Big Bear kind of blows, there, I’ve said it. It doesnt even have real bears. We started the day hiking a brisk 20 miles, slightly downhill. On the way we crossed Daddy Longlegs, Gnome, Tommyhawk and Remedy, none of whom knew where Chris and Boots were, leading us to believe they were far behind and wouldnt make it to town today. To be safe, we booked a room in a hostel in Big Bear in advance.
Contrary to my expectations, the area around Big Bear is a lot cooler than the desert in the last few days. We reached the town itself (if an amalgation of wide roads and the rare house among a sea of parking spaces can be called that) by getting a hitch from a nasa engineer.
At the hostel, we were greeted by Guillaume, my new Swiss friend, since Leo sadly had to rest for a few days due to ligament strain and was now out of our bubble. For the first time since the start of the trail, we spent the afternoon doing nothing and only then did I realize how much I needed that. After a shower, I looked in the mirror and was taken by surprise at the weight I had lost. Definitely need to try to eat even more, if that’s even possible.
I tried to put that thought into action by eating pizza, getting a burger with Coyote and Guillaume and topping it off with a slice of cheesecake at Jack in the Box.
Tonight, we’ll sleep in, hopefully later than 5h30.