Day Twenty Seven

Today's miles: 19
Total miles: 403

Today was remarkably similar to yesterday. Katie and I hiked with the same group we had been with the past few days: Papa Bear, Rotisserie, and Milkman. We were used to setting our own schedule and hiking as we pleased, often meeting up with people in camp or on trail. We've seen lots of "hiking groups" like the Chain Gang who all stick together, but we've never really been part of any one of them. For the first time it feels as though we have our own little hiking group: we wake up together, pack up together, take breaks together and find camp together. I love it. It's like our own little family.

Left to right: Papa Bear, Rotisserie, Bramble

Today we spent the day climbing mountains and crossing over the Angeles Crest Highway. Twelve times, to be exact, throughout the course of the day. It was actually pretty entertaining, because at each road crossing we were rewarded with small civilized conveniences: picnic tables. Outhouses. Campsites. Water spigots. We got rather spoiled and made sure to take full advantage of every convenience as we happened upon it. I don't think a group of people has ever pooped so much in one day. In fact, we utilized so many privies that we came up with our own 1-5 rating system for them. 1 being "I would rather shit in the woods" and 5 being "the closest to a flush toilet the backwoods has to offer." An outhouse gained points for lack of smell, lack of bugs, cleanliness, and a supply of toilet paper.

Speaking of outhouses, a friend of mine wanted me to write a post about the particulars of going to the bathroom in the woods. I think it's one of those topics that everyone wants to know about but no one wants to ask. If you have a particular distaste for poop talk, feel free to scroll to the bottom of this post and skip the details. As for me, I've been living in the woods for almost a month now and I have lost all filters for social appropriateness and tact, so forgive me for anything I'm about to say. Out here we really only talk about four topics: The Trail, Food, Pooping, and Sex. And pooping takes up a shocking amount of that conversation time. We're all just basic creatures at the heart of it, I have discovered. We have very simple instincts.

So, if you're coming along with the potty talk, here goes: peeing is a fairly simple affair. Boys don't even take off their packs, they just turn slightly off trail and "water that tree/rock/stump." I swear, boys pee SO MUCH. They're like dogs marking territory. Everywhere. It's ridiculous. Girls are a little more selective. We take packs off to squat, but toilet paper is a waste of time and effort. No one I know uses TP when doing onesies. Just drip dry, pull up pants and go. No need for digging holes, creating trash, or touching anything with dirty hands. Those who don't like the drip-dry method use what's known as a "pee rag." Basically, it's a bandana that is used for just that purpose. Most people carry multiple bandanas, so it's good to color-code them so you know not to grab the wrong one when you're in a hurry.

Twosies takes a little more effort. One must find an appropriate spot behind a tree, use a trekking pole to dig a six-inch cathole, and... um... do your business. From there you have a couple options. You can use toilet paper, a backcountry bidet (ie, a little squirt bottle), or wet wipes. TP and wet wipes require you to bury the trash or pack it out. Packing it out is the preferred method, since nothing really biodegrades in the desert. So, creating less trash is better (because who wants to carry out poop paper?). A lot of people swear by the bidet method since it's cleaner overall.

Hopefully that helps answer your questions but feel free to ask if you have any more. I promise there is hardly anything that offends me anymore. (Remember that poop talk is 1/4 of all our trail conversations. Sometimes more. No joke.)

Ok back to our regularly scheduled program.

**THIS IS A SAFE ZONE. NO MORE POOP TALK FROM HERE (relatively)**

The five of us, Rotisserie, Papa Bear, Milkman, Honey Bunny and I, were having a rather relaxing day, enjoying picnic sites, breaks, and chatting with each other as we meandered slowly along the trail. By 3:00 we had only gone 11 miles, but we were having a good time. We spent the afternoon slowly climbing up hills, and at 5:00pm we arrived at a Boy Scout camp where we stopped for dinner (outhouse score: 4. Well done, Boy Scouts) and then decided to push on a bit farther since we hadn't done very many miles yet.

By 7:00 we had trekked 19 miles and crossed the highway one last time. We found a small spot for camping near the  road crossing (outhouse score: 3) and sat at the picnic table for the evening sharing Skittles and chatting before bed.

Day Twenty Six

Miles today: 15
Total miles: 384

We had a shuttle ride back to the trailhead at 7 today, so Papa Bear, Rotisserie, Lunchbox, Katie and I packed up to go early this morning. We stopped by the coffee shop for a quick breakfast before, and met up with the Chain Gang, who were going to leave Wrightwood later this afternoon. We said "we'll see you down the trail!" and shipped out.

On the way we teased Lunchbox about his pack. He consistently has a very heavy pack weight, but today it was so massive that I was unable to lift it one handed. When I asked what he was carrying that made it so heavy, Lunchbox said, "five liters of wine," as if it were obvious. It was his birthday in a few days and I think he wanted to celebrate. Although carrying 50 pounds of food, water and wine wouldn't be my idea of celebrating.

At the trailhead we knew we had quite a climb ahead of us: Mt Baden-Powell, and it climbed 4,000 feet of elevation in four miles. Katie and I were hiking with Rotisserie, Papa Bear, and Milkman, and we stopped at the very bottom of the climb to psych ourselves up for it. We ate snacks, drank some caffeine, and went for it.

The climb was difficult, but constant. I set a slow pace and took my time, walking evenly as we ascended, and even with a very heavy pack full of food, I felt I was doing pretty well. I was proud of myself for being stronger and doing a hike that even a week ago I would have been struggling to complete. It feels good to be a true hiker.

Half way up the mountain we stopped for a water break and we commented how we have almost been on the trail for a month. In some ways, it didn't seem so long, and in other ways, it felt we had been on the trail forever.

"This is home," Papa Bear said, and his words had a ring of truth to them. We had been living on the trail so long that there was suddenly no other way to live - and this was all we had, but it was enough.

As we climbed the rest of the way to the summit, Papa Bear told us another funny story about skittles. He said in Idyllwild he had bought two bags to give to Wocka Wocka and Giddyup when he saw them next, but a day or two passed  and he got a sweet tooth craving, so he decided that if he ate one bag, then the remaining bag could be theirs to split.

"And then do you remember that hot afternoon before the Hot Springs, when our energy was running low and we needed a pick me up?" He asked Rotisserie.
"Yes," he agreed.
"Well, that was the second bag," Papa Bear said sheepishly.
We laughed and I pointed out, "at least you have been leaving Giddyup skittles on the trail as you go!"

When we got to the top of Baden-Powell, we dumped off our packs and admired the view. Though elevation climbing can be daunting, usually the view from the top is well worth the effort of the climb. Such was true today. We sat on the ridgeline and ate snacks as we looked out over the top of the world, enjoying the moment. We all had the same thought at the same time: that being there, having climbed to get that far, and enjoying the view, was better than anything else right then. It was a satisfying thought.

Bramble about to hike to the summit

Rotisserie at the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell

Bramble and Honey Bunny beside the Boy Scout monument on the summit

Bristlecone Pine - one of the oldest trees in the world

Looking down toward Los Angeles

Left to right: Honey Bunny, Papa Bear, Milkman

The trail went mostly downhill from there, though it was narrow and slippery and hard on the knees. We found a spring and stopped to make dinner near the water source. It was 5pm by then and we had only done 15 miles, but shortly after dinner we came upon such a beautiful campsite that it was difficult to pass up. Rather than put in another 5 miles after such a grueling morning, we set up tents and sat around a bonfire talking and sharing skittles until night fell.

Day Twenty Five

Today's miles: 2
Total miles: 369

It was extremely cold last night, one of the coldest on the trail so far. Since we only had two miles to go into Wrightwood, we enjoyed the ability to sleep in a little this morning. But we had been talking about pancake breakfasts for so long that it was driving us to get moving.

We covered the two miles in an hour and and stood by the road waiting for a hitch. There was hardly any traffic but we got picked up by a nice lady named Ruby who said she has been shuttling hikers around all week. She dropped us off in the middle of town, which was small and easily walkable, and we hurried to the nearest brunch spot we could find. After filling our bellies with tons of pancakes, eggs and sausage, we went in search of a place to stay. We quickly found a hiker friendly motel with individual cabin-like rooms for a cheap rate. Our room slept three, so we got Lunchbox to split the cost with us. The whole strip of rooms was soon filled with hikers, and everyone was enjoying sitting on the porches and chatting with each other.

Katie and I had a resupply to do, so we walked to the grocery store, loaded up on food, and carefully repackaged everything into our food bags. Then we took showers, dropped off laundry, made phone calls, and went in search of more places to stuff our faces full of food. We found a Mexican buffet and had second lunch there with Rotisserie and Papa Bear.

On our way back to the hotel, we noticed two people walking into town and Katie and I started jumping up and down when we realized who they were.
"Wocka Wocka and Giddyup!"
Rotisserie hadn't met them yet, so she was surprised by everyone's excitement. When we introduced them, Wocka Wocka said, "oh, I've heard of you! Rotisserie! You turn in your sleep! ...is it creepy that I know that?"

Papa Bear told Giddyup about the Skittles he has been leaving for him on trail, and Giddyup said, "oh, those were from you? They were delicious!"

Unfortunately, Wocka Wocka and Giddyup weren't going to hike out with us tomorrow. Wocka's blisters had gotten infected and she was going to have to spend a week off trail taking antibiotics. We hoped to catch her next week when she rejoined Giddyup.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Time in town can be stressful because there's so much to do to get ready to be back on trail, but there are moments when we can just sit and do nothing, and those moments are lovely.

Day Twenty Four

Miles today: 20
Total miles: 367

It didn't rain, but the heavy fog covered everything and made our tent thick with condensation. We woke up soaked and hearing the sounds of coyotes in the  distance. We got a late start and were on the trail at 7, just as the fog was burning off.

After so many days of hiking nicely rolling hills and feeling like a stronger, more confident hiker, today was entirely uphill. For 18 miles. A slow, relentless upward slog from 3,000 to 8,000 feet in the course of the day, and it took its toll.

At first the uphill was a challenge to see how well I could pace myself. I was doing pretty well all morning, and though I was out of breath, I wasn't out of energy. I kept my steps even and slow and was proud of myself for conquering altitude that I had been struggling with just a week ago in Idyllwild. But as the day wore on my energy grew sapped and I had to take a couple caffeine gels to keep myself going. It was growing hotter and we opted to keep going rather than take an afternoon siesta. Fortunately, as we climbed higher in altitude, my favorite pine trees began appearing again and created some shade for us.

Surprisingly, we didn't see any hikers all day, despite how many were behind us. Usually the faster ones caught up to us by now, but perhaps they were taking it slow today, too.

We took a jeep road detour at mile 351, since there was an abundance of Poodle Dog Bush on the trail. Jeep roads aren't as graded as the PCT (usually) is, so it became more uphill for us to climb.

By 3:00 we made it 18 miles to the top of the mountain where there was a campground full of weekend hikers. I felt oddly out of place in this bright campsite when I was so dirty and tired. We needed water but couldn't find the nearby spring, and we must have looked pitiful, for one of the campers came over with a big bottle of water asking if we needed some. We took a liter and thanked her, and she said she and her husband were going to serve dinner to the thru hikers tonight if we wanted to stay. It was really tempting, but it was only 3pm and we wanted to get as close to the next town, Wrightwood, as we could tonight.

We ended up only walking two more miles to the next campsite, where we set up our tent between a group of Boy Scouts and an older gentleman in an RV. He invited us over and we shared stories about thru hiking (from us) and hunting (from him). He shared some whiskey and his fire and we stayed up late enjoying the warmth and company on a very cold night.