"Staying in a hostel in Big Bear tonight. Took a shower and washed all my clothes. Sleeping in a real bed." 4/12/22 4:53 PM
I woke up in the middle of the night at Coon Creek Cabin with an unexplainable pain in my foot. Fortunately, I was able to fall back asleep. I noted the incident but decided not to worry about it.
When I awoke in the morning, it was very cold, and I decided to get going before the bad vibe crowd got up. My hands were absolutely freezing while I waited for the sun to come out. Eventually I found a spot in the sun where I was able to eat my breakfast and thaw out.
I hit the high point of the day at Onyx Summit and began my long, gradual descent to Highway 18. As I hiked, my shoe kept felt like it was getting tighter and tighter, no matter how much I loosened it. I knew something was up, but I decided to make to Big Bear and worry about my foot later.
When I arrived at Highway 18 there was a huge crew of hikers standing on the wrong side of the road complaining about how nobody was picking up hitchhikers and they were calling a shuttle. I decided to try my luck on the correct side of the street, and the first car to come over the pass pulled off and picked me up. It turned out to be an elderly woman who had lived in the area for years. And with her local knowledge came an adrenaline inducing driving style.
We were on the outskirts of Big Bear Lake before I could blink, and from there a took a couple buses, with a stop at the supermarket, down to the hostel I planned to stay at for the night. I was able to get organized and clean that evening. The hostel had nightly themes, and I happened to arrive on Taco Tuesday, where tacos and tequila were included with the room. Along with the eclectic and energetic hostel crew, the night devolved into mayhem.
Another view of Mt San Jacinto:
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