May 6th, 2016
Zero Day
Location: Big Bear City, CA
The day went smoothly with our rental. Enterprise was right on time and we picked up a black Dodge Charger for our 1.5 hour trip to Big Bear. Another couple, Sherpa and Dr. Do Little, drove with us.
On our way out of Whitewater, we saw a backpacker trying to hitch right on Interatate 10. We identified him as this guy All The Way, whom we had heard stories of and had met briefly in Idyllwild. I’m not sure what he was doing hitching on the Interstate, as it is illegal in California. I had heard some hikers getting around the burn area by walking a 70 mile road walk (good luck to them…) so maybe he started it and got fed up.
I turned around on the freeway to pick him up, but when we passed him a cop car was stopped and he was getting into the cruiser! I hope he is okay and didn’t get arrested or fined.
We are at the Motel 6. We did town chores like laundry and showers and then went to the supermarket to buy some food. We saw a hiker there and asked if he wanted a ride anywhere since we still had the rental car. We dropped him off at the hostel.
At the hostel we shuttled some more hikers across town to a local trail angles home where they were going to stay for the night. Later we went and got Mexican food with Sherpa and Dr. Do Litttle- probably the best food on the trail so far.
Very cold up here in Big Bear. It snowed for a bit and the mountains have a dusting of white.
Another zero day tomorrow. We don’t really need it for physical reasons but it will be nice not to be out in the rain and snow and cold. Starting Sunday the weather forecast is looking spectacular for at least the next week. This will be most welcome.
