Pizza, Puzzles, and my Mama Pinch

We left Ziggy and the Bear's late the next day after some pouty faces and hugs. We headed into one of the least scenic days we had seen by far. Through a wind farm and many, many switchbacks, I started to feel like I was getting a cold. We did only ten miles that day so I could get some good sleep before heading out the next morning. Luckily I felt a little better and we headed out for another 20 mile day. It was the first day we encountered poodle dog bush, a plant that causes a painful rash that's hard to get rid of. We steered cleared, mostly because of the horrendous smell. I also walked right past a large rattlesnake without noticing until I heard curse words coming from behind. That night we walked into a campsite and ran into our pal, Smokey, who we figured was up ahead.  After a cold night and some bad dreams, my cold had come back full force. We headed up the entire morning till we reached 8500 feet. This is when I knew something was wrong. It was very difficult to breathe and I suddenly became light headed and nauseous. It was altitude sickness and I needed to get down of the mountain. We got to a road and sat down to check the maps. The trail only went up from here and wouldn't be going down for another five miles. I made the decision to call for help from a local trail angel who arrived within half an hour to take me to
the big bear hostel. Checking in with Sarge, the innkeeper,  was a blur but he made sure I was alright and walked me back to my room. Now at 2000 less elevation I felt much better, and I'm sure the shower helped too.  There were tons of hikers at the hostel and we had all been leap frogging (on the trail) each other for a while now so it was nice to be with familiar faces. We watched star wars on vhs at the hostel and then it was time for dinner. Pinch had just arrived at the trail head after hiking a whopping 26 miles to get there that night. I sent someone from the hostel to pick her up ( usually you can hitch hike but she's a girl alone at night). Then Smokey and I grabbed a bunch of pizza and some wine to bring back for her. We had a blast that night getting to know each other better, sharing trail stories, and talking about the plans for our first zero day (day when you hike no miles) since the border. You'd think through hikers would like their sleep, this us not the case. I woke up at 6:45 to everyone making pancakes and cofffee, the hikers who had zero'd the day before getting ready to take off. It was nice to drink a cup of coffee and watch them leave, wondering if we'd ever catch up to them. Our zero day was filled with food, more star wars, and an 1000 piece puzzle that took about 8 hours (except for the 5 missing pieces, we called it a win)

We also got to grab lunch with Godzilla, a 20 year old from Japan, who barely speaks English and came out here when he saw the sierras in a magazine! One of the sweetest people we have met so far. He says he is looking forward to his first big American steak. The people at Big Bear hostel and the town of big bear lake were incredible to all of us dirty through hikers. Big shout out to them and if you're ever in the area definitely check it out!

Until next time,
Goosebumps