One final meal in Big Bear before going back into the wilderness. I received the ok from Kristi as actually smelling decent which will hopefully last for ar least a few hours after we are dropped off on the trail. I was looking at our planner this morning and saw that since the beginning of this journey we have ascended over 31k feet and I am guesstimating that we have descended close to 25k feet. If my math is right, that should be close to going up and down about 2500 flights of stairs in less than three weeks. I believe this explains the bottomless void that exists in both of our stomachs and the duct tape socks that my father has nearly convinced me into creating.

The next stretch we are about to undertake is around 110 miles and if all goes well we should end up in Wrightwood. It looks like we will start with a steep descent which believe it or not can be just as bad as the ascent especially when you have a 50lb pack on your back. Some of these descents could be best understood if you picture an overloaded 18 wheeler going down a louge on ginormous ice skates. Our saving grace is that the PCT is also a horse trail which means 9% grade is supposed to be the max you encounter though I'm not sure I believe it. At the least the horses often leave speed bumps to help slow you down as needed so I want to put a big thank you out to them for that. While I am sending out appreciation, I want to thank everyone for the emails, posts on the blog, and messages on Facebook. You guys help keep us going. Thanks for all the love.

Hopefully our Trail Angels should be picking us up soon and we will be back on the trail again. Last night I watched TV for the first time in almost 3 weeks and did I do the socially responsible thing and watch the news? Absolutely not! I watched Old School and ate a pint of Reeses Ice Cream. I'm hoping my mind will be overwhelmed with Will Ferrell's amazing rendition of the classic Dust in the Wind. If only I could be so lucky. You're my boy Blue, you're my boy. Talk to you guys soon.