Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
Up at 6:00. Nothing like 11 hours of sleep. Had to wait for restaurants to open. Made a plan for the day. Haircut, laundry, outfitter, pharmacy, grocery store.
Got a text from my doctor that they sent my corticosteroid inhaler prescription to the local CVS. Yes!! Time zones are working for me.
I had a major attitude reset this morning. Amazing what 11 hours of sleep, good nutrition, hydration, and a large dose of steroids can do for you! Last night I had basically decided to quit the PCT. The last 3 days with the respiratory issues, coupled with whatever made me weak, nauseous, and unable to eat sucked big time. In retrospect, I think the respiratory and nutrition issues started to hit slowly 5 days ago on the ascent of Mount San Jacinto. Factor in 100-degree desert heat and lack of water and all this was a recipe for disaster.
I’m loading up on protein the next few days. I am fairly certain I have started to burn muscle instead of fat. I’m down 20 lbs and 2 inches on the waist. Not good and helps explain my muscle fatigue the last 3 days on trail. Basically, I need more protein and more fat in my diet. And I need a big protein bump in the morning.
A favorite quote of mine is “if nothing changes, then nothing changes”. I plan to make several changes to my diet going forward. I need to try for 3000 calories, 150g protein, 75-100g fat.
- I’m going to try a breakfast protein going forward.
- I’m adding a fatty meat like pepperoni or hard salami for lunch. That helps both the protein and fat intake.
- I’m carrying olive oil and adding 1-2 TBS to my dinner, yielding 120-240 calories, 14g fat.
- I’m also experimenting with high-protein ramen that I found here in town. Double the protein and fat intake of the normal ramen.
- Of course, I add a protein like tuna in oil (140 cal, 8g fat, 17g protein) or spam (230 cal, 21g fat, 9g protein) to the ramen.
The other issue is hydration and electrolytes. I’m making a big change to the electrolytes. I’m moving from Propel (230mg sodium, 60mg potassium, 0mg magnesium) to LMNT (1000mg sodium, 200mg potassium, 60mg magnesium). That will be helpful in the desert.
Aside from nutrition and hydration, I am back to the corticosteroid inhaler daily on top of my Albuterol inhaler. I now have a 30-day supply and will arrange a refill on that when I get to Tehachapi, CA.
Relearning some lessons from my AT thru-hike. That’s enough change for now. I’ll pay more attention to diet going forward. Now back to our regularly scheduled trail log.
I plan to stay in Big Bear until Friday or Saturday morning (3-4 days). That gives the meds time to work their magic. I plan to skip about 80-100 miles of PCT and rejoin the tramily on the trail. There are 3 good options for that ride to the trail. Not sure exactly which it will be, but it will be an expensive shuttle or Uber.
I extended my room at the Robin Hood Resort to Friday with an option for Saturday. It depends on how long it takes all the meds to get my body back to a good state and where I can reconnect with the tramily.
It’s a lovely sunny 65 degrees in Big Bear Lake this morning. I walked a block to a great little diner called Teddy Bear Restaurant. I had steak and eggs. Yum.
I walked around the village to scope things out. I stopped at an outfitter and picked up socks. Brad and Margarita texted me that they were having breakfast back at Teddy Bear Restaurant, so I walked back and had coffee with them. They and Kellie, infinity, TJ, and a bunch more are at the hostel 10 minutes away. Not sure if leaving tomorrow or zeroing. The plan is to all meet up for dinner or drinks later.
I took the free bus to the laundromat with BFG (Big Freakin German) and a couple we met on day 1 in Campo. There were tons of hikers in town. I window shopped at one grocery store. I’m planning a big diet change. I found most of what I need except electrolytes and breakfast protein drink ingredients. I may need to order from Amazon.
I grabbed lunch at a nice little Italian place next to the laundromat while waiting on laundry to dry. I stopped at CVS for a steroid inhaler on my way back to the hotel. I’m hoping this kicks the asthma’s ass.
I did a bunch of major blog updates. I will post them tomorrow as I won’t have much else to do alone in town.
I just talked to Brad. The hostel where the gang is staying includes dinner later, so they’re eating in. I’m going to walk over there now for drinks and pick up beer on the way. I’ll eat dinner in town later.
Had a nice time talking with Kellie, Infinity, Margarita, Brad, Hell Yeah, Dancer, and others at the hostel for a couple of hours. Everyone was very encouraging about staying on trail and rejoining them in a few days up trail.
Walked back into town at 8:00 while chatting with Pit Crew and stopping at the hotel. It was 8:30 when I got back to the restaurant area and most places close at 9:00, so I ended up back at The Teddy Bear, which is open late. No complaints. It is pot roast night. More protein. Yum.
Home and in bed at 10:00. More logistics and healing tomorrow.
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