Exotic animals, Bigbear and hitting 300 miles

May 2nd and 3rd, 2015

I got up in the morning got on the trail the couple miles down the trail I ran across the exotic animals in small living room sized cages. In front there was a mountain lion and a grizzly bear. In back there are many other animals that you wouldn't expect to see on the PCT like a Siberian tiger and a Black Panther. It it sad to see animals like Mountain lions, which have a 100 mile territory, be in such small cages, meowing. Also there was a tripod German Shepherd guard dog that seems fairly friendly but I wondered how it lost his leg. Hopefully not by confronting one of the exotic animals and getting his leg bitten off.

I kept on walking and after seeing the animals in the cages it wasn't very eventful I was on my way to Big Bear. There was only around 15 more miles to go. The environment was sort of strange.

I was going from forest to desert to a combination of cactuses and pine trees. Here are some pictures from along the way.

As I was walking on my got to the highway I saw a family with two young girls and mother. They were telling me how they got lost and how they had a great idea to go to the road. They asked me if there's a campsite up the trail and I told him I think so. Then they asked me what I was doing. I told them I was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Then they asked what that was. I told them that was a long distance trail that goes from Mexico to Canada. The girl says, "you are going to do all that." I said I'm going to try and then I walked down the road.

To get to Big Bear you have to hitchhike and I got a ride pretty quickly by an older man. He told me that he was from Croatia. Then went on to tell me about his family his granddaughter and grandson and how one is doing tours and traveling all over the world. I told him about the PCT and he told me how he had to escape Italy during the Bolshevik Revolution. I didn't really understand why he did this but maybe if I knew more about history I would. He took me all the way to Big Bear city which was a lot farther than I thought. It was probably more than 9 miles from the trail to the town. He dropped me off at the big shopping center. I went into Von's, the big grocery store. There so many options I think I overdid it and bought way too much food. I bought salad, fruit, tortillas, flatbread, a whole bunch of granola bars, yogurt... and the list goes on. I went to check out and it was a lot more money than I thought but that's what you get with hiker hunger. I was about to leave the check cashier gave me my change and said,"Thank you for begging." I didn't pay attention I said okay. I start walking off and then I thought about what she said. I guess coming off the Pacific crest Trail and resupplying and in these big cities I get mistaken as a homeless person that begs all day to buy box salads and yogurt. (After a day I thought about what she said and was really upset. Then I realized that I was bagging my own groceries and remember that's not common in the States. I got used to doing it automatically in Korea, Russia and France. So, the lady was thanking me for bagging not begging.)

I went out to the parking lot and by this time it was getting dark so I decided it's time to find some place to camp. I called up a trail angel and told them I was at Von's and it sounded like they're gonna pick me up but it was hard to hear them on my phone.  I waited for over an hour and I finally gave up and headed up into the mountains to find a place to camp. I went way up the mountain and there was lots of covers and other stuff scattered around his far away from the city. I got into my sleeping bag and called my girlfriend. As I was talking to her a homeless person walked up the trail. I was kind of surprised. I said hi and asked if it's okay if I sleep here. He said it was okay he just didn't like vandals in the area. During this time I was on speakerphone with my girlfriend and felt kinda awkward. But I went to sleep anyways.

I got up fairly early and instead of hitchhiking back to the trail I decided to go to the lake and find another way to the trail. I got to the lake and it was nice day so I went swimming and cleaned up. While I was walking back there was a girl and a guy walking towards the lake. While they were coming down to the beach they kept looking at my backpack. I was I hoping this girl doesn't try to do anything with my stuff and I was thinking all these bad thoughts. The she came at me and she said are you hiking the PCT. I said,"yeah, I am." She told me her boyfriend did the AT last year and she said that it's awesome that I'm hiking the PCT and asked me if I need any food or water. 

I declined and went up the trail hoping to find somewhere to charge my phone and battery at the lake but I had no luck. I decided just to keep on going to the next town and hope that my phone my camera and my battery pack stay charged enough so I could use them. Hiking up the trail I didn't get very far because my backpack was loaded down. I think I made it around 14 miles on the trail and heard a stream so I hiked down to it and set up camp.

I and up getting to camp and decided that I need to work on my blog so I went there early and started working. Then I realized that my battery pack was not charging it was already dead and my phone was also dying it only had 60% battery. Then I looked at the map and saw that 50 miles away was a McDonald's. So my goal was to get to this McDonald's as soon as possible

        

Also past the 300 mile mark on the PCT.

A close call with a rattlesnake

April 30th and May 1st, 2015

I woke up the next morning went back to Ziggy and the Bear's. I charged my cell phone and my camera. While I did this I finally caught up on some blogging. I haven't really had a lot of time to do this since I left the hospital. I also got to talk to a lot of hikers. They were talking about many things but mostly about their complaints. A lot of people would complain about how steep the trail is, how their blisters hurt, and how sleeping on their side is painful... and the list goes on. 

I waited and I kept on asking Ziggy if my package was somewhere in the house. Every time I would write my name on the little pad and paper and give it to her. She would come back and say she couldn't find find the package.

Later on everybody ordered pizza from Little Caesars and I kept on asking for my package. By about 4 PM they finally found my package. I repacked and put a whole bunch of water in my backpack. It felt very heavy this time I must have had 10 pounds of water and 10 pounds of food plus all my gear. So it was a little bit hard starting out. Also during this time the temperature reached 100°.

Before I left I put on a cold wet shirt that I just washed and stepped out into the desert heat. 

I start walking up the mountain I got up about four miles up the trail and I saw another hiker named Chowder. He was reading his Kindle and resting. I talked to him for a second then I went up the trail. 

Around the corner and down on the trail was a rattlesnake. It was about four and half feet long and as fat as a softball. He was just sitting there so I didn't try going around. I thought I would just give it some space. So I went back to Chowder to tell him there's rattlesnake very close down the trail. The trail was very steep on the edge of the mountain and was very difficult to find a way around the rattlesnake. But I figured I'd give it a shot. I walked up the mountain and then I figured I would come down a very steep part and jump back on the trail. 

I started sliding down the mountain   and I jumped down and I heard "sssss." I looked down about 6 inches from where I jumped down was the rattlesnake. I planned it wrong and came down the wrong place or the rattlesnake moved up the trail. I jumped back and the rattlesnake was already in strike mode. I went back to where chowder was then I took a break myself and ate some pizza. 

He said all you have to do is scare it away by throwing some pebbles at it. 

He packed up and we headed out.

out.  We walked slowly and very cautiously looking everywhere down the trail. Then all of a sudden he heard hissing and jumped back and said, "oh sh*t."

The rattlesnake ended up going up the mountain to where it was almost eye level with you and we walked right into his ambush.

After this we were pretty cautious and decided just to go down the mountain give the snake and plenty room and go around. Finally we successfully got around the snake nobody got bitten.

We walked another six or seven miles got to the river with a decomposed cow bone carcass on the bottom. Walking in desert with cactuses, very dry air, rattlesnakes and now dead cows I felt like I was really in the desert. I left Chowder behind and walked ahead another 10 miles or so. I walked into the night and while I was walking there were coyotes howling maybe 100 yards away from me on the mountain. I couldn't really see them with my very dim headlamp but it was okay.

It was kind of a relief to have some cold air and to see the stars. I got to a place called Mission Creek in the canyon and found a place to camp.

Next morning I got up and started walking back up into the mountains. By this time it was around 3000 feet and now I was heading towards Big Bear. It was a nice walk and was starting to cool down as I got higher and out of the desert.  There were plenty of water sources and it was pretty nice in general.  It was an uneventful day... just a lot of walking and some pictures were taken. At the end of the day there was a magnificent sunset and I went to sleep.

Climbing down the mountain

April 29th, 2015

    

I woke up from my camp at around 6 AM. I was around 9000 feet and it was 36° F. I forced myself to get out of my sleeping bag, packed up and then I started heading down the mountain into the desert. The trek from my camp to the next water source was going to be 20 miles.

As I was walked down there were some incredible views of the valley below, wind turbines and the mountains in the distance. It was very steep going down and the trail could use some maintenance but it was nice. 

After about hiking for six or seven hours down I made it to the drinking fountain put in just for PCT hikers. At the faucet there were hikers sitting around talking and filling up their water bottles. 

The next stop where I was going to get my next food package was at Ziggy and the Bear's. If you are wondering who or what Ziggy and the Bear is I don't blame you. It does sound a little strange but let me explain. Ziggy and Bear are nicknames for two trail angels. They bought a house in this town 18 years ago because it was right next to the Pacific Crest Trail and they wanted to help hikers. The house looks pretty typical. It was a gray stucco house with white fence around it and an American flag flapping in the wind. It was also very clean and not too big. The backyard was fenced off and carpeted so that hikers can have a comfortable place to sleep at night. Ziggy and the Bear were probably in their 80s, were very nice and liked to joke around a lot. 

When I got there 30 hikers were sitting around asking for packages to be sent to certain places on the trail. . I told them about my package and they said they couldn't find it but they were going to go to the post office the next morning and I could get it then.

I decided to go walk out into the desert to sleep because I'm not too keen on being around a whole bunch of backpackers snoring.  So I went back out and camped under the desert stars. 

Climbing Mt. San Jacinto Peak

April 28th, 2015

I woke up this morning and started to climb the mountain. There is another detour that you can take and it goes up to the top of Mount San Jancito. This peak is at 10,834 feet and it seems like a nice site. The only thing you're going to add is an extra eight or so miles to the trail and lot of elevation gain and loss. 

The trail going up was good. There was very little snow and the trail was easy enough to find.

Here I am at around 9700 feet and feeling pretty good. It is nice to be in the mountains.

Some weird looking plants on the trail.

After only a couple of hours of climbing and a few headaches I made it to the summit. 

        

At the top there was a great view of the Salton Sea, the desert, wind turbines and the surrounding mountains. 

There were about five or six PCT hikers and two day hikers up there and very little room but overall a very nice mountain to take a rest and look at the surrounding area.

On the way down I saw a search and rescue helicopters flying around. There were also a lot of search and rescue on foot. I ended up talking to them and asked what was going on. They said there was an Asian man in his late 20s missing missing since the storm a couple days ago. There are a couple of stories going around but apparently this guy went up the mountain with minimal gear. Then the storm got really bad and then the guy went missing. 

As I hiked further and further down I met more more search and rescue workers and turns out they found the guy down on some road.  

I camped early around 4 PM because there is a very long stretch trail without water that is 20 miles long.  I wanted to have water at my camp that way I could be hydrated before leaving.

I found a sandbar by this head of the river which is very small but there's snow all around me and very nice place. 

Back on the trail

April 24th - 27th, 2015

The storm was pretty bad yesterday  but it was nice to test out my rain gear. I also got to see rainbows here and there.

It was an uneventful day besides a lot of walking and taking pictures. The next point on my walk was highway 74 to a place called Paradise Café. 

Drying out my stuff after the storm.

It's always nice to run into an unexpected water cash.

Once I got there, I found it's a really nice place great food lots and lots of Pacific Crest Trail hikers. I ordered a burger because the person at the restaurant said that was the most food for the least amount of money. It was good but I was still hungry so I also ordered a burrito to go. Then got back on the trail. 

This section of the trail coming up is closed because of a fire that happened in 2013. I'm going to walk up to the closure then take a detour which is a trail that goes down the mountain to the interstate. Then you either walk or hitchhike on the interstate. 

This is where all the hikers would park their backpacks in front of the cafe.

While I was hiking I was just about to the closure and came across a nice little creek so I stopped and camped there for the night. One of the first camping spots next to water.

During the night it was very windy and I didn't bother to secure all of my gear and clothes. So when I woke up some of my stuff like blew into the stream that I was camping next to. 

I got the stuff out of the stream washed up and washed my clothes. Since I washed up and had a late start at 10 AM I walked to the closure. The detour had an incredible view and I'm glad I took it. Most of the PCT hikers are just hitchhiking to Idyllwild.

A picture from my camp and the small stream.

Some wild flowers on the detour.

Does this look like a big asparagus?

 I went back down to the interstate got a ride up to Idyllwild by a ex-Pan Am flight attendant. It was really great because he told me about the trails coming up and let me off near the Mexican place that I ate at before I went to the hospital. 

When I was there I called my girlfriend and then went to a grocery store. Bought some supplies for the upcoming part of the trail and then I found a place to camp a little outside of town.

More hospitals and good news

April 23rd and 24th, 2015

After I left the hospital finally got a hotel room and waited for the next morning to go to find an ear, nose and throat doctor. Luckily there was a doctor nearby. I went to the office and they told me that the doctor really couldn't do anything that I have to go see a different specialist in a different city. They said that the closest doctor that could help me was in Riverside regional hospital which was more that three hours by the public transportation system. I found out what bus to take and waited for multiple buses. Then I finally made it to the hospital and I went through the ER again. There are tons of people took another three or four hours in the ER to talk to someone. After all day waiting and riding on buses they told me that I have to see another doctor the next day. They also said that I need to get another CAT scan. I told them that I didn't feel comfortable with another CAT scan and I told them I had my CAT scan results printed out. They informed me that I needed a digital copy on CD therefore I would have to go all the way back to Hemet.

It was 5:40 and in order to get the CAT scan in time for my next doctor's appointment I needed to rent a car and the car rental place would close at six. I took the bus ended up getting at the bus stop at 5:55 and sprinted to the car rental place. While I was sprinting a person working at a car dealership offered me a ride in a golf cart and I got there just in the nick of time.

When I got inside the car rental place I explain my situation about my head injury and about going to the hospital how I needed my CAT scan from the Hemet hospital.  After a little bit of convincing they decided that they were going to let me rent a car.

 When I got back to Hemet  I went back to me this dirty little hotel that I stayed in the night before because the doctor before prescribed me some very very strong antibiotics and I wasn't feeling great. the day was not a total failure but I didn't get to see a doctor that could tell me how serious my head injury is. Hopefully tomorrow I will have better luck.

I got up early and headed over to Hemet Hospital to pick up a copy of my CAT scan and the report they wrote. When I got there the people were very friendly and helpful. They got me two copies of my CAT scan and the written report. I ran out of the hospital and quickly got in my car and drove to Riverside regional hospital. When I got to there I found the clinic and checked in. Then I waited for a long time.  I was over an hour late for my appointment but luckily that didn't matter. I eventually got in to see the doctor and she checked me out took my blood pressure did everything all the other hospitals did multiple times then she went over the CAT scan with me. 

She show me all the places that were fractured in my face and told me the good news, you don't need surgery. She said that she wanted me to see an eye doctor just in case there were any effects on my vision from the injury. I declined because I spent enough time in hospitals and doctors offices. 

My new priority was to get back to Warner Springs and to get back on the trail. My sister helped me out and told me that there was a car rental place in Ramona which was about 40 miles from Warner Springs. Ramona was about a two hour drive from where I was and there was a bus to that would get me close to Warner Springs. 

I called the car rental place and paid for a drop off fee. They weren't very happy because they said they needed my car for a different customer but eventually helped me out again. 

I took a drive down towards Ramona which was very nice because I took the back roads in the country. It was a rainy day, a little cold but after about two hours of driving I made it to Ramona and from there I caught a bus that went  to Highway 79 which is about 9 miles from the trail. Once I got to the highway I put my thumb out and the first car that passed pulled over. 

They were a couple in their 20s and the guy just got out of the army. We talked about the Pacific Crest Trail and he told me about his time in the army. I told him I was from Foresthill and he said he knew where it was because the military does drone training there. This was news to me! I guess you learn something every day. Once I got to Warner Springs I quickly found somebody to mail my CAT scan back home for me. Then I got on the trail. 

It was a rainy day around 40 something degrees and the wind was blowing hard. At least finally get to test out my rain gear. I walked only a little bit of the trail found a place to camp and slept for the night.

Going to the doctor

April 22, 2015

I woke up the next morning feeling sticky from the crusty sweat from yesterday's hike. I was also feeling a little anxious thinking about the possibility of having some serious problems with my injury.  I packed up slowly and made my way to the hiker camp in Warner Springs. When I got there 20 to 30 hikers were lined up outside a small building. I asked someone what was everyone waiting for? Someone simply said, "breakfast." Then I saw a sign on the door that said, "breakfast, eggs, sausage and pancakes... $6." It sounded good so I got in line myself. Once I got inside and got to the sign up sheet there was already a page and a half of names on the paper. So I put down my name and went to the charging station. I was lucky enough to get the last spot to plug in my phone. This was one of a couple charging stations and there were constantly people walking around looking for a spot to plug in their smartphone. 

As I waited for my food I went around and asked all the people that were not hikers if they new anyone going to a city with a clinic or a doctor. Finally I found someone that was going to Idyllwild, another hiker town that was about seventy five miles up the trail or about a hundred mile drive. So I told him about my situation and he said it would be no problem but to be ready at one o'clock. 

Once I finally got my breakfast I really wasn't feeling super hungry but managed to slowly eat the food. After breakfast the local sheriff was offering to give people rides down to the post office and jumped on the opportunity to skip the two mile road walk there and back. I was not the only one that jumped in, there were five other hikers that crammed into the sheriff's car. After getting my food at the post office I went back to the hiker camp to reorganize my food and pack. 

While I was just finishing up the my ride came out and said that he would be leaving shortly. One other guy got into his small SUV and he sped off with his head out the window yelling, "Wooooooooohoooo! Last one to make it to Canada wins!" Everyone in the hiker camp suddenly looked up looking surprised. Once we got on the small road he took the car up to speeds that I really didn't think were possible for that road. During this time he was playing drum and bass as loud a the speakers could handle. He would give snippets of information about the places we passed, "That's an awesome restaurant. They have elk, bison, and all types of wild game meat..." After an incredibly short time we were approaching Idyllwild. I was thankful because while going around one corner the car started sliding going 80 + mph. Once we got to town he took me to the medical center. He said that they were really good and would fix me up. 

I went in and asked for a doctor. The girl at the desk saw my and cringed a little and told me told me the doctor was out of town and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Then she said that there was another clinic about a half of a mile down the street. 

I walked slowly down to the other clinic and asked to see a doctor. The lady said with an incredible amount of empathy, "Sorry, but we don't have the equipment to take facial X-rays you'll have to go down to Hemet. It's about a half an hour drive from here." I thanked her left and got some food and started asking people if they were going towards Hemet. There were no offers right off the bat. So I got a little food really quick and then went to the gas station down the street. 

I approached a car with an elderly couple. I asked the man if if I could get a ride and told him what happened. He said, "Do you know what day it is?" Yes. "Do you know where you are?" Yes. "You're fine you don't need to see a doctor." Right as I was walking off the older lady on the driver seat jumped out and asked if I was a PCT hiker. I told her I was and she immediately told me to get into the car and said that she would take me to the hospital. The man shook his head but said nothing. 

We started driving and the lady started asking me a million questions about the PCT and about what I did before getting on the trail. I told her about teaching English and traveling. She was delighted and told me that she loved to travel and loved adventure. He name was Janet and she was in her seventies. She told me about how she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, kayaked up to the North Pole, trekked up to Everest Base camp and has a goal to climb Mt. Fuji when she is ninety.  She was very nice and even her husband started to be a little nicer. We got to the hospital and they wished me luck. 

I got to the hospital carrying my backpack in with my trekking poles strapped to the side. The security guard was nice enough to put my pack behind his desk. Then I just waited for what seemed to be forever. I eventually got in and did my cat scan and went back to the waiting area. Then some paramedics came and told me they had to take some blood samples and do some test. "Everybody that comes to the ER has to do this." They put an I V in me, hooked me up to a ekg machine and took some blood samples. As I was hooked up to all these machines I told them that I had to use the bathroom. The nurse stopped me a said they also needed a urine sample. All this seemed strange. I was starting to think that something might be seriously wrong or the thought I was a drug addict. This is a picture of me in the hospital bathroom.

So I waited for a while and then suddenly they came in and told me that I need another CAT scan. As I was walking to the CAT scan room the guy said something was up.  So I took my second CAT scan this time while the machine was running my eyes started to blackout during the process. All I know is that CAT scans are not fun and it probably involves lots of radiation. After hours and hours of waiting I finally got to see a doctor and explained that I have multiple fractures. According to my written report I have "...a modified tripod fracture on the right side. There is a fracture of the anterior maxillary sinus wall, posterior maxillary sinus wall, the orbital floor, and a fracture of the Ziggomatic arch at its junction with the temporal bone (probably part of the temporal bone and possibly a fracture near the temporozygomatic structure." Basically he said I need to see an ear, nose and throat doctor because one of my bones might push into my nasal cavity and create an infection. Then that can spread to my eye and making me go blind. I thanked the doctor and felt relieved that I didn't have any internal bleeding in my brain. I was also glad that I can finally get the IV out of my arm. I left the hospital and got to a hotel to figure out what to do next.