10%!

Days 19 + 20

We spent our zero day getting errands done, resupplying and getting ready for the next stretch. Aaron was kind enough to drive us into town to the outfitter, and just as we rounded the corner, we saw Mr. Fox and Rock Locks. They informed us that the outfitter was closed because of some silly reason. So that means no hot food. Oh well, our remaining fuel might last a few days, so we will enjoy it while we can.

After that, we went to the grocery store to get food. We also got food for dinner, as we planned to cook Ed, Julie, and John dinner. Julie picked us up from the grocery, we got our box from the post office, and went back to her house to relax. Andy's mom sent up a shirt he needed, and some awesome food -- thanks!

We watched movies, hung out, and relaxed with Julie. After Ed came home, we made dinner. Turned out pretty well!

This morning, we left the house around 10:30 and went back to the trailhead. We said goodbye, and thanked to Julie and little John, and hiked on.

We had a nice easy stretch, with nice terrain and good weather. Mr. Fox and Rock Locks left us detour maps for the trail closure in a few days, with a few cookies! So we enjoyed those for lunch with some other town goodies. We came across two additional trail magic sightings, the first being canned fruit, and the second, soda. It was nice to have that extra little bit for tonight. It was weird to cross highway 18 since that was another road into Big Bear. It is always tempting to skip a portion of the trail that's so easy to bypass, but we didn't want to.

Our camp is a few miles after the road, so we got to camp around five. When we got here, there were a few more hikers, and one had her dog! It was a border collie mix, and made me miss my little Jasper very much. They just stopped for water and were hiking on, so we set up camp, and are enjoying a night to ourselves -- no one else is here, aaand we reached the 10% mark!

We decided to eat our extra town food tonight for dinner. And it was amazing. Not only that, but didn't require any cooking! We had: dried apricots, beef jerky, nut mix, the can of fruit, some peanut butter (nutella in my case) a bar of chocolate and our sodas. We counted it up, and it's over a 1000 calorie meal! Awesome. Especially since it had a lot of fruit, meat, and nuts. Good amount of protein too. A delicious meal and nice way to end the day. This campsite also has a privy (outhouse) that's actually nice, and a table. Great campsite all around!

--Ian