Thursday, April 29, 2021
Miles: 17.0
Elevation gain/loss: 4806’/5135′
Start: campsite on a beach at Silverwood Lake
End: McDonald’s, Cajon Pass
I was up at 4am and on trail by 4:45am, quickly heading towards Cajon Pass and my promised McDonald’s meal.
I wound my way around the lake, went under the highway, passing by 2 hikers, and then climbed up and over a few foothills. The miles went by pretty quickly, and I spent the last hour alone with just my thoughts, giving myself some time to prepare to face hordes of people.
The trail popped out by the highway and after taking some pictures with the trail sign marking the end of my 342-mile section hike, I headed right, towards the McDonald’s.
At the McDonald’s, the dining room was closed so I set my pack down on the roped off patio, ordered breakfast food, and then ate it outside. I originally ordered a Lyft, but after waiting 30 minutes, the driver assigned to the ride cancelled and the app just kept spinning so I cancelled and ordered an Uber instead. While I waited for the driver, I bought lunch and ate that too.
From there, it was a 25 minute ride to the San Bernardino train station, a 1.5 hour ride to LA Union Station, and then a 30 minute ride to the airport. From there, I caught the shuttle back to my hotel, though I had to wait 30+ minutes and call the hotel twice before the driver actually arrived.
Once I got settled at the hotel, I headed out to catch a bus to Target 2.5 miles away. Unfortunately, the bus line was super backed up and no buses were going to arrive for more than an hour, so I walked/jogged to Target in 95+ degree sunshine to do my shopping. I bought cotton clothes and food for the next 36 hours until my flight leaves. I got an Uber back to the hotel with all my groceries and then finally took a shower and changed into clean clothes. Tomorrow is a day to relax, before flying home early Saturday morning.
Transcending Mountains 