The toilet seems so far away, especially when the distance off-trail required is only 200 feet. Half of us are up early even though we agreed there was no rush today, so I go back to sleep. I’ll be up again soon jogging to the bathroom in sandals. Trailer Park and Caleb are great at being up early. My voice seems to get increasingly louder until everyone is up enjoying breakfast and conversation.

I drop Trailer Park and Rachel at 1045 about a mile from the PCT on Coxey Rd. It’s mostly dirt but has a paved portion, and then it gets worse. They will hike back to camp. The four of us (Caleb, Jess, Gert, and Jessi) will spend the day on the town. We start at the post office and pick up resupply boxes for us and Gert. We go to CVS to look for a certain nail polish color for Rachel and leave with four sparkly options.

We went to Big 5 looking for a coffee cup for Jessi and ended up finding a new hooded shirt for me in a shade of bright. The place looks like a fishing cabin from the outside, but Big Bear Sporting Goods has many treasures inside for outdoor enthusiasts. Jessi gets a cup and buys us stickers after we look through the binder of availability. Gert is always ready for a good cup of coffee and some mountain elevation.

Across the street is a Tea and Coffee Exchange where he not only buys us each a drink but a snack to go with it since it is lunchtime. Once our baked goods are devoured, we take our sugary beverages (part of a healthy hiker diet) to the boardwalk of the preserve we were at yesterday so Gert and Jessi can see the cooties. Young animals are cute regardless of the species.

Gert wants to check out the observatory, but the world’s largest aperture and highest resolution solar telescope is behind a locked gate. Its lake location minimizes image blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence. We drive further to Captain John’s Marina where a group of photo enthusiasts (the larger the lens, the bigger the interest) are on a hillside waiting for a glimpse of the bald eagles and their eaglets.

The marina’s ramp entrance is blocked but the men standing outside the shop let us know there is public lake access further west (also east, but they might charge there). Trailer Park has reached camp and is enjoying pickles and cookies and I respond to his photo with a picture of brother and sister in matching attire with Gert on the small boat dock. We touch the cold water which wouldn’t be an issue for these non-chickens to jump into on a warmer afternoon.

We drive to the Big Bear Discovery Center where they offer guided hikes, have taxidermy animals on display, and sell stickers! I find a Woodsy Owl one that matches one of Trailer Park’s tattoos and have to get it for him. We return to camp and wait for Rachel to arrive. She left Doble Camp an hour and a half after us this morning. I will take her and Trailer Park into town to pick up Ravi. He walked up to a parking lot from the park, so I honked to get his attention.

We apologize for our behavior to the guy minding his business on the stairs as we laugh about Ravi looking the other way. While they are exploring the wonders of Grocery Outlet (and cheaper food prices) I will get Caleb a pair of camp shorts from Marshall’s next door. Ravi, like any other teenage boy, is always in need of a shower and laundry.

I throw the rest of our clothes in the wash with his while they walk through Dollar Tree for random goodies. A guy outside the laundromat offers to sell me a $40 walking stick and I let him know I would need two, but his is thick, heavy, and doesn’t collapse, so I will keep the ones I have. Rachel doesn’t feel like having Caleb cook like he did last night when Trailer Park brought food to camp, so she offers takeout instead.

Maggio’s pizza will bake us two large – one meat, one pineapple to go with vanilla cupcakes and fresh blueberries for Ravi’s birthday dinner. We didn’t know that he didn’t know how to eat pizza and have a laugh when he gets more than sauce on the table and himself. It’s a good thing he didn’t paint his own nails. I let Jessi paint mine and was thrilled to have a matching sparkly shade of purple with Caleb while the others let Rachel use all four colors.

The rest of the evening has us in giggles as the guys aren’t used to anything on their nails, which is why I usually only paint my toenails now, so they are acting dainty until they dry as they go about planning for the next two days – finding water sources and packing food. The splash of color causes a distraction and forces a pose. I’m glad we could find a group also willing to wear matching rainbow bracelets.

For this reason, I will tell the two sites across from us at 1030 that, “There are quiet hours because not everyone is on the same schedule.” My voice is a bit raspy from all the smoke as other campers let their fires pretend to burn out instead of drowning them, by law. Some hikers bring earplugs to block sounds that come with camping in groups, especially with the possibility of snoring and loud sleeping pads, but others prefer the noises that come with nature.