Day 23, leaving Big bear

Some R&R has done the body good

Big Bear mile 266 to Little Bear Spring Trail camp mile 285

Hiked 19 miles

I naturally wake up now 4:45 or 5am. I lie awake in my bunk and listen to the sound of 6 other people sleeping. Some light snoring others mouth breathing. The plan is to meet Happy man and Backroads in the common room at 6am and go to the Teddy Bear for breakfast.

Guess I will get out of bed and answer natures call. There was someone in the bathroom. I went upstairs someone in that one. I then went down stairs which also had someone in it. Come on man this is ridiculous. Back to the main floor. Hurry up and wait while this person is camped out in the bathroom lol.

Breakfast at Teddy Bears is amazing. I ordered a veggie omelet and had them add avocado. I seem to have a thing for avocado theses days. Yes I know eggs are not apart of a vegan diet. So sue me I wanted an omelet with my veggies this morning. If I can have 98% plant based diet I'm still eating better than most of Americans. ;)

So we grab our things and pile in the wagon and we are back to wild again.

As we pull up to where the trail meets the road SpaceAge is there waiting to hitch hike into Big Bear. I haven't seen him since Iydllwild. I met him at Paradise cafe and learned he does work for NASA crazy.

So I'm taking it slow I want to ease into my fresh legs. I want this pain free feeling to last as long as possible. Happy and I are both going slow today. The miles pass by pretty easy. I hear some strange loud 50's music in the distance I came across some trail magic at about 13 miles in. Santa's Helper is at a road crossing with soda, Gatorade, fruit and junk food snacks! He's a pretty nice older guy. He was actually hiking this year but the elevation was to much for him around fuller ridge by Janintos peak. He got a helicopter ride out of there.

I made it to 16 miles pain free I decided I'd stop and have dinner before getting to the camp site at mile 19.


Haven't done one of these in a while. Selfie!





The thread isn't looking so hot after only 300 miles.


This one is eve missing a chunk. I'm gonna have to get new shoes soon.



Here is everything I own right know minus the cloths on my back. To simple, and hard to believe we can actually survive with just shelter, warmth, food and water. Of course I have an iPhone and a solar panel too but that's beside the point lol. What a simple way to live. The longer I'm out here the less I feel the need/care about society. The things that have been ingrained in my head as normal are not so much normal. Slowly these things are changing. When I don't have a desire for a shower and clean cloths I'll let you know cause that's when you will know I have been completely lost... Or is that found. I don't know haha. Right now what's important is how far to the next water source, what's the best thing I can eat from my food bag and if I poop here will anyone see me...

I finished eating my dinner and feeling great! Just to have my spirit crushed. From out of no where my knee is hurting. WTF this is dumb. I can't even take a step with out a pain level at about a 8 which hurts a ton it's right below my knee cap. I stretch and what not which helps a lot but still hurts. Needless to say the 3 miles to camp where very slow and painful.
The last half mile I was almost back to normal speed. Happy man BackRoads, and many others where at the campsite. I also saw Luke and Huck and couple guys I met earlier today. Set up my tent it was about a hour before sunset. But I just retreated to my tent and made a bed time snack.


This for some odd reason is what came to mind as being the best thing I could eat from my food bag, tortilla, peanut butter and broken up Oreo cookie.

I'm still filled with the thoughts of worry. I worry my knee issue is not going to allow me to keep hiking. There is a few things that could take me off the trail and this might be one of them. Feeling frustrated and annoyed with this issue. I don't want this to end. I want to see how fast and far I can go. I haven't even come close to my potential. The body is still trying to catch up. I guess sometimes you have to slow down to speed up...

I feel like I'm being tested...

- Posted from my iPhone