Page 2: June 2009.
iPhone travel 'blog'.
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Entry #5.
The
time spent in Big Bear was put to good use, with shopping and laundry
being high on the list. I scored a new foam sit-pad that had been left
in the hiker box in the motel reception, as well as a full, unused gas
stove fuel can, so we were sorted on gear.
Spencer and I hired a car so we could get to the wonderfully named town of Rancho Cucamunga, where there was an Apple Store. I was totally in credit when it came to karma apparently, as after being in there only 2 minutes, and having spoken to a cool Apple dude named Sean, I was hooked up with a brand new fully working iPhone. Very happy. So we were back in full communication again.
Leaving Big Bear was a pretty easy affair. Not that we didn't like the town, but with Spencer along with us, we split a cab 3 ways, so in 15 minutes and $7 each, we were back at the trail head on Highway 18.
The whole days was spent on the best, most well maintained trails we have ever had the joy to walk along... smooth, wide, nicely graded, well raked and groomed. Very nice hiking.
Unfortunately, my feet were still protesting under the days strain though, so I knew I was really going to have to make some changes at the next available opportunity... I was just wishing I'd done so as we were right near an REI when we were at the Apple Store... damn.
Water has begun to become slightly more available along the trail, both from more trail-angel caches, as well as there being a bit more running water. Mixing up a nice cold Tang (after treating the water, of course!) is bloody great... and foot soaking is a nice treat to have whenever possible! One of the more fun, strange and well-stocked caches was the Andersons 'oasis' cache, about 7 miles before we got to the highway at Green Valley. It was welcome even with the cooler temperatures, but I would imagine it would be freakin' amazing when it was stinking hot.
Most days have been spent getting up early, Spencer deciding to stay laying in, then catching us up a few hours later. He earned his trail-name of Warpzilla for good reason... that boy can MOVE!
He is travelling lighter than us though, and has had to do some fancy moves to stay warm some evenings... in his shorts!
There hasn't been a huge change when it comes to wildlife, although Tom got to fulfil another of his hopes for the trip... one was to see a rattlesnake (we have seen a few, although none lately), and the other was to see a scorpion, which he spotted just as we were about to leave our desert campsite the other day.
The lizards have been out and about everywhere again too, and some have even stayed still long enough to get a decent picture too...
Spencer and I hired a car so we could get to the wonderfully named town of Rancho Cucamunga, where there was an Apple Store. I was totally in credit when it came to karma apparently, as after being in there only 2 minutes, and having spoken to a cool Apple dude named Sean, I was hooked up with a brand new fully working iPhone. Very happy. So we were back in full communication again.
Leaving Big Bear was a pretty easy affair. Not that we didn't like the town, but with Spencer along with us, we split a cab 3 ways, so in 15 minutes and $7 each, we were back at the trail head on Highway 18.
The whole days was spent on the best, most well maintained trails we have ever had the joy to walk along... smooth, wide, nicely graded, well raked and groomed. Very nice hiking.
Unfortunately, my feet were still protesting under the days strain though, so I knew I was really going to have to make some changes at the next available opportunity... I was just wishing I'd done so as we were right near an REI when we were at the Apple Store... damn.
Water has begun to become slightly more available along the trail, both from more trail-angel caches, as well as there being a bit more running water. Mixing up a nice cold Tang (after treating the water, of course!) is bloody great... and foot soaking is a nice treat to have whenever possible! One of the more fun, strange and well-stocked caches was the Andersons 'oasis' cache, about 7 miles before we got to the highway at Green Valley. It was welcome even with the cooler temperatures, but I would imagine it would be freakin' amazing when it was stinking hot.
Most days have been spent getting up early, Spencer deciding to stay laying in, then catching us up a few hours later. He earned his trail-name of Warpzilla for good reason... that boy can MOVE!
He is travelling lighter than us though, and has had to do some fancy moves to stay warm some evenings... in his shorts!
He
was also suffering tent-pitch jealousy after seeing my taut, neat
Tarp-tent set-up... but I have pitched it a ton of times already, the
paddle-trip giving me plenty of practice. Tom found him sadly looking at my tent,
then back at his sagging, flapping shelter, and upon looking back at my
shining effort, lamenting "I want to take a photo"... we got a laugh out of
that. And yeah, I did give him a hand to pitch his tent correctly...
(Oh, we all have the same tent by the way...).
Even after some serious repair-efforts, I was still having to suffer a slowly deflating sleep-pad all night, so I was still yet to get a really good nights sleep. Tom was fine for a while, but then had the same problem, in the same place on his pad. Neither of us had punctures, but rather a faulty design at the valve, so we were both looking forward to a trip to REI once we got to Agua Dulce, and a replacement pad.
Spencers pad was deflating too, but given how he throws it down just about anywhere, without any ground-sheet, we weren't surprised.
We took a near-o (not a full zero) in Wrightwood, and all set about repairing our pads. Tom borrowed a large tub from the hardware store and we found and attempted to seal up our leaks. We only had the one each, so it was fairly simple. Spencers pad however looked like it had been on the losing end of a fight with a porcupine! We gave up identifying puncture holes after the count of 6...
A nice change along the trail was some thermal pools where we had a good (damn hot) foot soak. The only downside was the disturbingly large amount of old, red, wrinkled NAKED people everywhere!! No pictures were taken there, but further along the canyon, the view over the river was pretty good.
As always, it has been the scenic vistas that has made the efforts worth it. Most of the time, anyway. Heading towards Agua Dulce and beyond, the Mojave, we have been 'blessed' with hiking through unseasonably cold weather. For the most part, it has actually been pretty good, as it has made the hiking more comfortable, and the need for water much less. However, some of the high mountain passes we have climbed have been shrouded in thick mist, and combined with the driving winds, we have experienced stinging hail and thick ice.
Even after some serious repair-efforts, I was still having to suffer a slowly deflating sleep-pad all night, so I was still yet to get a really good nights sleep. Tom was fine for a while, but then had the same problem, in the same place on his pad. Neither of us had punctures, but rather a faulty design at the valve, so we were both looking forward to a trip to REI once we got to Agua Dulce, and a replacement pad.
Spencers pad was deflating too, but given how he throws it down just about anywhere, without any ground-sheet, we weren't surprised.
We took a near-o (not a full zero) in Wrightwood, and all set about repairing our pads. Tom borrowed a large tub from the hardware store and we found and attempted to seal up our leaks. We only had the one each, so it was fairly simple. Spencers pad however looked like it had been on the losing end of a fight with a porcupine! We gave up identifying puncture holes after the count of 6...
A nice change along the trail was some thermal pools where we had a good (damn hot) foot soak. The only downside was the disturbingly large amount of old, red, wrinkled NAKED people everywhere!! No pictures were taken there, but further along the canyon, the view over the river was pretty good.
As always, it has been the scenic vistas that has made the efforts worth it. Most of the time, anyway. Heading towards Agua Dulce and beyond, the Mojave, we have been 'blessed' with hiking through unseasonably cold weather. For the most part, it has actually been pretty good, as it has made the hiking more comfortable, and the need for water much less. However, some of the high mountain passes we have climbed have been shrouded in thick mist, and combined with the driving winds, we have experienced stinging hail and thick ice.
There hasn't been a huge change when it comes to wildlife, although Tom got to fulfil another of his hopes for the trip... one was to see a rattlesnake (we have seen a few, although none lately), and the other was to see a scorpion, which he spotted just as we were about to leave our desert campsite the other day.
The lizards have been out and about everywhere again too, and some have even stayed still long enough to get a decent picture too...
We
stopped at the very interesting and unique Hikertown for a water
resupply and some lunch... and Tom and Spencer also got a little bit of
Pussy too... and don't they look happy about it!
Agua
Dulce was a welcome break where we stayed at Hiker Heaven, a well-known
rest stop along the way where we got VERY looked after by trail-angel
Donna. Laundry was done for us, loaner-clothes worn, free internet
access, movies and even a ride to REI. Very awesome.
So
currently, we have gone from the high pine covered mountains, dropping
down through the sage and scrub chapparal, to the Joshua Tree filled
desert flatland. The walking was easier for a few days as the terrain
was pretty flat, but then the climb up and over to Mojave was quite a
chore as the trail had gone from the more stable hard rock, to a soft
sinking slipping, sliding sandy surface, which has made upward travel
harder than it needed to be!
We
have heard that some areas have been hard to navigate, (although at one
noted wrong-turn area, that has been very obviously rectified with a
large street sign!) especially the last area we were hiking over,
mostly due to the large amount of bike trails that criss-cross our
trail... but it appeared that there had been a renewal of signage all
along that section, so we managed to not get lost and stay on the
trail. The signs have changed as we've moved further north too, going
from simple wooded posts, to more modern fibre-glass strips, and
lately, large solid metal arrowheaded signs... the latter still being a
good target for bored shooters, and although considerably more
resistant to the bullets than the other (often blown to bits) signs, many still showed the damage!
So
right now, we are resting up in Mojave, getting ready for the 6 to 8
day push up to Kennedy Meadows where we will take a near-o, maybe a
zero, and then begin the next big change of the trail, as we enter the
Sierra Nevada.
The images should be amazing, so I will upload them as soon as I can... in about 3 weeks time we reckon.
Until then, whenever possible, I will be posting small updates on the iPhone 'blog' HERE. Check it out!
Until then,
Be good.
RWK.
Out.
The images should be amazing, so I will upload them as soon as I can... in about 3 weeks time we reckon.
Until then, whenever possible, I will be posting small updates on the iPhone 'blog' HERE. Check it out!
Until then,
Be good.
RWK.
Out.