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

Bill and I didn’t get up till 6:30 this morning–for a thruhiker, that is totally lazy!  I made us a huge breakfast in the hostel kitchen–3 fried eggs each,  on top of raisin English muffins, and a whole orange each.  Other hikers wandered in and said, “Man, that looks good!”  (They were only getting coffee and planning to go out for breakfast.)  I should say that it’s been fun talking to the other hikers here.  Those who actually made it across Fuller Ridge are few and far between, and they are like us–really tired!

Then we packed up everything, and Bill very kindly redid the antibiotic ointment, bandages, etc. on my rear end.  It is still pretty sore.  Bill commented, “I think you left a fair amount of yourself up there on the ridge.”  This morning was clear, sunny and cold; after last night’s howling wind and racing dark clouds, it was very pleasant!

We could see lines of pelicans flying by over the lake, which is only a block away from the hostel. The locals said as soon as the ice is gone from the lake each year, the pelicans come back.    This winter, for the first time in many years, the ENTIRE lake froze over and was very slow about breaking up.  Even now, I think you could still ski on some of the ski runs at the two main ski resorts.

After one last try at phoning the chap in Erwin Lake, we gave up  and headed out for the Big Bear City post office to get our next resupply box.  We walked down the street to the bus stop and stuck out our thumbs, figuring “Maybe we can snag a ride before the bus comes.”  Another thruhiker soon joined us, and we all stood there hopefully.  Sure enough, a lady in a little ratty car full of junk offered us a ride, we all squeezed in, and she took us straight to the post office.  Big Bear is definitely a trail angel town!!

At the PO, our box was waiting, AND we got our pictures taken as part of  the “PCT hiker 2010 display”  on the post office wall.  It’s pretty awesome!  Each hiker photo is labelled with your trail name and your age.  Bill and I were proud that we are among the oldest hikers so far this year.  Go, geezers!   We carried our box outside, and it only took a few minutes to load it into our packs.  A number of other hikers were doing the same thing.  It is fun to see what kind of stuff people mail to themselves!

Since we hadn’t been able to contact the guy at Erwin Lake, we had to decide where to stay tonight.  We are still very tired, and we need a rest.  The hostel was OK, but not that cheap, actually, for two people.  We asked at the PO if there was anyplace nearby, and they said, “Sure–all the hikers go to a place down the street there.”   We had just started to head out of the post office parking lot when a guy pulled up next to us and said, “Where are you going?  I can give you a ride.”   And he gave us a lift straight to Nature’s Inn.  When we pulled in, there was Billy Goat–so we knew for sure we were at a hiker-friendly place!   When we thanked the guy for the ride, he said, “I love helping you hiker people.   You’re only in town for a couple of weeks, and I love every minute of it!”  Wow!

Well, all I can say is, “This is like heaven!”  Nature’s Inn is WAY better than the hostel, much cheaper (for two of us)  and totally homey and comfortable.  For $37,  we get a really nice room with a fireplace,  a hiker lounge with lots of comfortable couches and carefully sorted hiker boxes full of cool stuff.   I rummaged through the boxes and found the bottom half of a convertible pants leg–perfect for repairs on my poor torn pants.   The manager/owner, Ed, even gave me some thread and scissors to use.  It took quite a long time to finish the mending, since I was determined to make it really strong so that it will last all the way to Canada!  I also mended Bill’s torn shirt sleeve (a bush got him when he fell up on Fuller Ridge). 

Nature’s Inn has so much going for it!  Once I got done with mending,  I went back to the hiker lounge.  There’s free coffee,  fruit, etc.  There’s even a Christmas tree (!!), pool table,  old LP’s you can play, and various heat/massage devices for sore hiker muscles.    There’s even an exercise room with all sorts of equipment,  though the hikers don’t use it–we need REST!   Actually, the “gym” also serves as a sort of overflow place to sleep if the place gets too full.

We walked down the street to the grocery store, where I got some veges, then  made us a nice pasta primavera for dinner, using the gas grill provided by the Inn.   Bill and I are so comfortable and happy here that we decided to stay on for one more day.    So tonight we are lounging in front of a fire in the fireplace (it is a cold night;  the fire feels good!).  The Inn is full of hikers.  It really feels like home!

Walk to Rivendell: Thickets along Great East Road