Friday, May 10- mile 285-310 (25 miles)

I woke up to sunny skies, a stark contrast to the night before.  The weather was warm and I could feel myself become reinvigorated by the sun.  I missed the warm weather very much.  Great spirits today. I hiked on and off with a few other hikers, and spent a pleasant, if unremarkable,morning walking in the foothills of the mountains surrounding Big Bear.  Around the 20 mile mark I made it to a natural hot springs in the middle of the desert where I was confronted with one of the more bizarre scenes I have ever seen.

The hot springs consist of a large complex of stone pools next to a creek in a small canyon.  One of the first things I see upon entering the complex is a group of 5 topless girls,who look to be in their twenties, soaking in one of the pools.  They are all sitting around a man in his mid to late 40's, impossibly tanned, with a flowing mane of thick blond hair.  Upon seeing me he gets out of the pool, exposing his nightmarishly large genitals.  He slowly(far slower than necessary) wrapped some sort of loincloth around his aforementioned genitalia(also impossibly tan), walked towards me, and introduced himself as 'Hippy Dave.'  I greet him and he shrugs his shoulders, looks back at the girls and says, "Chicks, man."   I say, "yeah," as if I have some sort of idea what he is talking about and can sympathize with him (I can not).   I take a quick dip in the hot springs, and then head back to the trail.  I camp on the side of a ridge on a clear, warm, desert night, on a ledge overlooking the twinkling lights of the inland empire.