I wake to the sound of woodpeckers in the trees and the morning sun warming my tent. I love the soft patterns of light defined by the trees. Such a relaxing way to wake up. Condensation collects on the inside of my tent, it drips on my nose when I move. I try my best to wipe it down as I pack. 

  

 
I feel so much better today. The forest is warm and sunny. I bring out Doug’s Sansa clip and cruise down the trail listening to Radio Head. I pass Jeff and Jonathan and hike most of the morning by myself. The trail is a gentile roller coaster through the trees. It climbs up the side of a hill reveling Big Bear lake, then plunges back down into tall forest.

   

   

I hike around a bend and am suddenly in a completely different forest. The trees are scarce and burnt. The air is very dry and the trail is completely exposed. This must be what Jonathan was talking about, the effects of the drought and wild fires.

   
 
The skeleton trees stand like big black lines in the air. So strait, so solemn. It looks like the flames took big bites out of their trunks. 

   
 The air is dry and hot. It smells like pine tree in a new way I haven’t smelt before. Not campfire pine tree like one would expect, but a sort of… spicy sharp pine tree. Grass covers the hills and not much else. I spot a few young trees making a comeback. I hope they grow to be big and strong. You can do it forest!

  
The trail dives low between the hills. I find a stream with a grassy bank! I take a break to filter water. Jeff, Jonathan and Overstock join me. We wash our feet in the cool water and sit in the sun warmed grass. It feels sooo good. I think we bask in that one spot of a good hour before I head out.

  
 I can feel my body getting stronger! Those ten miles went by like a breeze. I’m going to be a real lean, mean, hiking machine.

 The trail leads me through more burn scars. Not much is growing back in this section, mostly manzanita bushes. 

   
 The sand of the trail is almost indistinguishable from the sand surrounding it. It feels like the land is in the middle of a transition. I wonder what it will decide to be, a forest or a desert.

  
Jeff and Jonathan catchup to me. We take a long break in a patch of shade and swap stories of adventures past. Jeff tells us of the ledgend of an underground sea. He and his friends have been trying to find the entrance. Exploring old mines and repelling down holes deep into the earth. They found an old suspension bridge and rickety ladders that lead to nowhere. Spooky Mines of Moria kind of stuff. I love it. The sun starts to hang low. We decide to get going before it gets dark. 

The land starts grows green again. The trail hugs large sandstone boulders above a babbling stream. It’s nice to hear water again! We get to cross the stream a few times. I want to jump in so bad!  

  
The trail opens up to a nice sandy clearing with large oak trees. The creek can be heard near by. We were planning on going one more mile but this spot just looks too nice to pass up. We manage to fit all three tents under the oak tree. The stream is wide and calm with a knee deep sand bar! I wade in and rinse my hair and my hiking shirt. I feel like a new person!

Overstock joins us and we make dinner. Jeff runs off into the hills again to get the perfect sunset photo. He didn’t even start eating his food! Overstock and I brainstorm a few trail names for him. So far I really like Sun Chaser (because he’s always chasing the sun!) We’ll see if it sticks. The photos he’s been taking are really amazing. 

  
We hangout until it gets dark and climb into our warm sleeping bags. The creek sounds sweet and melodious. Frogs and crickets add to the night time symphony. 

Today was a good day.

Camped at mile 293.24

Miles hiked today: 16.62