A Beautiful Day & Bypassing Big Bear

This morning I woke up around 4:30 AM and laid for a little while longer. I turned my stove on and made a huge mocha. Then little by little I began getting packed up. There were a lot of people tented around, but the campsite was pretty quiet. I could hear one person slowly starting to move around, but no one was packing up. By 5:45 AM I was off and heading out of camp.

The morning began with a pretty gradual climb. I’d been camped around maybe 7500 feet, and made my way up above 8000 feet. I could see some patches of snow off the trail. Though I wouldn’t wind up seeing any significant snow until I got a bit higher up later on in the morning. Most of the trail was melted to the point that there was a narrow path in the center of the trail that was clear. That was the best case scenario.

The sun coming up over the trail this morning.

I wore my Montbell wind layers for most of the morning. It wasn’t particularly windy, but it was a little bit cold at the higher elevation. Plus the sun hadn’t fully come out yet. Over the course of the morning I walked along a pretty narrow ridge with huge fall out along the left side. I could definitely see how this portion of trail would be a little bit sketchy if there had been a lot of snow on the ground.

Wearing my montbell wind gear this morning. Easily one of my favorite pieces of gear that I started using in 2025.

A little over 6 miles into the day I passed a junction for a cabin. Apparently the cabin is open to the public and hikers can stay there. But you’re supposed to reserve it in advance; though I can only imagine that most people just stay there if it’s empty. There was also a privy right outside the cabin. When I passed by there, the trail had leveled out briefly. And after that, I began to climb for the next mile and a half.

Snow dusted mountains off in the distance.

I would go through some more patches of snow, especially on sections of the trail that were shaded. But there was never any major accumulation on the trail. I barely had to walk across more than a few feet of snow over the course of the entire morning. When I got up to the next high point, those campsites were pretty much covered in snow.

A large PCT emblem on a tree.

Around this time I had gotten some service which was great. I didn’t really do any work last night because I was eager to get a fantastic nights sleep. But the trail was easy enough that I managed to edit and upload a video while I walked. I also got a YouTube video up. Then over the course of the next hour or so I voice-to-text-ed my blog from yesterday. And somehow the terrain was nice enough in the afternoon that I was able to do grammatical editing of the blog while I was moving. I don’t think I’ve been able to do that since I was down in Florida or Alabama. There was maybe one day on the entire Appalachian Trail that I was able to do editing while I walked.

The narrow foot path through the snow. Truly the extent of the melt could not be more ideal

That was all amazing! Last night I got to camp so early that I really just wanted to get 8 hours of sleep if I could. I cannot remember the last time that I got more than six hours of sleep. Even on days when I’ve done a “nero”, I still usually wind up staying up super late and waking up early. I didn’t even get 8 hours of sleep during the zero that I took in West Lebanon, NH.

Hiking around snow along a rocky portion of the trail.

After I got all of that finished, I was set for the day! I didn’t see very many hikers over the course of the morning. I walked past that private property which used to have a zoo on it. Or at least it used to have some cages filled with animals. When I went past there in 2017 I think I recall them having a bear and a mountain lion. Though it could just have been one of the two. This time around all I saw in the cages were a bunch of dogs. I did run into another hiker named Four Runner when I was near there. And shortly after that, I passed by one more hiker, but we didn’t chat much.

Over 250 miles in so far!

It was a pretty perfect day out. There were lots of clouds in the sky, which would come in and out periodically. So I was very comfortable in temperature but not too hot. I knew about 26 miles into the day I would be passing by the highway where you can hitch into Big Bear. But I’m just planning on pushing past there to get to Cajon Pass in a couple of days. Doing that will save me some time and energy. Plus I think I’m going to do somewhere between 35–40 miles today. So it would just be a pretty “short” day into Big Bear if I did stop off. I’d rather have a shorter day into Cajon pass where I have a box waiting for me.

Hiking through a delightful pine forest. I love the smells of the trees.

Later on in the afternoon, I saw another hiker off in the distance. She actually called over to me and recognized me. Her name was The Mountain because her first name is actually Whitney. She’s been watching the videos and following along and was super nice. I talked to her for a little bit and she was planning on going into town. After chatting for a while, I continued along the trail. Knowing I would probably be stopping in a few miles at the next water source again. This would be the last water source for about 16 or so miles. So I definitely wanted to remember to stop off there and fill up. Even though it’s a little bit overcast today and I probably won’t be drinking as much  as usual.

These adorable red flowers were growing out of a cactus.

After I finished all my work earlier in the day, I just spent the rest of the afternoon listening to some podcasts. Then I wound up getting to that next water source and sitting down briefly to fill up at least a liter. I also pulled out a few more snacks that I had in the mesh of my backpack. And while I sat there, The Mountain caught up to me. She joined me there at the water and we talked for a little bit longer. This is her first particularly long hike and she’s been loving it. I was telling her about how this is my favorite trail of the triple crown trails. Though, I always think hikers are pretty biased by whichever trail they did first.

I continued along a ridge for most of the day. Until eventually the trail headed into more of a wooded area with big pine tree.

From there, it was about 7.5 miles to the road where you can hitch into Big Bear. Those next couple of hours were really nice and easy. I wound up doing some stuff on my phone because I had service. The trail was really nice packed sand and was clear of any obstacles. It’s always great to be able to enjoy an hour every now and then that is basically mindless.

The weather was perfect today. Blue skies, with a healthy number of clouds.

Right around 2:30 PM I got down to the highway and saw a big cooler by the road. I got pretty excited, thinking that it might be sodas or something for trail magic. I am so appreciative of any and all support by Trail Angels, but it wasn’t exactly my kind of trail magic. It was a bunch of cases of Heineken zero and other warm nonalcoholic beer. I’m sure that to some people that’s super exciting to see by the trailhead. But I was just wishing that it had been water. This road marked almost the halfway point of a fairly long water carry. I just found up walking right past it and didn’t grab anything. I know some people love beer while they’re hiking, but it’s the last thing that I want when I’m thru hiking. This year I’m not drinking at all just because I want to care for my body the best that I can. In the past on other thru hikes, I definitely have drank periodically. But usually at Trail magic I prefer a soda or some kind of not an alcoholic beverage.

I loved this sign which I passed today along the trail.

From there, I had about 9 miles to the next water source. But I had plenty of water to get me there. And I had about 12–13 miles to get to camp for the night. That would put me in at a 40 mile day which should be perfect. And it looks like I would still be getting to camp around 7 PM, well before dark. That means if I do another 35–40 mile day tomorrow, I’ll have a relatively short day to get into Cajon pass! The day could be in the low 20s if I do a bigger day tomorrow. Which I would love! Then I could relax, get a bunch of video work done, and eat a ton of food. The motel Cajon pass also has a hot tub, which is incredible.

Dark skies rolling in behind some massive Joshua trees!

Those next couple of hours were a lot of nice sandy and pine covered trail. It made for some easy walking. Eventually, I did begin a pretty gradual climb, but I felt really good. I passed by two other thru hikers and they smelt amazing! I told one of the ladies and she said they had just got dropped back off at the road after being in town. It’s always so funny how well you can smell clean people when you’re thru hiking.

Once I got up to the top of that small hill, I was just rolling along through a pine forest for the next handful of miles. Making my way towards that next water source for the day. It would also be the last water source before camp for the night. And I wouldn’t pass water again until I was maybe 8–10 miles into the day tomorrow. But that’s no problem at all.

I’m excited that I’ll be getting to camp tonight before dark. I just feel like there’s been so many random obstacles on trail recently, that my timing has been a little bit less predictable. I also have stayed in town multiple times. And usually when I stay in town, I start hiking a couple hours later than I normally would for the day. But all in all I feel like I’ve been pretty productive with my time. I just love this dang trail. There is nothing better in the world than being able to do 40 miles before it gets dark. It will be a hard transition to go back to the two hardest states of the Appalachian trail, New Hampshire and Maine!

When I was about 4 miles away from my tent site for the night I passed the final water source. This would have to tide me for camp tonight and a few hours of walking in the morning. I filled up quickly and then continued on to camp for the night. Over the next hour or so I passed tons of hikers! There were a few different tent sites along the route. I was hoping that the final one wouldn’t be filled. After a 40.4 mile day I know I won’t want to push on in search of a tent spot.

I got to camp a little bit before 7AM, which was wonderful timing considering the mileage I did today. The site I chose to stay at was marked as a 3 person tent site. But there were about 10 people set up at least! There was still plenty of room though. I said hello to the hikers who were outside their tents. Then found a spot to get situated for the night. It’s so cool to see big groups like this on the trail. And all the hikers know each other! I think most people have been on trail for 2+ weeks at this point. So everyone knows everyone. It’s funny being a bit of a ghost out here. I hike alone all day and never really see anyone more than once. That’s something which was on my mind pretty heavily this evening. Obviously it’s not a bad thing. It’s exactly what I signed up for. But I really felt it emphasized this evening.

Once I got my tent set up I made a Knorr side dish for dinner. And I even had service! Which meant I’d be able to get my work done tonight, and not do any multitasking tomorrow. After laying around for a while I figured it would be late. But it was just after 8PM. It’s so nice getting to camp early. What a treat. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have a nice early start again. 

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