I slept really well at the hostel and did not get up till around 0700. When I woke up I went to the Hostels kitchen where Tanner was cooking up pancakes. I had some pancakes for breakfast together with a cup of hot chocolate. Yesterday the owner of the hostel, Sarge, advise us to stay another day because a lot of wind and cold temperatures are forecast. I am not here to stay in town so I am happy that we decided to leave even though I hate the cold. Looking at the forecast it looks like we might have a few cold days. ...

Today we were heading in to Big Bear Lake as usual we set our alarms to 0430 and started hiking at 0515. The night had been quite cold and I should probably had set my bivy up. The cold was nothing worrying but enough to be annoying. The night had been really cold before going to bed so I should have expected the cold night. Early morning hiking to make it to Big Bear. ...

Again I woke up at 0430 and broke down camp this start hiking at 0500, we got going at 0530. Today we had to make it past a fire closure where camping is not allowed at the same time we wanted to be sure we make it to Big Bear tomorrow as we have basically run out of food. Hiking in the early day sun. ...

Today was one of my earliest days on trail as we had decided to get up at 0430 and start hiking at 0500. I slept rather well during the night and was asleep when my alarm sounded, I was packed up and ready to go a few minutes after 5. We were all ready to go around 0510. The day started with a boring road walk made better by the fact that we did it in the dark. After the road walk with entered a flat desert stretch. This stretch had a lot of sand and other loose ground which made for slow progress. ...

The night in the shelter was comfortable with regards to temperature but the crowded shelter was like a orchestra of people snoring. The snoring and my uncomfortable sleeping pad caused me to wake up multiple times during the night. Sadly I also had to leave the comfort of the shelter to go pee, the wind and cold made this a less than enjoyable experience. Sunrise in the morning coming down from Mt San Jacinto. ...

Last night was the last night in Idyllwild and I was stoked to get back on trail. I will be hiking for the next bit with Brandon and Myriam who I stayed at Scout and Frodos with. We decided to get started early at 0500. We had a really short day planned where we wanted to stay in the San Jacinto Summit Shelter. We basically did the same hike I did on my day hike where we went up the South Ridge Trail. To Tahquitz Peak before connecting to the PCT. ...

Today was my first zero hiking day and second zero PCT day. I spent the day going around Idyllwild with Brandon and Myriam while consuming town food. I did a bit more resupply to make up for what I spent on yesterday’s day hike but otherwise I was pretty much already ready to go. Brandon relaxing in Idyllwild. We also spent some time browsing the outfitter and Myriam replaced her backpack to lower her base weight. Besides this gaiters were purchased so everyone now hikes with gaiters. ...

For a few days some friends that I started with have been a day or so behind me and been doing the same mileage. So today I if possible wanted to link up with them and continue from Idyllwild together. That left me with two potential plans. One was to hike on if they did not arrive and the other to do a day hike and then go back down to Idyllwild to meet up with them. ...

I did not have a long distance to hike to get to Idyllwild so I did not get up until after 0600. I packed up quite quickly and got going. It was very cold during the morning and I did not have gloves on as I needed to use my phone for detour directions. Sun slowly creeping over the detour trail. The detour was not that hard to follow and actually quite nice. On the way I met Avocado a guy from Germany that I have met a couple of times the last few days. We hiked in to Idyllwild together where he headed for the campground and I for Idyllwild Inn. ...

Before going to bed I had already decided I wanted to get a late start. So in the morning I decided to sleep in and waited until 0615 before I started breaking down camp. While breaking down camp I decided to stay showing my breakfast consisting of instant oatmeal. The breakfast went on the outside of my pack to be eaten at the water really of the day. Right from the beginning the day was marked by a lot of uphill until I found the turn of to Live Oak Spring where I wanted to get water. The water source was approximately 1 mile of trail and 450 ft downhill, 450 ft I had to climb again after getting water. ...