May 8

266-278

We milk our town stop for all it is worth. We have an enormous lunch at El Pollo loco, stop for a last minute coffee, and finally find headphones for my phone so that I no longer have to walk with my phone speaker to my ear to listen to things.

Begrudgingly we get back on trail at around 2 pm.Luckily the trail provides us with a lot of interesting flora to gaze at- new cactus and huge trees. We see our first impressive Joshua Tree specimen.

After 2 weeks of mostly exposed walking in direct sunlight, it is a joy to be hiking through a forest.

In the evening we walk along a ridge with a great view of Big Bear and Big Bear Lake, with snowy Mt San Gorgonio towering behind.

Our camp is a stealth spot tucked into a hollow of trees.

In town I found a 700 calorie meal replacement bar. It is a brick of nuts and fruit and crisp rice that is the size of my hand( I have HUGE hands. Ask anyone). I eat my brick along with dinner. It is mostly edible and gives an incredible jaw workout. A+.