`PCT 2026 DAY 25 – CA Section C – Sneak attack from above!

Tuesday, April 28th, 2026

Goal for this day was to get to Highway 18 on the Northeast side of Big Bear Lake. From there I’d get a lift into the city of Big Bear Lake. In addition to resupplying my food supply, there was a storm forecast for the next 2-3 days, so I figured I’d wait it out at a hotel in the cities around the lake.

I crossed a dirt road near Onyx Summit where there was a small water cache, but I still had enough water to reach the water available at Arrastre Trail Camp.

Then, out of of nowhere I was savagely attacked by a large tree lying in wait for me. I took a hard hit to the head before I could fight back.

After a brief, but heroic battle with the tree, I managed to get past it and continued down the trail until…

I stared seeing a liquid dripping down from my hat.

Red liquid.

That can’t be good.

I stopped and took off my hat and found the inside covered in blood. One of the pointy stub on the tree had hit me hard and cause a cut in my scalp.

Being alone, I took the selfies above to check on the damage.

As I started to staunch the blood, I was fortunate to have some hikers come by who had wilderness first aid training. Will I had first aid supplies, it was a little hard to deal with a head wound like this.

After they helped washed the blood off my head, we were relived that the actual wound wasn’t that big. The scalp has a lot of blood vessels and can bleed quite a bit. Either way, they helped me bandage the wound.

I was very thankful for the help.

Being injured in the wilderness can be life threatening if you’re miles and miles from a trail head and civilization, but (very fortunately) I could backtrack a half mile to Onyx Summit and reach a small highway.

But I did have to avoid being attacked by the tree again. 😀

At Highway 38, I tried hitching a ride to Big Bear Lake which had several Urgent Care Clinics and a full hospital to get treated. Even with the big hit to my head, I wasn’t dizzy, having vision issues or any signs of a concussion. So, I decided the Urgent Care would be a good choice to get treated. Cheaper too, of course. 🙂

If I had to get injured n the trail, being this close to an abort route and a city with multiple treatment options was pretty lucky.

I was cleaned up, examined for any other wounds or symptoms of concussion. Then the doctor stapled my scalp back together.

So, with two staples in my forehead, i headed back to the trail to continue my hike.

Just kidding. 😀

I knew I would have to rake some time off the trail to rest, resupply, recuperate, and ponder my future on the trail. The wound did make me wonder if I would be able to continue on my grand trek.

The weather was obviously deteriorating thtat afternoon, so after getting some food at McDonalds, I found a nice hotel and did some more cleanup of the wound and my head and carefully took a shower to clean the rest of my body up.

Fortunately, I was safely in my hotel by the time it started raining that afternoon.

After a night’s rest and the real meals that went with it, I was feeling a little better. But I was correct in staying in town to avoid the bad weather.

A look out of my room’s window very clearly showed I didn’t want to be on the trail the previous night.

Although the snow in town would melt by the afternoon, I knew it would stick around in the mountains longer.

In addition to some other gear repairs, I had a larger size 11 pair of boots shipped to me to replace my size 10s that I started with. I had expected to have to get larger boots as I went along (hiker’s feet tend to swell on long thru-hikes), but I was surprised that I was already having so many sores, bruises, and blisters forming on my feet after only 250 miles. I definitely should have started with the larger boots.

The larger boots felt better, but time on the trail would be the real test.

I ended up spending three nights at the hotel altogether. Partly due to the weather, but also to make sure there weren’t going to be any problems with my head injury if I continued.

Mile 251.0 – 252.7 – 1.7 miles total hiked on the PCT + 0.7 mile back to Onyx Summit

+2 Zero Days = 5 total Zero Days

PCT 2026 Day 25 Photos and Movies