Day 31 winter is coming

Miles hiked: 12.46
Camped at: cabin in Big Bear
Hikers I camped with: 1
Total up/down: 1,759' / -1,040'
Steps: 36,598

Since a winter storm is on the way we decided that today we would hike 12 miles. We would like to hike more but are limited to where we can leave the trail and be picked up by our amazing hosts Teresa and Chuck. The storm should start between 3-5 pm, it may rain before turning to snow so we prepare for rain. We carry almost all our gear just leaving our food and a couple non essentials back at the cabin. The term for this is slack-packing. Because of the the weather conditions we carry our tents and sleeping gear, all our essential clothes, ect. It is nice carrying a lighter load and not having to worry about water. 

We are dropped of at the trail head, it is cold and you can feel the moisture in the air. The clouds are moving in and we are excited to head out. We realize maybe we are only excited because we know we have an exit strategy. I struggle all day with thoughts about our decision to not weather the storm. Are we missing out on a trail experience? The talk is of anywhere from 3 to 12 inches of snow. Do I really want to hike in that? What if it turns into whiteout conditions? What would it be like to we up to a foot of snow around your tent. We have been offered a safe warm spot to sleep tonight. Many others, have sought shelter and are waiting it out in other areas. I really need to stop and just enjoy the ride. 

About 2 1/2 miles from our end point it starts to snow. It's amazing. How beautiful it is to see the snow falling and starting to stick to the flowers, trees and even us. I feel like a kid again. Andrea starts singing Christmas carols and the moment is perfect, I will never forget that. I mention that this was the first winter in over 20 years that I didn't have snow, well I thought so anyhow. 

We message Teresa that we are an hour or so out but then find ourselves stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures. We just couldn't help ourselves, Andrea and I are on the same page when taking pictures, sometimes cracking us up. 

We get to our cross road around the 12 mile mark and start to head down the road. A mile or so down we see a familiar truck, with smiling familiar faces. We both have huge smiles on our faces as we explain how fun and amazing that was. 

We made the right decision. 

Chuck took us on a scenic drive around the lake and showed us the damn and told us the history of it. We also got a tour of the part of town we hadn't seen yet. We then went to the store to pick up some food to eat that night and for our snow day. I decided to make a big batch of chili and bought yogurt and blueberries for breakfast, I also bought some creamer for coffee. I am all set for our Snow day tomorrow! 

Later that night Teresa came over to hang out while we ate our chili dinner. Andrea made hiker cocoa (brownie mix, powdered coconut milk and a little kahlau) we sit around the table and talk all things trail. It was great to just relax and talk. I think I have found some great friends on the trail so far!