The McDonald's March

May 4th, 2012
Day 34
Today's Miles: 15.5

This morning we woke up at our camp near the lake and MAN it was chilly. We headed out on to the trail and as usual enjoyed some killer morning views.




Physically, I have been feeling great. My feet are doing well and my endurance is improving. I was moving pretty quick this morning, just cruising along.



We are getting farther and farther...






While I was cruising along, I stumbled upon our 5th rattlesnake of the trail. He was sunning himself across the trail when we strolled up, noticed us, rattled and slithered away.




We kept on cruising at a great pace the rest of the day. We were leap frogging with Coop & Alex all day and ran into Frank near the 15 freeway.




With less than a half a mile to go, we came across our 6th rattlesnake of the trail.



We made it to McDonald's a little after noon.




We chowed down when we got there! Our final meal consisted of four sodas, four large fries, a bacon cheeseburger, two orders of 10 chicken nuggets, two orders of chicken strips and a milkshake. I can't remember the last time I ate at a McDonald's previous to this, but my hiker hunger was lovin' it today.

We ended up deciding to stay at the Best Western tonight along with Coop, Alex, Frank, Bird, Freebird and Bo.

Tomorrow will be a long day with no water for 22 miles. Some are considering night hiking this hot dry section of trail. We will see what tomorrow brings for us.

-Twist

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Camping by Silverwood Lake

May 3rd, 2012
Day 33
Today's Miles: 18.5

After soaking in the hot springs last night, we (well I should say "I") woke up a little late this morning. We managed to pack up and get on the trail by 8:15am though and started our hike out of the Deep Creek area. Before we left, Twist managed to get a couple pictures of the river and hot springs.










Technically you aren't supposed to camp near the springs....



If the sun hadn't gotten in this picture, you would be able to see it reads, "No Camping". You can see a hiker's campsite right behind the sign along with his underwear drying on it. Ha!

The hike out of Deep Creek was much like the hike in. The trail hung high over the creek, giving us great views all morning.







As we continued to wind our way over the creek, we popped around a bend and got our first view of Mt. Baden-Powell. We will be summiting it in a matter of just a few days.




We encountered a lot of spray painted rocks along the trail, but just before we dropped down to the Mojave Spillway, we ran into three ladies who were working hard at removing the graffiti.



Thanks Ladies!



The Spillway from above...



The spillway from below.

Shortly after the Spillway, we ran across a small ice chest left for PCT hikers! We each had a soda and were joined by Lucky Nalgene who had left before us but mistakenly overshot the trail at a river crossing and had walked a couple miles or so out of the way.



Twist diving in for a Coke!

We leapfrogged with Lucky Nalgene, Alex and Coop all day and passes them on our way to have lunch at the side of a small creek. Now along the way, we kept seeing Oak Balls in the trees and it reminded me of my Step-Dad Russ. He loves making little animals out of them so as a tribute, we collected the Oak Ball and other materials over a mile or two and made what very well may be the first (but probably not last) PCT Oak Ball Cow!



Notice the detail in the tail area, Russ? Ha Ha! We left it on a rock as a trail marker.

As we wound in and out of the hills, we got some great views of the cloud cover up ahead of us.




As well as of the Lizards around our feet!




We descended down from the hills and started toward Silverwood Lake.



Me in front of the rock damn.



We got some pretty nice views around Silverwood.

We picked a camping spot at a boat-in-area with picnic tables and trash cans, ahhhhhh the little things!



I've never appreciated a table or place to sit more in my life than on this trail.

We set up camp and just as we were getting in our bags, Alex and Coop hiked down to join us by the lake. The trail these last few days has been great. Hopefully it continues that way into Cajon Pass because there is an on-trail McDonalds that we plan to put outta business tomorrow!

-Tailgate

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Detour!? We Don't Need No Stinking' Detour!

May 2, 2012
Day 32
Miles: 22.1

Today we started out from Holcomb Creek with the hot springs in our sights.

We followed the creek for awhile enjoying the company of a few ducks.






Some wildflowers brightened up the trail as well.

We crossed the creek a number of times today. I had a perfect records of staying dry until the last crossing of the day.

We leap frogged all day with Rubbs, Lucky Nalgene and Southern. We all took a break mid-day at the bridge over Deep Creek just a couple miles short of the 300 mile mark. Alex and Coop were there as well.

On a side note, we found out that Alex and Coop are the "city slickers". We had heard stories about their cow attack up the trail. I was thrilled to hear them tell their cow story first hand. Sure glad that they were alright and are still on the trail.

All 7 of us decided to skip the Deep Creek detour and head to the hot springs. There were a few narrow sections of trail over a pretty big drop off, but nothing awful as we hiked into the 300's.



We enjoyed more pretty blooms.



The section of trail that we would have missed because of the detour was really pretty. I am glad we didn't miss out. The trail ran high above the creek and we could look down at the deep pools of water and enjoy the view of the creek for the remaining miles we had to hike.

We made it to the hot springs! Tailgate and I took care of some chores, like getting water. Then it was time to strip down to our skivvies and jump in. The water was truly HOT, not just luke warm like I expected. It felt awesome to soak our bodies and especially our feet. As to be expected, there were other day hikers and hot spring enthusiasts here as well. And the hot spring experience wouldn't be complete with out some naked dudes wandering around. Quite the experience!






-Twist

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Twenty Over The Lake

May 1st, 2012
Day 31
Today's Miles: 19.7

We woke up this morning and headed out for another great day of hiking! We were treated to a great sunrise with a view over the desert that made us stop and watch in awe more than a couple times.







We've also gotten our first glimpses of Joshua Trees the last couple days!







Along the first climb of the day, we got to view the skeleton of an old mine in the hills above Baldwin Lake.



You can see the old mine near the top of the hill.



Looking back over Baldwin Lake from a chute of Granite laying across the trail.

Because the trail has been so nice and our bodies have been feeling less and less pain, we have been able to stop and really enjoy the little things on the trail.



Everything from wild flowers...



To crazy rock monster looking plants! Ha ha!



And as far as inside jokes go...Carl, if you are reading this; we were able to just escape the clutches of Van Dusen The Vampire! (Van Dusen Road pictured above).

Along the trail today we met five other thru hikers; Rubbs, Southern, Lucky Nalgene, Coop and Alex. With over 900 thru hiker permits issued by the PCTA this year, we know we are just beginning to meet all the hikers out this year.

We got some great views of Big Bear Lake along with a couple really neat PCT trail markers today as well!







As we continued to hike, we reached the Butler 1 and Butler 2 fire areas (after Twist found her third Geocache of the trip...unintentionally mind you!).

But with all the visibility due to lack of vegetation, we were able to see some dramatic landscape in the distance.


We ended the day at Holcomb Creek and will aim to hit the Hot Springs in the Deep Creek area tomorrow (bypassing the detour of course), and then maybe put in more miles later in the day after a quick dip in the springs.

-Tailgate

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Lions, Tigers, Bears, and A German Shepherd?

April 30th, 2012
Day 30
Today's Miles: 15.9

Started today where we left off before our Big Bear stay at Rainbow Ln. near PCT mile 250.1. We got to stop in and see the animals at the "Predators In Action" compound that we had heard so much about. There was a Tiger, a Lion and two Bears. Unfortunately because it was early, we didn't get too many good shots of them, however, the tracks in the trail left from the animals being walked were a bit disconcerting....

Of all the animals there, the one that caught our attention the most was the three legged German Shepherd that was the compound's "trained attack dog". He wouldn't stop barking the entire time we were there until we came to this sign explaining there were attack dogs on the property....where he proceeded to hold a stick as if to play fetch with us.



Notice the sign "BEWARE These Premises Patrolled By Trained Attack Dogs".

We hiked on after viewing the animals and got our first glimpse of Baldwin Lake.




As we hiked on we enjoyed some of the most well maintained trail yet. With the pine trees above us and the soft trail under foot, we felt like we were gliding down the trail. Having all the shade, great trail and water flowing everywhere, we looked down on the desert and were thankful we were hiking where we were.



Cool clear water right on the trail.













We continued to cruz all day and did the 15.9 miles in a little over 5 1/2 hours. We could have kept moving but we decided instead to spend more time with Twist's parents (since this may very well be the last time we get to see them until the end of our hike) and went to Mexican food in Big Bear City from Highway 18. Thank you so much to Richard (now Road Runner) and Jackie for all their help and support for this first leg of our trip. We really appreciate all the support both sides of our families have shown during this hike.....now our parents know who'll be first up in changing THEIR diapers when the time comes! Ha ha.

-Tailgate




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