Start point
279.2
End point
285.6
Miles hiked
6.4 snowy, slow miles
Wilderness area
San Bernardino National Forest
People I met
Pneumonia
Munchies
Mustard
Colonel
Giggles
Canary
Sky High
The day on trail
Today was a late, late morning. I spent about three hours or so catching up on journals. It felt really good to do so because the number of entries I’m behind has been weighing on my mind.
It was a snowy, but beautiful hike.
The group did not come to my campsite! I think I might be breaking enough patterns they aren’t catching up and are getting into different areas. Though I did see a few of them taking breaks. I saw Nightcrawler, Dart (he’s with a different group), and I think Matthew earlier.
It took me about 7 hours to go these dang 6 miles and change. The snow progress was super slow and I postholed up to my upper thighs more than a few times.
There was a final stretch of thorny brambles and bushes that pulled at my clothes, my bag, and my skin. That was it for me. I needed a break, and I was where I wanted to take it.
I took a break around six miles in, at 4:30 pm, at Holcomb Creek. I refilled my water, finally, and ate some snacks. Giggles, Mustard, Colonel, and Munchies came by, in the opposite direction, and we all chatted a bit. After, as I talked with Nightcrawler, who came by earlier , I realized the next tent site was four miles away and I wouldn’t get there, until around 6 or 7. And I wanted light. So I backtracked to Little Bear Springs, about a third of a mile back.
Pneumonia and Sky High came in later, but separate. Pneumonia had a friend with him, but I don’t remember his name. Those two are on the final trail of their triple crown, and they’re kind of haughty about it. There’s an entire flowing creek here but they filtered water from the algae overgrown trough to show how, I guess, experienced, they are. Men. Ugh.
We had a fire ring at the camp site, so it was legal for a little campfire. We sat around for a bit talking, but hiker midnight took us in swiftly.
I’m just excited to rest. Taking five hours to go six miles makes me feel like a terrible hiker and I need to recharge.
Filtering water from an algae-overgrown trough when there’s a free-flowing creek nearby? Weird flex, but okay. 🤡 I guess they have something to prove! Postholing in that much snow for miles is miserable. I think I could really get into snow hiking on a regular basis if I had the right equipment. Cross-county skiing sounds nice. But traipsing through snow that deep without snowshoes… meh.
Repeat this to yourself often: I am NOT a terrible hiker. This day was a disheartening day to be sure, but you can’t control how much snow there is on the trail or any of a hundred myriad other things. Every now and then we get a whole train of big snowstorms here in NJ and sometimes the snow gets a crusty top. It’s exhausting to be walking along and then you’re sinking in deep. It’s a major workout even without an elevation gain.