2013-05-18 - Day 10 Bigbear, CA, to Lake Arrowhead, CA

5/18/2013
Miles: 23

1:15 PM
Splinter Cabin Trailhead, near Lake Arrowhead, CA

My new bike computer showed a temperature of 35 degrees at 4:45 this morning so it did cool off more than it felt like it would. I was toasty in my down mummy bag inside my cheap warm weather Walmart bag.

Dan apparently left camp about 8:15 this morning. I say apparently because as far as I know he said nothing. He unzipped my tent door enough to slip my keys in then apparently took off. When I got up a few minutes later he was not to be seen. I thought he might be in the bathroom but after a time I realized that was probably not the case.

I packed up and the campground host came by and we chatted awhile. About 10:00 I decided to come here and wait. If he does not show by 3:00 or 4:00 I will really start to second guess myself although I cannot imagine where else he might be.

I think there is a good chance he told me that he was leaving and I slept through it. His pack appears to be gone so it seems safe to assume he is on the way here. Since this is our agreed upon meeting place for today I will just wait here until he appears.

On the drive here I got good views of Mt. San Gorgonio, Southern California's highest peak at 11,500 feet (again the camera does not do the peak justice):

I have not been to this trailhead before. It is quite a beautiful area. The PCT crosses Deep Creek about 200 yards north of the parking lot. Dan and I both crossed the bridge in 2005 at different times in the spring. During the winter a large pine tree had fallen into the east side and about 1/2 of the deck was gone along with the north handrail. We had to crab walk across on the south deck support beam while hanging on to the handrail. The bridge below appears to be completely new:

I spoke with a ranger type a bit ago and he said no one will bother me if I sleep here tonight even though all the signs say no camping. I will if Dan is here.

I got a good laugh on myself this morning while talking with the host. I said something about Po-lee-gue Canyon Road. He said, "Yes, Polique........." For years I have called it Po-lee-gue. I need to train myself to look at the letters in the middle of words. I am an excellent example of the point made by the Internet thing that comes by from time to time which demonstrates that if we see the first and last letters of a word our brain will fill in the rest. Sadly my brain is often very creative in filling in the blanks. I know, who cares, BOORING!

Many of the homes in Hook Creek Canyon which runs down from Lake Arrowhead/Cedar Glen to the trailhead burned in a big fire perhqaps in 2008. Below is one of the many new replacement houses I thought was interesting:

8:40 PM
Table Mountain Campground, Wrightwood, CA

Dan showed up at Splinter Cabin at 3:40. He noticed right away that it was a very much less than a good place to stay the night. We discussed it and decided to skip ahead to Swarthout Canyon Road at the base of the climb up to Wrightwood. Dan rested awhile then washed off in Deep Creek then we started for Swarthout. On the way we decided to detour through Hesperia for a visit to In-n-Out Burger. After a tasty meal we again started for Swarthout. As we started up Highway 138 I suggested the possibility of going to Wrightwood where we could stay in a campground instead of the bushes at Swarthout. We agreed it was a good idea so here we are. Dan will start tomorrow at Vincent Gap, the base of the climb over Mt. Baden-Powell. This will save another day for hiking in the Sierras.

Incidentally, Dan did not tell me he was leaving this AM. I will asked him to please not do that to again. I do not need the stress of wondering if I guessed right about his actions and identifying, sorting and prioritizing the available options in case I did guess wrong. It is too easy to avoid.