Into the San Gorgonio Wilderness – Whitewater to Big Bear Lake

Day 17 – 20(+1) miles/231

After three physically demanding days and a few nights of bad sleep, we were off to a slow start… We were aiming to hike our first 20 mile day to reach Big Bear Lake in three days for resupply (54 miles by the end of Friday). The trail started off with a steep little climb, which felt quite hard after being worn down a bit by our recent efforts. I think we were still sore from San Jacinto.

We cruised 7 miles to Whitewater Preserve, half a mile off trail, but a lovely oasis of big cottonwoods and sycamores. We enjoyed a long lunch in the shade at a picnic table, watching the birds fly around above us. A young woman, Camille, walked through the preserve in search of PCT hikers, offering some low key trail magic – fresh baked muffins, Madelines, and applesauce packets. Absolutely delicious!

Feeling some urgency to get to big bear lake in three days, we wanted to get moving. Seven miles before lunch didn’t exactly set us up for success. Thankfully the trail was pretty gentle. We ran into Camille again and she gave me a turkey sandwich! A perfect addition to my mac n’ cheese dinner. We hiked fast on the flat terrain. At the creek crossing we saw the Canadians who we met a week before at a creek when Maggie temporarily lost her phone. The Canadians wisely hang out (oot) in the creeks when it’s hot out, then resume hiking when the sun gets lower. We have much to learn…

One last climb, where we got cell service to book a hotel in Big Bear, then we dropped down to mission creek around 5pm. Fifteen miles down, five to go… The creek was nice though, feeding the thirst of more cottonwood, sycamore, willow, and elm. A welcome watery change from the high and dry ridgelines of late.

The final few miles were hard, sore and hungry. I was fading fast and feeling light headed, but we made it before dark. We pitched the tent, ate dinner, and immediately went to bed. We both slept hard thanks to a calm, cool night.

Day 18 – 18 miles/249

Maggie and I awoke in the cool canyon bottom, the inversion and slow, down slope flow apparent. Despite early alarms, we still didn’t get out of camp till 8. Oh well…

The day started with some long climbs. Again, the vert felt hard and slow after the big day before. We got water and ate lunch 8 miles in, ahead of another 20 mile water carry. The climbing continued, and then it continued some more up over 8,000 feet. The desert gave way to montane conifer forest, most of the same characters we saw on San Jacinto, but with the addition of Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), and some big ones too.

The skyline opened up for great views of San Gorgonio peak and San Jacinto off in the distance. It was very cool to see where we came from just 3 days prior. The climbs gave way to gentle ups and downs.

We made it to camp in yet another sandy wash, setting us up 17 mi from the road to Big Bear Lake. Despite the day feeling long and slow, we finished at 5:30 p.m., and we feelt surprisingly good for having covered 18 miles and 5,000 feet of vert. We camped alone, which was nice, because we heard that most hikers we saw that day stopped just a mile before. It was a chilly night, dipping into the mid-thirties, but we were warm, layered up in our sleeping bags.

Day 19 – 17 miles/266

We made ramen and tea for breakfast to get some warmth inside us on our coldest morning yet. We set 5:30 alarms in the hopes of getting to town early but.. we still got going at 8 a.m. At this point, the late start is just kind of funny, but we make up for it by hiking fast. An easy climb got us warmed up near the top of Mt. Onyx, followed by a long descent down into a drainage with massive pine trees.

After leap frogging a few times, we chatted briefly with a couple from the U.K. who we had seen in the last day. We cruised on some easy ups and downs. The Wolf Pack (Day 1 guys) and Nimbus caught us as we were wrapping up lunch atop the last big climb of the day. They had been just a few miles behind us since Cabazon. A little further on, the seven of us stopped for a shade break. Jeep drivers stopped to find out what we were up to. They were equally impressed and confused as to why and how we had made to that point from the Mexican border. It seems we are now far enough from Mexico that the distance is becoming significant to locals. The jeep driver gave the lot of us two michelob ultras, a nice cool drink for the last 4 miles to Highway 38.

When we got to the road, there were 9 hikers looking for rides. Maggie and I waited on the side for the hikers ahead of us to try and hitch first. A nice young lady pulled over and talked to us, she was on her way to Big Bear. Intimidated by the crowd on the other side of the road, she was happy to give the two of us a ride. We’ve had amazing luck so far hitching, this instance only took a couple minutes, and we weren’t even trying! Our ride graciously drove us straight to our hotel. We checked in, showered up, and headed straight for the laundromat. I’m feeling more and more comfortable being dirty out on the trail, but it sure does feel great to get clean. After an easy dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. We went back to our room and made the most of our hotel stay, watching the first half of Titanic on TV before turning the lights out. We can’t seem to finish any James Cameron films these days. Happy to be clean, warm, and comfy, we rested well, despite the jam band music coming from the room next door.

Day 20 – 0 miles/266

Nice day in Big Bear Lake. We just got supplies and enjoyed good food in town. Our zero day involved about 6 miles of walking around town. At least we weren’t carrying our packs! It was much needed rest, but overall we are feeling good. We are now 10% of the way to Canada!