Day 18 Thursday 5/3 8:01pm Mile 260

A girl thought I was a bear!! ROAR!  I'm drunk with bear-power.  I was nestled by a bush rustling through my pack wearing my little black beanie, and she for real thought I was a bear!  It's a nice thing to be confused with out here.  Most of the time I feel like a lost little girl stumbling around in between these huge mountains and pine trees.  It was very cold this morning, but I managed to extricate myself from my sleeping bag and be on the trail just after 6.  I warmed up nicely over those first 4 miles or so, and was loving the fresh piney smell.  It warmed up into a sunny, but bearable day I did 10 miles by lunch time which is when I came to the animal cages.  There really were a couple of grizzly bears in cages there.  I didn't recognize them though.  Aside from a few steep climbs and descents the terrain was very manageable.  I think I did my first 20 miles day today! I found a nice spot to camp just before 6, and took some extra time trying to clean myself up before heading into town tomorrow.  It has gotten a little windy over the past few hours, but I don't think it will be too chilly.  I made it to Big Bear! Well 6 more miles.  I thought I was going to be struggling through snow again up here, but aside from a few sneaky little patches in some shadowy corners of trail I was free of it!  A few highlights of today - A group of kids from LA were out on a field trip, and their instructor was so excited when he saw Nightengale and I hiking towards him and the group up the trail.  He asked us to stop and the kids had apparently been learning about the PCT.  It was pretty cute when they were all hollering good luck to us.  They would all prefer to walk to Mexico than Canada.  They want the burritos.  The other fun thing today was a couch set up in the middle of the trail with coolers of soda beside it.  A marketing gimmick set up by one of the hostels in Big Bear.  It worked, cause they are all booked up this weekend.  I have my shirt airing out in the tree above me, and with the wind and the moonlight it is really creeping me out.  I'm going to venture out of my bundle and deal with that, so this is goodnight!

-Georgia-