Post Four | Days 16 to 21

• Total trail distance hiked: 369.1 miles | 594.33km
• Days on trail: 21

Current town stop: Wrightwood, CA. 

Day 16 started with a great sleep at Embers Lodge in Bear Bear Lake. I took full advantage of the 11am checkout time and slept in as late as possible. 

As I had only planned to hike about 10 miles that day I enjoyed a more leisurely pace in Big Bear. With laundry done, I met up with Alíz and Matt again for a coffee in the morning and then caught a ride back to trail with Jordan and Conner later in the day from a Trail Angel. 

The scenery in the desert changes pretty dramatically over a relatively short distance. The transition from arid desert with Joshua trees and to the pine forests with snow still surprises me. 

Waking up on Day 17 was freezing (potentially not the best night to have cowboy camped again). My CNOC water bag had frozen overnight and I should have paid more attention to the comments that it was going to get below 29°F that night (side note: of all the units of measurement used in the US, Fahrenheit is still the one I don’t think I’ll understand. The conversion to °C is an easy: (°F - 32) x 5/9). 

The rest of the day was an easy 20 or so miles with great views back over Big Bear Lake and several stream crossings (including a quick dip).

  Views back over Big Bear Lake

One of many creek crossings 

I realised I had left my spoon at the previous campsite so tried to fashion one out of a piece of wood with my Swiss Army Knife (spoiler: it didn’t work). 

Sleeping under a bridge (hopefully only on trail)

After about an hour into Day 18, I crossed the 300 mile marker (these mile markers seem to be coming quicker and quicker). The track followed a canyon for the majority of the day with the highlight being the Deep Creek Hotspring (where I definitely took a leisurely lunch and soaked for a few hours). 

Just before camp, the trail reached a bottleneck caused by a rattler who refused to let anyone pass. 

Avoiding the rattler 

Given my lack of carving ability, Day 18’s dinner utensil was a (sanitised) tent stake - definitely better than the handmade spoon but still less than ideal. 

Sunset 

I was the last to leave camp on the morning of Day 19 (I woke up just after 6am). After several miles, the trail reached the highway, passed the Mojave Water Powerplant, and then followed Silverwood Lake for the rest of the morning. 

Silverwood Lake

After a bit of a climb, I reached the summit just before midday and like a mirage, there was Trail Magic with shade, beer, and company for about an hour. Just what I needed. 

The rest of the day was largely downhill (gradient-wise) but with beautiful views over the mountains. More beautiful views arrived with a sign saying that there was a McDonalds 0.4mi off trail (rude not to, right?). It seemed as if half the PCT had the same idea. Luckily for the other patrons, and to not be too much of an assault on their senses, we had concentrated into a particular corner of Maccas. 

After two burgers, an ice cream, fries, and an incomprehensibly large soft drink, I headed across the Interstate with Party Pack and Professor for some snacks before the final three miles of trail. 

Just after setting up camp, we were greeted with several gunshots and what appeared to be target practice (in a hiking area) for about 30 minutes (welcome to America?). 

Despite the gunshots and the trains, it was otherwise a good spot

Day 20 was one of the hardest days on trail so far (almost as bad as the Mission Creek section). It involves more than 2,000m of elevation gain with a ~20mi water carry. Luckily, the views were spectacular otherwise it would have just been a slog. 

Making some shade with my sleeping quilt to have an afternoon siesta 

I had forgotten to swipe utensils from Maccas so it was dinner with the tent stake again. 

Today also marked the official halfway point of the 700 mile Desert Section of the PCT. 

Day 21 was an easy seven-ish mile hike to Highway 2 where Professor, Party Pack, and I got a hitch down into Wrightwood. After a big breakfast, the rest of the day was resupply (including buying a new spoon), town chores, and beers and pizza with fellow PCT Hikers. 

Portion sizes are huge; biscuits and gravy are not my thing 

Accommodation is a bit tight in Wrightwood so five of us are booked into a motel room. 

Wrightwood Accommodation 

The plan for today is to head back to trail in the afternoon, hike a few miles, and prepare for an early morning ascent of Mt Baden Powell (the final peak for the desert section and probably the final snow until we reach the Sierra Nevada). 

Apparently, the actual desert starts soon so the current routine will likely get a shake up to avoid hiking in the heat of the day. The plan is to resupply next either in Acton or Agua Dulce (the latter being the setting of Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’) in five or so days. 

Happy Hiking