovery Center, we found that it wasn’t much.  I’d say it was 1/4  offices, 1/4 classrooms, 1/4 gift shop and only about 1/4 actual museum.  Bill took about 15 minutes to look at it.  As usual, I took a lot longer (my family jokes that they can go through an entire museum in the time it takes me to “do” one room of it.  My response is, “That’s because I actually LOOK at things and READ all the information!”) But  the Center actually was very nice— I talked for awhile with the volunteers about the Solar Observatory a bit further down the lake.  It looks like a huge white gumball machine by the shore. Turns out that it is one of only SIX solar observatories in the entire world, and it’s located here because Big Bear gets on average 300 days of sunshine per year, and has very clear air.  It’s currently being run by New Jersey Tech. 

We went back across the lake on a causeway with a plan to take the bus “home”, but after we’d been at the bus stop only a few minutes (with our thumbs out, hoping for a ride), a deputy sheriff in a patrol car pulled over and stopped in front of us. With a twinkle in his eye and a wicked grin, he said, “Don’t you know it’s not legal, what you’re doing?  No hitch-hiking!”  We hesitated, and he told us, “Hop in! Where are you going?”  and he gave us a ride back to Big Bear City!  We had fun talking to him, and it was the first time I have ever ridden in a police car!  The deputy said he was bored–nothing was happening in town except the “spring hiker influx”.  “But isn’t that a good thing?” we asked.  “I ‘spose so,” he replied.  “But it is really boring.”  “So you’d rather be chasing bad guys, then?” asked Bill, and the answer was, “You got it!” 

When the officer dropped us off, we thanked him heartily, not just for the ride, but for the job he was doing.  I told him how I had come to realize that law enforcement officers are like a very THIN brave line that stands between us “ordinary folks” and some really BAD dudes.  The deputy agreed, and said, “I wish more folks understood that.”

We ate up all our leftover trail food for lunch, then went to mail my camera back to the manufacturer.  It’s an almost new camera, but it has been giving me problems ever since Campo.  Back at Nature’s Inn, we discovered that a whole new “crop” of thruhikers had arrived.  It was fun meeting everybody!   Hikers were lounging about, watching TV, eating and talking.  By the way, I have decided that the MOST popular TV channel for thruhikers is—the WEATHER channel!  Everybody is watching it, and speculating on how the forecasts will affect their hike.  And most of all, everyone is wondering how the weather will affect snow conditions in the Sierras.  It is so cold that the snow is STILL not melting much up there.

One of the hikers was grilling himself a ribeye steak with lots of veges. We’d brought a barbecued chicken from the store down the road, so we also had a “feast” for dinner.  Bill had fun talking to a contractor who is staying in the room next to ours.  He was fretting because he has a big concrete pour scheduled for tomorrow, and it is so cold that trying to do the pour will be very difficult.  “What’s the matter with the weather?”  he complained.  “It’s not supposed to be like this in the middle of May!!??”  We sympathized, then loaded our packs ready to hit the trail again tomorrow. 

 Then we had a nice quiet evening of reading by the fire in the fireplace, and went to bed early.    We both feel SO MUCH better, and even though we know more snow, some big trail detours and other challenges lie just ahead, we are ready to go.  And it was a huge blessing to be able to hang out with Ed a bit and talk about Bible stuff.  PCT, here we come!

Walk to Rivendell: Thickets along Great East Road

Tags: Big Bear City, North Shore Discovery Center, Solar Observatory