Day 26: Late Start Up to Baden Powell

May 19, 2017May 19, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 1 Comment

May 13, 2017

Total miles: 10.5 miles

Start: Wrightwood (mile 369.2)

End: mile 379.5

Total elevation gain/loss: 3471.1/2159.1ft

Our attempt to sleep in this morning was a failure and we were awake by 6:30. Darn! Breakfast of leftover pizza, beer, and ice cream hit the spot. Can’t get that on the trail!

Since we were too tired last night to sort through our resupply box that was the first order of business. The rest of the morning was spent loading blog posts (since I have basically no signal on trail), showering (again, so luxurious), and surfing the internet. We checked out just before our 11am checkout time and headed back to town to pick up some final provisions.

Saying goodbye to 2/3 of the motel’s welcoming crew.

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Day 25: Up, Up, Up to Wrightwood

May 18, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

May 12, 2017

Total miles: 22.1 miles

Start: mile 347.1

End: Wrightwood (mile 369.2)

Total elevation gain/loss: 6300.5/2475.4ft

Today we were determined to get an early start to beat the heat (and make our water last to Wrightwood). We were up with our 4:30 alarm — no snooze button today! Of course, we woke to condensation once again and packed up our wet sleeping bags to be dried later.

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Day 24: McDonalds Bound

May 17, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

Total miles: 26.2 miles

Start: mile 321.0

End: mile 347.1

Total elevation gain/loss: 3789.7/3680.8ft

Still working on those early starts. Today we set the alarm for 4:30 and only hit the snooze button twice! We were fortunate that the wind died down during the night, although I was surprised that we had condensation this morning despite our seemingly dry surroundings. Can’t blame the tent because we cowboy camped. I give up on trying to figure that one out.

The moon was so bright last night!

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Day 23: Hot Springs Time

May 17, 2017May 17, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 2 Comments

Total miles: 24.5 miles

Start: mile 296.6

End: mile 321.0

Total elevation gain/loss: 2505.9/4150.3ft

We’re still getting the hang of waking up early again after our zeros. I set the alarm for 5am, but we ended up hitting the snooze button a couple times. Once again, we woke to a wet tent. I guess my theory about yesterday’s condensation being due to camping near water wasn’t entirely correct.

I love the early morning sun!

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Day 22: Big Views of Big Bear

May 13, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 1 Comment

Total miles: 21.7 miles

Start: Caribou Creek (mile 275.0)

End: mile 296.6

Total elevation gain/loss: 1703.7/3888.8ft

We let ourselves sleep in a bit this morning due to the cold and just generally being tired from our wedding trip. We woke up to find our tent covered in condensation — our first time since Lake Morena. I guess that’s what we get for sleeping near a water source. Leaving our campsite just before 7am, I couldn’t help but notice that we missed that magical hour as the sun is coming up. Oh well, tomorrow.

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Day 21: Back on the PCT

May 13, 2017May 13, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 2 Comments

May 8, 2017

Total miles: 8.9 miles

Start: Big Bear Lake (mile 266.1)

End: Caribou Creek (mile 275.0)

Total elevation gain/loss: 1281.8/854.3ft

After four long (and fun) days away from the trail, we’re back! We woke early to take care of last minute town chores and enjoy breakfast with my aunt and uncle. Then it was time to rush back to Big Bear. We needed to get the car back by 1pm and we had stops to make at Target, Trader Joe’s, REI (Michael’s headlamp broke), and the Post Office (to mail weekend stuff and extra gear back to my parents). We managed to fit it all in and get the car back by about 12:50. Success! Continue reading →

Days 17-20: Wedding Zeros

May 12, 2017May 12, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

May 4-7, 2017

We’ve spent the last four days traveling to our good friends’ wedding in Washington DC. It was a blast and well worth our hiatus from the trail!

We were up bright and early on Thursday morning. There went our plans to sleep in! Despite being up early, Ron had already left for work. We packed up our stuff and were out the door by 8am — just as our morning alarm went off.

More pictures from the awesome vacation rental.

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Day 16: Marathon Into Big Bear

May 10, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / 3 Comments

Total miles: 26.2 miles

Start: Mission Camp (mile 239.9)

End: Big Bear Lake (mile 266.1)

Total elevation gain/loss: 3334.3/4444.9ft

We were up before the sun again at 4:30 to greet another beautiful morning. This morning took us up and down the mountains surrounding Big Bear. We encountered more signs about the fire today, but they only added to our confusion about what the camping restriction was supposed to mean.

Sign suggests camping is allowed…

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Day 15: Feel the Burn

May 9, 2017May 8, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

May 2, 2017

Total miles: 17.3 miles

Start: mile 222.5

End: Mission Camp (mile 239.9)

Total elevation gain/loss: 552.8/888.5ft

After yesterday’s heat, we opted to wake up at 4:30 this morning to beat the heat. While I wasn’t necessarily thrilled when the alarm went off, our first couple of hours of hiking were amazing this morning. The surrounding hills glowed in the early morning light and we benefitted from the abundant shade.

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Day 13: It’s All Downhill From Fuller Ridge

May 6, 2017 / twobackpacksnoplan / Leave a comment

April 30, 2017

Total miles: 20 miles

Start: mile 185.7

End: faucet at mile 205.7

Total elevation gain/loss: 738.5/7937.7ft

We slept in a bit this morning because we didn’t want to hit the snow on Fuller Ridge too early. We’d heard that it was best to let the snow and ice soften a bit and I was glad to oblige. Despite feeling utterly exhausted last night, I had a difficult time sleeping. It probably didn’t help that we were camped on a bit of a slope. Oh well.