Pacific Crest Trail: Mile 268 to 285

Big Bear Lake from mile 277ish.

Section C
Baldwin Lake to Little Bear Springs – Nobo
Miles: 17
Hiking with: Gary B & Rob

Lodging: Inn at Fawnskin Cabins - There are a lot of cabins and motels in Big Bear on the south side of the lake. I chose the little community of Fawnskin to stay in because it is on the northwest side of the lake closer to Lake Arrowhead Splinter’s Cabin and to Little Bear Springs. Oktoberfest goes for at least a month on Big Bear with the slogan is “Party like a Local!!!”. Evidently with marketing strategy works pretty well as the town seamed pretty full and consequently the hotel/cabin rates seemed pretty high. We ended up paying $250/night for a 2 bed 1 bath cabin with a futon – at least it had direct TV but no Internet. The Big Bear Best Western was $160/night and we would have needed 2 rooms so the cabin sounded pretty good.

Car Rental: Enterprise 229 South Street, San Bernardino, CA 92401 Tel.: (909) 888-3241. A lot of the enterprise locations is they are independently owned so you can rent a car in one location and drop it off at another without a fee. This Enterprise rental location in San Bernardino is owned by the same guy who owns the Big Bear location so we were able to rent here and return the car in Big Bear!!! Yahoo – that saved us about an hour on our last day!!!

Dining: Big Bear -- Maggio’s Pizza Big Bear, CA – My theory is forget the fancy restaurants go where the locals go. At the hotel the exec told me to go to the Peppermill which is the nicest place in town. When I asked the front desk clerk who looked like a college student where he goes to eat he said Maggio’s – Bingo!!! This is great Italian food at a great price. I’ve eaten here 4 times and never been disappointed. I had spaghetti, Calzone, Pizza, salad – it’s all great. It’s always been full but we’ve never waited more than 10 minutes.

I’ve also eaten at “Get the Burger” in Big Bear which is a popular local Burger Joint, better than fast food, but pricey for a Burger – I’d go there again.

Start: From Hwy 18 on the north side of Lake Baldwin (frequently a dry lake) we turned north towards the city dump on Holcomb Valley Road, a well groomed dirt road toward the City dump. About ½ mile up you’ll see a small sign for the PCT and the trail on both sides of the road. We parked on the side of the road.

End: From Fawnskin we took Rim of the World Dr north which “T”s off of the main road next to the Fawnskin Fire Station. It is a well groomed dirt road that any vehicle could go on. Eventually the road turns into Coxey Truck Trail. Although maps show other roads merging and intersections we were on the only main road there was. The road gently climbs up the mountain and then drops into the Holcomb Creek drainage. The PCT runs next to Holcomb Creek at this point.

People along the trail: About mile 278 we came across 2 older couples who had enjoyed Oktoberfest the night before in Big Bear and were out for a short hike. They were excited to get back to Oktoberfest for lunch as they have free coleslaw there – go figure.

We also came across 20 people working on the PCT with the Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation. My hat is off to this group making a difference on the PCT.

Description: We got up early and drove over to the trail head. The sun had just come up and it was a little chilly but we knew it would warm up soon. The trail quickly ascended the mountain range north of Big Bear Lake and then hugged the back side for the first half. There were great views to the north into the Mohave Desert. Soon the trail crossed over to the south side of the ridge with gorgeous views of Big Bear Lake. Then the trail slowly descended back to Holcomb Creek where we had left our car we started the previous day’s hike. We jumped into the car, drove back to our cabin where we had arranged for a late checkout, showered (convenient before a long car ride with others), picked up the rental car, dropped off the rental car in Big Bear, ate at “Get the Burger”, and drove home to Phoenix.