Hot Springs, Memorial Day Weekend, and McDonalds

I made it to Wrightwood (Mile 375) yesterday and was picked up by my uncle, brother, and sister-in-law.  As my grand tour of the Southern California mountains and deserts continue, it brings me to my uncle's house in Wrightwood for two days, partially as a break and partially because I have some blisters starting on the balls of my feet again that I need to stop.

In Big Bear, I stayed with some friends, the Suttons, there and had a great time.  The Sutton's were the best hosts because they fed me (I ate the biggest breakfast before leaving that was called the "Sissy Boy"), helped me do my errands, took me to the best sandwich shop ever, and helped re-motivate me to return to the trail.  Because of the lackluster scenery of SoCal, I wasn't so exited to return to the trail but after some YouTube videos of the trail and after seeing the Sierra Nevada, I was so ready to get back and hike.

After leaving Big Bear, the trail goes west for 200 miles or so until it hits a town called Agua Dulce and for the first time I could see where I was heading in the distance.  Normally you can't see more than a half day in front of you, but once on the trail, I could see all the way to Wrightwood, my next stop. Over the course of the five days, I got into civilization again and saw some friends.

As the trail goes west, the big highlights are the Deep Creek Hot Springs, Silverwood Lake, and McDonalds.  About two and a half days past Big Bear is the Deep Creek Hot Springs.  It's a hippie type place where people go to soak in the springs and it was there that some friends meet me.  Unbeknownst to me, it was also the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, so it the springs were packed.  We hung out there for a few hours and then hiked for 7 more miles to get away from all the people in the area.  It was nice to have some company, even if it was for less than a day.

On Sunday, I went by Silverwood Lake and that is were I realized it was Memorial Day weekend because at least about 2000 people were there.  I went down to one of the day use areas to get some water and take a break, and I saw more people there in my first 5 minutes than I have seen on my 23 days on the trail.  It was to crowded and noisy so I left pretty quickly because it is the exact opposite of the trail.  The highlight of Sunday was the great stares the people gave me and the rattlesnake I almost trampled later that afternoon.

My final highlight for this section was McDonalds.  The trail crosses under the 15 freeway near the Cajon Pass, so visiting the McDonalds near there is a must, mainly to get water but also for something different to eat.  I got some little burritos and a McFlurry (FYI to anyone who eat there a lot, you cannot get french fries at 8am in the morning).  It was another place where you got great looks from non-PCTers.

Overall, the hike from Big Bear to Wrightwood was nice because of the places that are on the trail.  I can't post any pictures because of the old computer that I am using takes forever to load them, so hopefully next week I will be able to load some.