May 18, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Near Little Bear Springs
Miles: 17

Adrian: We are camped at 7,300 feet after hiking until 9:30 p.m.

For breakfast I had "The Grizzly Bear" meal at The Grizzly Manor, which included two eggs, hash browns, bacon, and biscuits and gravy. Yummy!

We called a taxi because we wanted a reliable and timely ride back to the trailhead. He came at 12:30 p.m. and we were hiking by 1:30 p.m.

The trail was through mixed conifers with oak groves scattered about. We also saw a plethora of shrubs that looked just like Mock Orange, which are planted often in Wisconsin because of their beautiful flowers that resemble orange tree blossoms.

Because it was full moon, we decided to night hike. Unfortunately, the steep slope and large trees kept much of the moonlight off of us. We walked with our headlamps until we found a nice campsite on a knoll.

We had some awesome views of Big Bear Lake to the south. It was a nice afternoon of hiking.

Kirsten: I can't believe I spaced this out before.

OK. Imagine you walk into that amazing pie place in your town. You know the one. They have tasty fresh baked pies and cafe lattes. You rarely go there though because the service is sort of slow.

So you walk in and you're thinking "I've been working hard for weeks. I deserve a pie. And not just a slice. A whole pie."

The waitress finally saunters over and you order a whole pie. She looks at you a little strangely and mutters something like, "Are you sure you're ready for the whole pie?" Yes damn it, you are.

You grab one of those alternative newsweeklys that are always stacked by the front door and page through almost the entire paper before the waitress comes back. She places a small plate with a slice of pie in front of you.

This is not even close to a whole pie. It's more like 10 percent of the pie. This is not what you have worked for all these weeks. This is a slap in the face.

She apologizes and says how popular the pies are and how difficult they are to make. Something about being lucky to get an entire pie. You've tuned her out. You fume and then - in your passive aggressive way - accept this.

Then you take a bite. And you reason with yourself. Maybe 10 percent is OK for right now. I mean it's pretty awesome, right? And I can always try for more another day.

I went through the same range of emotions when I reached mile 263 and Adrian announced that we had just completed 10 percent of the hike. The only difference was I didn't get any pie.

Two miles later, right before Highway 18, there was note congratulating us on our 10 percent completion. There next to the note were Skittles, sodas and even a few beers. The pie will have to wait until Canada.