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

I think I should call this “trail angel day”–it was one trail angel experience after another.  We are awed and grateful.

Bill and I woke up to a very cold and VERY windy morning.  Once we got underway, we were pleased and surprised to find that it was only a quarter mile to the jeep road turnoff to Erwin Lake.  Bill had been in touch with a houseowner there who said we could stay in one of the homes on his property.  We turned off the PCT and headed into the wind for a very cold but beautiful walk along the road, through an “equestrian development”,  to the little community of Erwin Lake. But then we hit a problem–there were virtually no street signs.  We could not figure out where we were.  We were standing on a corner looking at our maps, while three large dogs in a nearby yard started barking furiously.  The owner came out to shush them, and seeing us looking at our maps, he figured we were thruhikers–and invited us in for coffee.  How could we say no?

It turned out that the house we’d been looking for was close by, but the owner was away, and no possibility of contacting him.  In the meantime, it turned out that our kind host was an 8th grade social studies teacher who LOVES history (he had history books, magazines, etc. everywhere) and we had a very lively, fun history discussion with him!   He gave us directions on how to take the local bus to town, and even insisted on giving us busfare!  Then he changed his mind and ended up giving us a ride into town and maps of the area!  Wonderful!

So we started walking down the main street of Big Bear City, looking for a church.  And hooray!   We found a church with an Awana banner out front.  Any church that has Awana has to be awesome!  We strolled in just in time for Sunday School and church service.

Note from Alexa: Bill & Monty are Awana commanders, see preparation posts for more information on that.

And it turned out that the church even has a permanent “offering can” for Jews For Jesus! Yes!  (I say that because I am a huge Jews for Jesus fan–we live not too awfully far from their HQ in San Francisco, and I often go out with them onto the streets of San Francisco, even though I’m a Gentile.  I get to wear a T-shirt that says, “Not JUST Jews for Jesus” or another one that says “Jesus Made Me Kosher.” ) 

After church, we hurried on, because fierce-looking clouds blowing in fast looked pretty ominous.  We decided  to get a room at the Hiker Hostel, and picked up some stuff for my sore rear end along the way.  At the hostel, we got a sunny little room all to ourselves, followed by laundry and showers.   Oh, man, does it feel good to be clean!  I rummaged the “open for grabs” shelves at the hostel for food and found that there basically wasn’t anything.   Too many thruhikers in town!  They ate it all!  So we said, “Oh, well” and walked a mile and a half down the road to the grocery store.

We’d just started walking back, and it was very cold–dark clouds covered all the mountaintops, and we said “Man, I’m glad I’m not up there on the PCT right now!”–when a kind couple stopped and offered us a ride.  More trail angels!   They were from Calvary Chapel, and normally we would have jumped at the chance to go to church with them, but we were very hungry, and opted to return to the hostel so I could cook us some dinner.  We sat and ate in the hostel dining room, looking out at clouds racing by and listening to the ever-increasing howl of the wind.  The forecast for tonight is a low of 21 degrees!    The locals are amazed.  All of them have been telling us that this is weird weather.  Normally on Mother’s Day (which is today), everybody is having picnics by the lake. Not this year!  The daffodils are blooming and there is still snow on every hillside..

 Tonight the wind is literally screaming around the snug hostel.  And the forecast was right–the temperature is 21 degrees.  We are so blessed to be here, and not up on the ridge like we were last night!  It has been a great day!

Walk to Rivendell: Thickets along Great East Road