Big Bear City to Wrightwood, 116 Miles

Before writing about this section, I wanted to get a little time behind me. Though the trail was not too difficult, this was the hardest part of the journey so far for me, as I was hiking through an injury.
Despite this, we experienced some of our most beautiful, bleak and bizarre views so far here.

Day 25, Cienaga Creek Ranch to Doble Trail Camp, 18 Miles

After taking a rest in Big Bear Lake and enjoying some fine Indian and Thai food, we are back.

We immediately began a descent from the San Gorgonio Mountains into the high desert once again. Today, we lost 2,000 ft of elevation, going from pine forest to chapparal. It would not be an exaggeration to say that we go through at least two unique ecosystems within an average day of hiking here.

We camped on a cold, windy night at an abandoned equestrian campsite, with luxuries including running water and a composting privy.

With easier grade of trail, we began to feel comfortable getting in more miles each day without feeling fatigued. However, the trail here is very dry and sandy. This would prove to be my undoing.

Day 26, Doble Springs Camp to Little Bear Springs Camp, 17 Miles

Let’s begin with two issues caused by the coarse desert sand. First, the sand is wearing at the laces of my shoes, causing them to not cinch tightly and fray. Second, and much more unpleasantly, some of the sand got into my left shoe and the grit wore at my feet. Within a half hour, the sand took the first two layers of skin off of my left pinky toe.

I probably don’t need to explain why hiking 90 miles on an open wound is not the most pleasant thing that I have done! From now on, I would clean and bandage my foot twice a day so that it remained uninfected. Even so, it was painful to walk.

The next few days until Wrightwood were my first and hopefully only type 3 fun thus far.

Type 1 Fun-Fun to do, fun to tell a story about.

Type 2 Fun-Not fun to do, fun to tell a story about.

Type 3 Fun-Not fun to do, not fun to tell a story about.

Day 27, Little Bear Springs Camp to Cedar Glen, 15.5 Miles

This was a hard day. Hard to walk, and though the trail was easy overall, there were nigh countless downed trees to go over. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. At the town of Cedar Glen, after a grueling 3 mile climb, there was resupply and a famous veggie burger awaiting us. After the burger, we stayed the night at the Lake Arrowhead Inn for a night to relax and heal the injured foot.

Day 28, Cedar Glen to Deep Creek, 3.5 Miles

After a visit to the pharmacy for medical supplies, we went back down to Deep Creek. This is a 20 mile stretch of trail in a canyon where the Mojave River and Deep Creek run adjacent to the trail, making for plentiful water, pleasant temperatures and flat trail. Though things are about to get a bit surreal…

Day 29, Deep Creek to Hesperia, CA 14.5 Miles

As we pass through Deep Creek, we go by the most human impacted portion of the trail we have seen. It was hard to see many rock and cliff faces defaced and trash. In addition, we passed by an odd section where we passed by both a shooting range and about as many ATV’s as I have ever seen in one place.

It’s really an off putting juxtaposition after being in the wilderness for several weeks! After passing through a bit of chaos, we made it to a beautiful(and quiet) campsite shielded from the desert wind, and we earned a nice sunset.

Day 30, Hesperia to Lake Silverwood, 15 Miles

The Pacific Crest trail was designated under Lyndon B. Johnson as a National Scenic Trail in the late 1960’s. Today, we experienced two types of “scenic.”
First we passed through a “scenic” portion of “trail” that was a paved road bypassing a power plant, surrounded by industrial waste. Then, we crested a hill and reached the unexpected Lake Silverwood.

Though it was beautiful, the lake is unfortunately filled with toxic blue-green algae year-round. Prohibiting swimming and safe access to water for us.

As we go along, I improve my skills at bandaging my blisters, and hiking gets easier. Looking forward to reaching the mountain town of Wrightwood in 3 days and enjoying a long rest.

Day 31, Silverwood Lake to Swarthout Canyon, 14.5 Miles

However, today began as my most difficult day on the trail thus far, as I reached a breaking point hiking on my injured foot. With a late start, things luckily picked up from there.

Despite our late start, we hiked very fast in this section to achieve 15 miles. Near the end of the day, we reached a McDonalds and a Chevron, where we had our spirits restored by orders of fries and icees.

Day 32, Swarthout Canyon to Wright Mt, 14 Miles

We reached the San Gabriel Mountains and ascended 4,000 ft to camp at 6,800 ft today. An interesting and beautiful sight in these mountains is going above the clouds and watching them dance through the various summits and valleys.

We reached the town of Wrightwood the next afternoon, and spent 3 nights there resting my feet and our souls after a tough stretch of trail.

This section is a week behind me now. I went into this hiking knowing that I would experience some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. This was a difficult low point overall, but I’m happy that we pressed on. And I cannot express how good the Wrightwood food was.

In Wrightwood, we got new equipment, and I got new shoes. My first pair’s laces finally gave the day before reaching Wrightwood.

Total Miles: 363