I Really Screwed Up - Days 16-19"

Day 16

Mile 232.1 to Big Bear ~ 20 Miles

Today started off extremely rough. More uphill, and a lot of it. Imagine going to the gym and working out your biceps really hard, then the next morning going back and doing it again, then again. That’s how my legs are feeling right now. Not in any significant pain, just very fatigued. The day started off with a SLOW 7 miles. I found out that there was a 20 mile waterless stretch so that means I needed to carry about 5 liters of water... that’s about 11lbs. So with more weight on my back the progress felt nonexistent. Then at about 1pm I sat down for a break, put my headphones in and listened to some music from the good old days. “Old school hip-hop”, the stuff my best friend Daniel and I would listen to in high school! I found myself blazing down the trail. It’s amazing the power of music!

Then before I knew it I had hiked 20 miles and hit the road into Big Bear! Ondre and I were both sooo ready to get into town. After about 20 minutes with our thumbs out, a awesome guy named David gave us a ride into town. Ondre and I are splitting a hotel room and tomorrow I will be having my first “zero day” (no hiking). I’m excited for a day off and time to rest and enjoy Big Bear!

Day 17

Zero Day

I took my first zero day! I spent the day in Big Bear getting rest and getting prepared to hit the trail tomorrow morning. I took a bus to the nearest Vons and did a full resupply to get me through the next 100 miles. Pop Tarts, Ramen, cheese, candy, you know the usual hiker food. I also went to the laundry mat and did all my laundry! Then Ondre and I ran across Scarecrow and his son Chris again and went out for pizza! Today was a fantastic day and I’m antsy and prepared to get back on the trail in the morning.

Day 18

Big Bear to Mile 287.6 ~ 21.4 Miles

Coming out of Big Bear, Ondre and I sat on the main road with our thumbs out trying to get a ride back to the trail. 10 minutes past, no bites. Then another hiker came, her name was Smiles, and she was looking to get back on trail too. All three of us stood there and had zero luck! So we checked our Uber/Lyft app to see if there was anyone in the area, nobody. What a hopeless feeling not having the ability to get where you want to go. It’s something I take for granted off the trail. Eventually we finally found a Uber driver and we split the ride back to the trail. By then it was about 9:30am.

Everyone has their spot or setting where their mind is free and thoughts flow with clarity. Mine usually is in the car when I’m driving alone with the music off. Today it was on the trail. I was hiking and I had so many awesome life ideas, creative thoughts and entrepreneurial ideas. The miles ticked away while my mind ran away. It was so much fun having mental clarity and letting my thoughts take over. I would say today marks the best day I have had on the trail yet!

Day 19

Mile 287.6 to Mile 305.9 ~ 18.3 Miles

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Today I made a big mistake...

The day started off fantastic because Bill and Kaelan, who live in Lake Arrowhead offered their house for me to stay in! I told them about my zero day in Big Bear and that I didn’t want to stay off the trail so we settled on lunch. After 11 miles I got to the trail head to meet Bill. Kaelan was at RYLA, the Rotary leadership camp, so Bill and I set out for food. We went to a malt shop that had fantastic burgers and milk shakes. I got a big bbq burger with a mint chip shake... yummm! It was great to catch up with Bill and hangout. After that hospitality and kindness the my day seemed like it couldn’t go wrong...

I got back onto the trail and crossed a river called Deep Creek. This is a creek that runs along the trail for miles and I figured I might as well grab 1 more liter of water at this crossing. So I screw my filter onto my bottle and start filtering the creek water. Once I was done and had my 1 liter of clean water I went to unscrew the filter off my bottle and plop... it goes into the creek. I paused for a second, not sure if I was in shock or if I was assessing the situation, but the filter went sailing down the creek. I ripped off my shoes and socks in a blink and hopped in the cold creek after it. I was about knee high in rushing water and I saw the filter drop into the next pool of water down stream. I hurried to get down to it but as I was maneuvering through the slippery rocky creek I lost sight of my filter.... I spent about 30 minutes looking and walked down stream to see if I could spot it and nothing. I had lost my filter.

So I took a deep breath and thought to myself... this could be worse. I will be ok. I was lucky enough to be in an area where I had internet so I ordered another filter on amazon and shipped it to the next town which is about 70 miles away. I got separated from Ondre because I came off the trail for lunch so my goal was to catch him. I have 2 liters of water and I am drinking about 1 liter per 5 miles. If I don’t catch Ondre I will just drink the water from the upcoming water sources unfiltered and hope for the best.