Day 13 - Half day in Big Bear - 14 miles

Scott and I woke up in the hotel in Big Bear around 7, then met Leslie and Keith for breakfast. We went to the famous place all the hikers recommend. It don't disappoint. I had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and two pancakes. It was the first meal of the trip that I actually couldn't finish. After breakfast we said bye to the Canadians and headed for the bus stop to the grocery store. I ended up getting way too much food and spent about 60 bucks for what I thought was for 4 days worth. As soon as I had it all in my food bag I knew it was way too much. I need to get better at judging how much food I need. Oh well, I guess it's better to have too much than not enough. After the store we needed to hitch the 8 miles back to the trail. After only a few minutes, a lady picked us up who was there vacationing. Hitching is probably what I was most worried about before starting this hike, but the people so far have been so nice and make it easy. Once we hit the trail around 2pm we stomped out the first 10 miles pretty quick. After that we were looking for a spot to camp an came acros an awesome one that overlooked Big Bear Lake. Since we were at elevation it was really cold.  Already 36 degrees at 8pm. I'm not sure how cold it actually got, but well below freezing. Even though I was cold all night I slept like a baby. 

Day 12 - Sizzler on the mind - 20 miles

We woke up around 6 after the coldest night so far on the trail. Kara went ahead because she was packed up so fast and couldn't stay warm just standing there waiting. Once we were ready to go we covered the first few miles pretty quick just to get warmed up. After a couple miles we ran into Alex who was freaked out afte hearing what he thought was a mountain lion making noises at him when he was setting up camp at dusk last night. Scary stuff. 5 miles into our day we came upon the famous lions, tigers, and bears in cages along the trail. Apparently they are movie animals who are kept there when they are not working. Pretty sad actually. Later we caught up to Kara and enjoyed some trail magic atop Onyx Peak. There were sodas and a register to sign. 

The goal for today was to make it to the road and hitch into Big Bear for the night. We couldn't get a hitch since there were six of us there but Leslie called a local trail angel who agreed to pick all of us up and take us straight to Sizzler! The good was just what we needed after a few tough days in a row. It did not disappoint just as the Canadians had promised. Alex and Kara decided to head back to the trail that same day while the rest of u went in search of a motel. I ended splitting a room with Scott, and Keith and Leslie got one right above us. After showers and sink laundry we all drank beers, ordered a pizza, and watched 300. A great end to a great day.