`PCT 2026 DAY 27 – CA Section C – 277.4?

Thursday, April 30th, 2026

I started this morning by taking a selfie of my scalp.

Why, you ask? Well, I need to make sure it’s healing and not infected. Also, apply some new Neosporin to it.

After getting back on the trail for about half of a mile, I came across a puzzling mile marker on the trail.

It seemed like an odd place to come across a mile marker that didn’t end in an even ’00’ or ‘0’.

Regardless, I made sure to get a selfie with it, just in case it was an important milestone. 😀

About the only significance I could find for that mileage marker is that North-bounders start to get great views of Big Bear Lake.

That much was true.

To the West, I saw Mount Badin-Powell. Although, it’s a thousand feet shorter than San Jacinto Peak, it is a well known landmark for PCT hikers. Obviously, it got snow as well during the recent storm. I’ll have to see how things are when I reach it.

One thing that I’ve already learned during my month on the PCT was that occasionally you come across odd things (and sometimes people) along the trail.

Case in point: A solar powered, open air pit toilet.

It was near the Little Bear Springs Trail Camp. Not a completely developed campground, but the area was used enough to need a pit toilet, apparently.

Shortly after, I passed a trail down to the ‘Rim of the World’ dirt road. It was another way to go down to Big Bear Lake. Fortunately, since my head wound was healing well and I had no need or desire to abort back down to civilization.

After that, the trail started to go through some meadows and then a more desert like area.

About this time was when I got my new “Trail Name”: HeadShot

I wasn’t sure I wanted to go by that since it was still a recent trauma. 😀

The trees gave way to a beautiful rocky landscape.

Being late afternoon, it wasn’t hard to make the decision to camp there for the night and enjoy the view. But that is why I pushed to hike over 13 miles this day: To reach this view.

Had to dry our my rain fly (condensation from the previous cool night).

Soon, the view attracted other PCT hikers and they joined me for the evening. It was hard, if not impossible, to pass up this view.

Amazingly, a couple of them had turned out to be people I had started hiking with from Campo at the Mexican Boarder. It was amazing since I was hiking so slow and taken enough Zero Days that I assumed those hikers had already gotten very far ahead of me by this time.

Apparently, they took more Zero Days than me. 😀

We enjoyed the sunset. Spectacular!