Miles: zero Wrightwood J and I have been relaxing, eating blueberries, and hanging out with adorable three-year-olds. It’s everything I hoped and dreamed. While I have a moment, I thought I’d give a call-out to my favorite pieces of gear so far. Favorite piece of gear #1: My rainpants. I thought about leaving these at…

Day 23 Miles: 7 From our creekside camp to the Mojave Siphon Power Plant (then Wrightwood) We set two alarms last night – our first for the trip. One was for the middle of the night – there was supposed to be a meteor shower. The other was our wake-up call at the shockingly early…

Day 22 Miles: 8 From Deep Creek to 8 miles from Deep Creek Hot spring soak in the morning, what a life. Most of the thru-hikers are on the trail before I’ve even had breakfast, but Sylvia and Billy have the same plans as us: rest day at deep creek. It’s warm and sunny, which…

Day 21 Miles: 22.5 From holcombe creek to deep creek hot springs In Ray Jardine’s book on tarp camping, he harps endlessly on how ventilation is the point of a tarp. Supposedly, this is to prevent condensation inside your tent. I’ve had a sneaking feeling that maybe Ray’s wife just got tired of being hotboxed…

Day 20 Miles 19.5 From Big Bear to Holcombe creek May 21, 2014 When J and I made it to breakfast at 7am we were the last up. Papa Smurf had already made eggs and sausage, biscuits, gravy, and potatoes. Everyone was eating companionably while the dogs looked hopeful. No one else was heading out…

Day 19 Miles: 10 Arrastre Trail camp to Big Bear There were ice crystals on the bottom corners of our tarp last night instead of dew, although they’ve melted by the time we get up. It’s dark and cold in our narrow little valley, but we only have ten miles to go to get to…