Day 20--California Highway 18 to Holcomb Crossing Camp

Written Sunday, 9 May 2021

First off, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

As usual, on day I'm leaving town, I slept a little lighter than usual, and I was up at 0400. Did some final clean-up around the AirBnB, got my gear packed up, looked around obsessively for items I might be leaving behind, and prehydrated for the Trail.

My ride this morning, Jessica, is, in addition to being a Trail Angel, a physical therapist who does free sessions for hikers who limp in to town. There really are a lot of kind people out there. The trip from town to trail is about 8 miles (mainly uphill), and having to walk the extra miles would make the hike even longer and more painful it already is. Thank you, Jessica!

Once Jessica delivers me and two brothers from Oregon to the trailhead and we exchange well wishes, she's off to pick up another load of hikers. After a few gear checks, I'm off in the opposite direction. It's about 0800--later than I would start on a normal hiking day but not too bad for starting on a town day.

The trail here is easy and quite well maintained, just as it wasn't when we were coming into town on Thursday afternoon. Not surprisingly, trails that can be accessed easily by maintainers are the best maintained. The spots further out or in more remote areas get less love.

There is just a gentle climb out of the trailhead, and, before long, I cross a dirt road. Just after I cross, I hear a growl from behind. Turning to look, I see a huge dog--maybe the size of a pony-- crossing behind me in the road. He has his eye on me, he is salivating, and his body language suggests he's not happy with me being here. To be honest, I'm not too happy with me being here right now either, so I hustle it up a little bit to move in faster, and he doesn't follow. Whew! Just a little check if my adrenal system!

So that's my big wild animal encounter for the day.

The Trail calms me back down quickly though. We're still in the beautiful transition zone forest we were in in Thursday. Appalachian Trail hikers often think of getting "above the tree line," the altitude above which trees don't grow and, thus, the views are better. But in this part of the country, there's also a lower tree line, below which soil, moisture, and other climatic conditions prevent trees from growing. The coniferous forests all exist in a band extending from roughly 6,000 to 9,000 feet MSL in this area. Luckily, I'm in that band right now, are I'm getting some decent shade, as the temperatures rise.

The Trail today takes us around the north side of Big Bear Lake, affording us some truly spectacular views and I pay very little attention to time and distance. By the time my stomach signals that it's time for lunch, I'm surprised to discover that I've already made 13.9 miles. Easy trail!

The after-linch trail isn't quite as easy, and it does head downwards, not too steeply but enough to drop me "below tree line" and back into the heat of this warm Sunday afternoon.

About the only really interesting view of the afternoon is during the extended turn we take around an old mine (boron, I think) that still scars the entire peak of a nearby mountain.

In the late afternoon and early evening, I bypass a couple of obvious camp sites, hoping to make up for my slightly late start this morning. Finally, just as the sun starts to dip below the craggy horizon, I get to Holcomb Crossing Camp, a primitive camp maintained by the state of California, right by Holcomb Creek. There are a couple of other campers there, but they are already in their tents for the evening so I'm not sure if they are PCTers or people out for a jaunt.

It's too nice tonight to put up my tent so I'm cowboy camping again--safe, dry, and warm near this beautiful flowing stream.

Night, all!

Miles Hiked Today: 27.9 Total Miles Hiked: 293.0

Sea Otter Fact of the Day:. Female sea otters are outstanding mothers, spending 6-12 months with their offspring, feeding them and teaching them the grooming, foraging, and other skills needed to be a successful otlsea otter in the wild.