Days 17-22

Okay, so back to Big Bear Hostel. This was my first experience with a hostel so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I walk in and there are a few hikers hanging out on the couches in the community room. There is also a kitchen. Wasn’t sure of protocol so I waited for a guy named Sarge to show up and check me in. About half hour goes buy and he shows up along with some other hikers checking in. Somehow I get paired up with Moondog checking in. I met him at Ziggy and the Bear but really didn’t hang out. Sarge goes through the motions and we get the rules of the house, along with key codes, a towel for a $1, and a walk through of the place. We get a room with 6 beds. Sarge points me to the lower double bed and tells me to take that cause I’ m injured. Sweet!!

Lightening is already there when we walk in. A few minutes later Resident Cowboy walks in. We all get to talking and then about an hour after that Coyote and Baby Bear cruise in. Coyote looks over and says “Hey, looks like we get to share a room after all” These guys were awesome to have around for a few days. Moondog and Resident Cowboy went and got beer for me on two occasions and Coyote did my laundry. 42 was there and he got ice for my knee..that’s awesome. They all felt bad for me and wanted to help out in any way. Needless to say it was great to have some really cool guys to hang with.

Thursday I caught up with GG and At Home as well. We ate at some Mexican place again where those two took on the 18inch Burrito challenge. Chimichanga for me. The waitress never had anyone complete it in the 5 years she was there. Those guys put them down in 45 minutes..mission accomplished. Another hiker finished his as well.

Over the course of a few days we all went out to eat and got together for beers. What a great town to hang out in an recover.

There are two houses at the hostel and it was booked with probably 30 hikers. Another storm was coming in so everyone wanted to wait to see how much snow fell. We got an inch or so in town and the mountains got a few more. Nothing crazy but most hikers were looking for a few zero days anyway…myself probably more. After the storm settled on Friday, At Home took off for the trail with GG following on Saturday. Moondog, Resident Cowboy and Lightning left Saturday as well. Coyote and Baby Bear left Sunday. I was the only one left. Other hikers would be coming in but not in my room. Sarge didn’t want to move me so I hung out a night by myself.

Knee progression:
Along with the knee I have some sore spots on the top of both feet, probably from overcompensating.
When I went to take my first shower I couldn’t figure out how I was going to get into the damn tub. I had to brace myself against the shower wall then hang onto the shower door frame hoping not to break it when I got in. It was a tough go but I managed to get it done. The bars and restaurants are a block away so I used my trekking poles like crutches to get around. Over the course of a few days I iced my knee, followed with Tiger Balm ointment and then used heat compresses a few days later. I was able to get in shower with no problem and start walking around after day 3 with one pole and less pain. Monday I loaded up my pack and walked around a little to test it out. Not much pain but its still there. The problem is the inside left knee on the tibia where I fractured it 10 years ago snowboarding. There’s a little pain still but nothing like it was before.

My thoughts about how I would go about hiking differed from day to day. I thought about hanging here for a few weeks then moving by bus north, timing my arrival at Kennedy Meadows 450 miles away just in time for the snow melt. That would be expensive to say the least. I really considered renting a car and drive up the coast to Seattle and calling it quits and just take the sumner off as planned. After talking to a few friends and family I realized I’m not in any hurry, I’ll hit the trail when I’m ready.

Well, I’m either going today or Wednesday. Just need to see if the shuttle is filled up and what times it is leaving. I need to get back out there and give it a go. I might be making a mistake, but if I don’t try I wont know how it’s gonna feel. I’m going to walk at a slower pace. Wrightwood is the next town and is 100 miles away. I think I can do it in 5-6 days. It’s not a hard hike, relatively flat most of the way. I left the trail at mile 252 and am picking it up at mile 266. I’ll miss 14 miles..oh well. My reason for this is the trail skirts Big Bear and I don’t want the option to bail out at mile 266 and come back again. If I leave it behind me, my only direction is north..the way I should be going.