June 2 – 6: Big Bear Lake to Wrightwood

144km and 3721m 

“He’s not vegan, he’s just Canadian” Bug,  PCT hiker class of 2025. 

Danger, Danger!

  It was June 2nd. After spending four days in a four star resort attending Contact in the Desert, I was starting to miss the trail. After packing up our suite, me and my dad jumped in a rental car and drove up to Big Bear Lake. I didn’t want to fall too far behind, and I had no guilt about skipping this section. As luck would have it, right as we parked at the highway 18 trailhead, Green Man and Snake Cuddler emerged from the forest. So instead of beginning my hike that afternoon, we decided to celebrate the serendipitous reunion. We piled into the car, and went to the local brewery for lunch. After bidding farewell to my dad, I spent the rest of the day relaxing with other hikers at an AirBnB. It was exactly the social scene I needed. 

  We stayed up late, and had some lively discussions in the hot tub. At one point a young woman sat down, and started up a new subject of conversation.

“Have any of you had more intrusive thoughts now that you’re on trail?” 

This was an intriguing question for me and I thought about how in my own experience I’d had these thoughts in overly normalized situations involving high risk (i.e. driving on a fast highway or standing beside large cliffs). She then explained that earlier she had been hiking with both her earbuds in, and stepped right over a Rattlesnake. Now she was feeling a little jumpy on trail. Being the socially “aloof” person that I am, I made a horrible mistake. I showed her my close-up Rattlesnake footage. I’d wanted to convey my methodology for being safe around snakes, but before I could explain I could see my audience was shook. The video had seemly triggered this poor woman, and now I was getting this stare that read, “What is wrong with you?”

  Needless to say, we didn’t end up having a very fruitful conversation. The impression was made, and now I was just a crazy man who plays with dangerous animals. What a shame. In intense situations I’ve learned how to keep my composure and maintain my critical thinking. This has come with training, exposure and time. Through my career and past times I have developed a process of hazard assessment and risk management. Not to mention I absolutely adore snakes. But, I recognize this doesn’t describe every thru-hikers background.

  Perhaps that’s part of the potential personal growth that can come from a thru-hike. You have nothing but time and exposure out here. You can find your personal limit and have the space to push past it. Just taking the necessary time off to thru-hike could be considered a big risk. The empowerment that comes from facing fear is worth it. If you are driven enough to hike this trail in its entirety, then you could probably overcome a fear of snakes too! No one said thru-hiking was comfortable. 

Hotsprings and Snakes!

  While I was feeling frustrated after that evening’s disastrous conversation, that feeling was quickly overshadowed by the experiences on trail. I was heading up into the San Bernardino Mountains and traversing west toward the San Gabriel Mountains. It was a long stretch that didn’t take me much further north, but a few landmarks along the way were well worth the visit. The first was the Deep Creek Hotspring. 

  I must have spent at least three to four hours lounging around there. One of the locals remarked that the site had been visited by humans for thousands of years, and the smooth hand holds around the rocks definitely backed up that statement. The hot springs feed numerous pools that surrounded a deep bend in the river. Someone had even taken the liberty of setting up a slack line across the deep end of the river, which I had fun trying to cross while also cooling off. A school of catfish swam around unperturbed by the many people splashing about. It was a magical spot. But I had my shirt off and my guard down for too long, and eventually I began to feel the burn. By that time unfortunately it was too late and I was terribly sunburnt. 

  That day turned into my first big night hike. The trail takes on a new life at night. So many critters came out at dusk and the moon kept the trail bright. As the sun set there were horned lizards, a rosy boa, and garter snakes. By night there were toads, and all kinds of insects. That plus the cool breeze which I throughly appreciated. After the absolutely cooking hot afternoon I had, it was pretty sweet. Already I was starting to look forward to visiting McDonald’s the next day in Cajon Pass.

  The next morning I woke up super early and hiked along the edge of Silverwood Lake. I was feeling drained of energy, as my body reacted to the sunburn. Soon as the sun was shining overhead, it was unbearablely hot again. I hid under my umbrella, and quickened my pace. The winding trail led high over a ridge and then back down into a small canyon. Those last two miles before I was dumped out onto Cajon Pass were grueling in the heat with my backpack rubbing the burns on my shoulders. As I drew closer, the sound of the traffic spurred me on. Then I was out. A stream of bumper to bumper traffic raced by at highway speeds. It was a bewildering sight, and I sought refuge under the golden arches. 

  Bug and Luna were there. It’s funny, but once we had our bags off and had occupied a table, it felt incredibly homely. I stayed there for four hours, ordering multiple rounds of food. Despite my rapidly dwindling energy and the severe pain I was experiencing from my sunburn, I pushed on that evening, crushing out another 9km before reaching the next water cache. I wanted to continue further, but a friendly local came by with a Yeti cooler full of beer and me and another couple hikers hung out with him shooting the shit and enjoying the cold beverages. Either way I’d be in Wrightwood tomorrow, and not having to dry camp that night was also very nice. 

  My sunburn was starting to blister the next morning. I gently hoisted my bag onto my shoulders but still I was in complete agony. It was a relatively short 19km haul to town due to a trail closure ahead. Gritting my teeth I climbed onto the ridge and then promptly back down into the valley. There was a man there waiting for his daughter who was also hiking. Since she was a ways behind me, he gave me a ride into town while he waited for her. The first thing I did was visit the grocery store, where a hiker hang was developing at the shady picnic tables. I treated myself with a breakfast burrito, a mini watermelon, a pint of ice cream, and a tube of aloe vera skin lotion. 

One of my favorite thing to get in town, watermelon!

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Published on
August 8, 2025 |