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May 30, 2015
Day: 6 Daily Miles: 47 Total Miles: 277.75 Hours Hiking: 16.25
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| Looking east into the Mojave desert from the mountains around Big Bear. |
May 30th, a Saturday, I made it 47 miles on the dot, to mile point 278, which is north of Big Bear, just passed where you get a really good view of the lake and town and stuff... that point is 0508210E 3793656N UTM. Let's see.....I hiked a little later than I wanted to the night before, to get up Mission Creek as far as possible. I woke up about the usual time, I got on trail about 5:20 am or so, something like that and had about a good hour and a half of no sun, you're in a canyon thankfully, so it blocks a lot of the sunlight and I really didn't get hit with the sun until I made it to the first part of the climb. Thankfully it was still early morning sun, so it wasn't super hot yet...there was actually more water than I was expecting there, some poodle-dog brush as well....but, the climb in 2012 was horrendous....I was basically dreading it all morning, but that was because [in 2012] I was super sleep deprived and hit it later in the day and a whole slough of other things that make life not fun. I knew the climb was there and so I just started doing it....having to count steps, sure, my legs aren't invincible, they are tired, especially when it's a steeper climb like that one is, but I just stuck with it and told myself 'from my start point to pretty much the top of the climb is 10 miles, so give it a good three hours and when you get to the top, you'll be happy'.....and I was definitely happy when I got to the top, because I knew that from then on, the day was fairly easy, good graded switchbacks, even if I had to go up...there was some trail magic, you know just generally the rest of the day was going to be good. I felt better, I haven't been sleeping that well, I'm still going to chalk that up to not quite being adjusted to sleeping on my really thin, tiny pad, and I found that my hips, when I sleep on my side, they squish the muscle not my thighs or anything, but there are a couple flexors and stuff that go across the hip area, and when I sleep on my side they get really sore, so I don't really like to sleep on my side, even though that's how I normally sleep. But yeah, once at the top, I had full water, and it was heavy.... I had noticed that since I had been sick, I have been drinking a heck of a lot more water, so, my normal, 1.5 liters for 10 mile...or 2 liters when its hot out, I hadn't been following quite the same pattern, so I might as well carry more water, because in the end I will drink it all. It was really nice to get up into the cooler air, 8,000 ft by about 11:00 am.
I passed a few people, I met a girl named Poptart, she was really excited to meet me because she works with Jennifer Farr Davis, the AT supported record holder and was doing a speedier hike herself, her goal being under 90 days. She is thinking she might want to try a record attempt at one point on some trail...so that was kind of fun, not too many people A. have a clue who am and B. care. (laughs) But, that's the way it should be, really, this is more of a personal thing I think and it's just to see what I can do and if I can achieve my goal, I might set a new record, and if I do, so be it and if I don't who cares, I achieved my goal. After that, I went up and around in the trees, which was great, I love being back in the trees. I can't wait to be in the Sierras. Then, I finally got to the bear cages and then a little passed Onyx Summit there was the trail magic from the [Big Bear] hostel, I had a soda...then another soda and kept on truckin'.
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| Looking dorky, per usual! |
I ate lunch on the move, because I was feeling a little behind in the morning, and once you project forward, you have to figure you can't stop as much, because stopping and talking with people really eats up your time, because you're just not moving, and usually I don't even sit down, just because I feel like its a brief thing, but it turns into like 15 to 20 minutes or something silly. I was stoked from the trail magic, then got down to the Arrastre Trail camp, where there were two people - another guy who was really interested in what I was doing, so I talked with him for a good 15-20 minutes and put myself behind a little further. I got some really great water from the Arrastre Trail Spring right on trail, it's one of those things that I had just forgotten about...I had gotten some water at the pool right below the camp, which I was like "yeah, whatever, its water, I need it"...then I go another two tenths of a mile and there is this spring just flooding out this little alcove...and I was like "well, dump the other water and refill'. I didn't treat it, so I'll take that chance and we'll see. I mean, I know people, a lot of people who have done this trail with no water treatment at all, so it's really just a gamble, anytime you don't treat, but that's OK because for the most part, because you need probably causes to get you sick, versus just normal water, especially spring water. Anyway, we'll find out later... After that, I put on some music and tried to zone out. The trail kinda gets away from the trees, more into the sage brush, reminds me of northern Nevada, you're up high, high desert shrubbery, not many trees, more junipers and stuff. I made it to the highway, the light was still up for a good 1.5-2 hours or so, which put me ahead of my 2012, by a good margin...I remember hitting the highway and it was just getting dark. All in all, I was happy because I was ahead of schedule and was doing well. It wasn't a whole heck of a lot of downhill which my knees still aren't happy about from San Jacinto...I got further than I was expecting, I was hoping for a 46 and I did a 47...it just happened to be that where a 46 was, there really wasn't a good camping spot, so I had to go around the front side where you can see down to Big Bear...there were three scorpions on trail, they were obviously coming out of the rocks and cracks for foraging at night....I saw those with my light. Then I came up to a nice spot...I finished about 9:30 pm, I got set...I got everything else done and then started eating dinner around 10:00 pm, so I think I went to bed around 10:15/20 pm, which is too late for me really.
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| Sunset in the trees around Big Bear. |
I'm getting up at 4:50 am, I really, really, need actually be going to bed around 9:30-10:00 at the latest, Preferably 9:00 pm, so I can get those good 8 hours of sleep, because that doesn't only help my mental state, but helps with my recovery....but mental is a big part of the game, because the brain forces the legs to do everything else, even if they hurt....(laughs) ...like they do. I massaged my legs yesterday night and....yeah, they are sore....I'm pretty sure if someone punched me in the calf right now, I would probably punch them in the face and then pass out....because they are THAT sore....and that's just because they are being used so much. I haven't taken my compression socks off since the first night and it's good because it's sun protection and two, they look kind of funny and cool, but three, its just a pain in the ass to take them on and off and 4, they do give a little support during the day, like the calf muscle itself doesn't jiggle around, and holds it in place, so it does't have to maybe work as much? or get tossed about as much and hurt more? I don't know...it's a theory. So far, as long as I don't get any sores or anything, they are working out fine. I'm happy with my progress, for sure...I've been updating a lot of the water sources for Halfmile, which is good, because a lot of them are about a month old, and I'm like "that's a pain in the ass for me [no knowing their status], and I can at least make the mileage between them if one is dry, I couldn't imagine going slower and being like 'Ohhh nooo, this water source is terrible, but the water report from a month ago said it was fine..'' So, I feel like I'm doing my part... (smug noises)...That's about all that's been goin' on.
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| The evening sun casts long shadows around Big Bear. |
