After waking up from my first night in a real bed, I was greeted by some trail friends who just made it into town. We went to breakfast at a place with a secret hiker special. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, for $5. I supplemented the meal with a waffle sundae (waffle, two scoops of ice cream, strawberries, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.) Hiker hunger is real.
Before hitting the trail, I needed to get some groceries for the 103 miles to the next city. I got a ride from the guy running the hostel and we headed to the dollar store. Hard to beat those prices.
After groceries, it was time to hit the trail. Not before having one last meal in town though. I wrangled up some hikers and we headed to a brewery down the block where I had a huge order of fish and chips before hitching a ride back to the trail. The first car I saw gave me a ride. I love Big Bear.
It was pretty late in the day and I hiked 9 miles to a large campsite with about 10 people already camped out. I found the group I had stayed with at the hostel and went to sleep.
In the morning, I hiked out and noticed a lone hiker off to the side of the site. It was Yeayea, the guy I met in Seattle before we both started. We hiked together for a few hours, catching up on each other’s hikes.
For most of the day, we followed Holcomb Creek and Deep Creek so water was easy to come by. Eventually, we stopped under a massive trail bridge and waded in the creek. Other hikers I hadn’t met came and sat on the beach and we hiked on to mile 300.
At mile 300 I was at 25 miles for the day and we decided to stop at the next campsite. We camped high in the canyon above Deep Creek, one of my favorite spots on the trail so far.