More snow . . .

Evan and I slept in a bed for the first time in 18 days last night. It was simply amazing . . . running water, laundry, and coffee at the Big Bear Hostel.

When we left Idyllwild, we took a re-route up a jeep road to avoid tons of snow and an indiscernible trail on Fuller's Ridge. When our detour met back up with the trail, we did 15 miles of switchbacks back down to a the windy valley surrounding West Palm Springs, CA. I don't think any of the hiker's got a good night's sleep in that valley - between the high winds and Interstate 10 - but we did manage to get some McDonald's fries and burgers, which was a special treat.

The next morning, we walked past a junkyard and through a wind farm, leaving civilization inch-by-inch as we entered the San Bernardino mountains. It was fairly windy all day, and sooo hot we had to spend an hour or two resting under some trees, but that night we had the most beautiful camp right by a fast creek and a bunch of other hikers.

In the morning, Evan and I felt little drops of rain blowing from clouds that were still hidden by surrounding mountains. The trail crossed and re-crossed the creek probably 20 times (not an exaggeration!), and the clouds started to roll over the ridges bringing intermittent hail, then intermittent snow, then a white-out snowstorm that lasted for several hours. By about 1pm we set up camp and built a fire to dry off our soaking clothes and warm up. Within a couple of hours the snow had stopped (or paused, I thought), and we packed up to push on to a shelter 20 miles from our original campsite. Along with 5 other hikers we made just before dark, built a fire in the fire place and settled in for a pretty cold night at 8,000 feet.

Monday morning brought sunshine and a very visible trail. About six miles in we came to a road crossing and hurried into Big Bear City straight to the all you can eat buffet at Sizzler's. Although it was pretty cold the last couple of days, it has been nothing short of an adventure. This afternoon we will head back out and push on to Wrightwood in another 100 miles. We hear there is a re-route there due to a forest fire, so we'll let you know how that turns out!