Day 20

I realized after I woke up today that I didn't see any part of the night last night. We went to bed before it got dark and woke up just after dawn, so we didn't see any darkness at all. 

Feeling very well rested, we made our way to Big Bear Lake via a hitch from a nice guy named Oscar who, despite being on his way to work, picked us up and drive us to the shopping mall where Vons (grocery store) and the laundromat were.

We set about getting our laundry done which always takes a few washes because A. our stuff is so dirty, but also because B. we have to have something to wear while we do our wash. (Note: some laundromats along trails give loaner clothes that you can wear while you get all your hiking clothes clean. Those are the best!)

Anyway, while we were there washing our clothes and watching the news about the Baltimore riots (Ben is from the Baltimore area), a woman asked us if we were hiking the PCT and if we needed a ride or anything. We politely told her that we still had errands to do in town and that we didn't know when we'd be done. At this point, I went to the restroom to try to discreetly wash the dirt off my legs in the sink and by the time I came out, Ben and Mike informed me that the woman had offered us showers at her home and a ride to the trail afterwards. Awesome!

We tried to be quick as we did our resupply so we didn't hold her up too long and ended up getting SO MUCH FOOD. Oh my god, so much food.

Ina took us back to her house and let us pack up (read: pack explosion) on her porch. We also got showers with such luxuries as hot water, shampoo, and towels! It felt amazing. Ina made us delicious smoothies and we all split and ate a humongous $7 sandwich we got at the Vons. 

We're clean! Thank you so much Ina and Downie!

After the incredible hospitality, Ina went a step further and ferried us to Big 5 where Mike needed to buy new shoes and I needed a new water bladder (it broke a few days ago and kept soaking my things).

Mikes shoes were totally busted and he'd been actually gluing pieces of rubber tire he found by the side of the road to the bottom of his shoes to replace the tread that had been just ripping off since day 1. 

Anyway he found some better shoes and I found a coupon online to save us some bills. A success all around.

Afterwards, Ina took us on a tour through the downtown of Big Bear Lake and then took us to our trailhead. What happened next has been unprecedented in our hiking thus far: Ina accompanied us for the first quarter mile of our trail! No trail angel or hitch has ever wanted to hike with us before. It was really, really nice and we are very thankful for the kindness Ina and her husband showed to us during our time in town. You guys are awesome!

Once on trail we found our bags to be insanely heavy. We were supposed to be packing out 5 days of food but I think we packed at least 7 days. Maybe we shouldn't be shopping hungry...

View of the lake and town around its edges.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and even managed to hike about 11 miles out of town, which is spectacular for a town day. We stayed at a campsite in the middle of a large burn area and had an enjoyable dinner under a clear starry sky with fellow thruhikers. 

G'night.