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(Editor’s Note: Kristin is able to send us her blog entries when she comes to a town with internet access. As a result, the entries are published as they are received rather than on the day the events actually took place.)
Snow. It is the sort of thing you day dream about in the desert. The sort of thing you almost forget exists. Several scorching days after Warner Springs I woke up at the base of the mountains leading to Big Bear, CA. By 9 AM I usually had shed my fleece but on this day noon had come around and I was wearing both my fleece and my raincoat to stay warm. By 4:30 PM the long hike up was wearing me out so I decided to have an early dinner. I sat down on my Therm-a-Rest and boiled up some macaroni and cheese. That is when it started.
When I saw the first specks of white falling , I thought I was seeing things. Hadn’t it been over 100 degrees the day before? Wasn’t I just half a day from the desert floor? But then the specks of white changed to flurries and the flurries changed into a downright snow storm. White covered my pack and I quickly took out my umbrella to keep things dry.
And so there I was in the middle of the snow storm shivering and eating my mac-n-cheese as fast as I could so that I could get going. By 5:30 PM I was on my feet walking again and everything was covered in snow. I walked into the dark with my head lamp on, not wanting to stop it was getting so cold. My surroundings blurred by as I trudged on and on. Then, quite suddenly, a red cooler appeared to my left waiting with a sign on it that read “Welcome thru-hikers.” It contained a bag of oranges. They were nearly frozen, but they were delicious. My first piece of trail magic. Trail magic is the name given to any sort of help locals are kind enough to give to thru-hikers. This was pretty good trail magic.
Exhausted, I set up my tarp a few yards away and fell asleep with an orange dessert in my stomach. The next morning arrived with the cold hard thud of my water bottle slipping out of my pack’s pocket. It was frozen solid. Normally I’d sleep with my water in my sleeping bag to prevent this from happening but with last night’s exhaustion I had forgotten. Luckily my Platypus had not frozen so I had just enough water to get to Big Bear and when I arrived at the road, more trail magic was waiting. A cardboard box filled with sodas! “Welcome to Big Bear PCT class of 2008” a sign read.
My mother probably loses sleep over the thought of me hitch hiking but the towns along the Pacific Crest Trail can be 10 to 30 miles away. There is no way to re-supply other than to wait by the side of the road, thumb out, hoping that some kind soul will take notice and give me a ride. You try to make yourself look presentable. You wash your face with what water you have and pull back your hair and smile as the drivers pass. On this particular morning I was very lucky. A nurse was driving by on her way to work and pulled over when she saw me standing there in the snow. “Where are you headed?” she asked. “Anywhere with a grocery store” I replied. She told me to hop on in.
