4 PCT - Mountain Tucson

This sign prompted Doc and I to come up with an addition to the philosophy of Leave No Trace. We both do our best to leave no trace wherever we camp and hike. Additionally, we pick up other trash we see. We call this Negative Trace.

Heart of flowers

 Admired this house. It had a wind and water turbine plus a pond in the back

 The East side of the lake. Doc and I hitched into town from a lady who had lived in Big Bear most of her life. She is a local artist and teaches art at the high school. She said that many years ago, this area was the local dump. They cleaned it up nicely, I think.

Mountain Mama and I bathing in sunlight. We stayed at the Big Bear Hostel. I have stayed at many hostels in my lifetime, this was one of the best!! It was $20 per night and a great place to hang with other hikers. Everyone there was on the PCT. Check out the hostel at www.bigbearhostel.com

 Doc transferring Ghee into a lighter container. Ghee is clarified butter and great to add to almost any dish. The calorie to ounce ratio is not as good as olive oil. I strive for 100 calories per ounce. Olive oil is around 140; Ghee is less. But, any variety on the trail is much appreciated.

 Doc doing work. He has helped so many people on the trail. It's great to see him work. He's very professional.

 That's a lot of Ramen!!!

 Fallen Warriors Memorial across from the Big Bear Hostel

 When we leave Big Bear, we hike up the mountains in the background of this photo.

 BATAGASM

 Doc and Girly Girl doing some 2 step at Patty's Bar behind our hostel.

 On this trail, I'm almost always on uneven ground... Almost always on a crest of some sort. When I find meadows like this, I always want to play Frisbee and camp. Unfortunately, I don't have a Frisbee, not yet anyway.

 I'm now on the mountains looking back on the memorial. See the boat dock?

 Doc getting ready for some cowboy camping.

Ghetto Smurf



3 PCT - 200 miles!!!

Just before reaching the 200 mile mark, I saw another beautiful snake!!



 Just when I thought that I was losing my charm, I came upon this camouflaged beauty. I was able to see this from far away. Good thing! It would have been very easy to step on! 

CREATURES & NATURAL FEATURES

 Warthog

 Smiley

 Natural Steps

 Profile of an old man with a large nose and protruding chin

 

 Natural foot and hand holds on many rocks.  I wanted to climb them, but I was 15 miles in of my 21 mile day. Combine that with the desert heat and that I was in Mountain Lion territory, I figured it was best not to play around.

 Is this a fuzzy ant?

 On my way to Ziggy and the Bear down Creosote Trail. Doc and I call our team, team Creosote!

 The Mountain Steps we soon will be climbing! The 4th picture below, is looking back through the train at the terrain between me and Idyllwild.

 It took me 2 days to come off of there.. Awesome!!

 The Oasis under I-10. Some trail magic offering water, soda, trash and sign in

Leaving Ziggy & The Bear

  

 

 Doc is flying!!!

 The mountain I came over a few days ago is in the far background. In the valley is a small river where we collected water. It was very sandy so we only filtered the minimum in search of a better source.

 These caterpillars were everywhere on one stretch of our trail. We must have seen 40-50!! I haven't seen them anywhere else

 The night before this, we slept in a wash with decent coverage. We had been following the river for half of our day. The wind and stormy weather had increased. We were pushing 23 miles on difficult terrain and my feet were hurting!! We pressed on, in hopes of finding a better camping spot away from people and with more coverage. When this didn't happen, we made our own. We both agreed that it was one of the many reasons we wanted to take on this journey. It was fun finding our own place to sleep and making it work, when things didn't look so positive. It was cold when we woke so we packed up quick and hiked towards the sun. Doc hiked ahead and found this great place to have brunch.. A hot brunch and a place to do dishes as well. The trail provides...

 Doc rocking out and dancing up the trail

Clouds rolling in

 The first snow capped peak

 The new model for Chips Ahoy!

 Doc and I had a miscommunication and he ended up 4 miles ahead of me. With not much sunlight left, I decided to run the switchbacks to go meet him. Its the fastest I've hiked/run yet! It's nice to know that if I have to, I can go 4 mph with my home on my back. We camped near the "Animal Cages." This is where some celebrity animals live. I only saw this bear in a tiny pen.

Tomorrow we would hike into Big Bear