Big Bear to Mountain High

I made it to Wrightwood after a lot of fun in Big Bear, though the hike to Mountain High had a few ups and downs. It started out great with a ride to the trailhead from George. There were beautiful views of Big Bear Lake, and RR, Chase, and I stayed pretty close together due to a couple of wrong turns by Chase and myself. Back on trail, things got a little depressing as we hiked through miles of wildfire burnt forests. Following Deep Creek's long canyon we moved past Mojave Dam the next day.

The following day proved to be the longest mileage yet. I had hiked about 23 miles, separating from Ridge Runner a bit. As I was considering making camp for the night, I met Skivies and Hollywood, two college Juniors from Cal Baptist who are hiking to raise money at churches along the trail for fresh water wells in India. Very cool.  They asked if I wanted to continue another 6 miles to Highway 138 and a Best Western. Tempted by my new friends and the thought of a cheap hotel stay with showers and breakfast, I pressed on. Exhausted, I completed mile 29 around 7pm. 

Two days later and almost 5,000 feet higher, I hitched into Wrightwood with a semi-trucker working on a paving operation on the highway. In town I was reunited with Chris, RR, and the Cal Baptist boys. There I met Susan at the library, who said that I could stay for free at her family's house, so I decided to stay another day and enjoy a day off with the wonderful people I had met.

I'll set out tomorrow morning with the next stop being Agua Dulce, which is a famous hiker hot spot and Trail Angle Location. There is some detour up ahead because of some rare frog or toad, so I might have to do some road walking. Anyways, I should be there by Wednesday where I will try and write again.

Oh, I almost forgot...days back I ran into Ancient Brit, an older English chap. We actually first met in Julian and were reunited close to Deep Creek's natural hot springs. Ancient Brit is a bit of a character; hiking only in a loin clothe thing, which I unfortunately discovered by catching up to him on a blustery day. He's quick to offer plenty of advice and proud to mention the injuries overcome to complete the trail twice before, both in 2002 and 2006. He was also quite fond of going "costumeless" at the hot springs. Just one of the wonderfully interesting people to meet on this trail. I'm quite pleased to be learning that the charm of the trail is not he scenery or wildlife, but the people that are met along the way.