PCT Mile 300: Hanging tortillas in a trip as soft as a sand dune
Celia Peterson and Jensen Douillard woke up to some cold morning in the mountains just south of Big Bear Lake near San Bernadino, Calif. The pair are close to 300 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail as they trek from the Border of Mexico to Canada. And yes, that is a tortilla hung below the sunglasses for safe keeping.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., May 12, 2025 — “I’m so excited for sriracha,” Jensen Douillard said from Idyllwild, California, about two weeks ago.
My wife created the fruit leather-like substance with ¾ of a bottle that we dehydrated here in The Dalles.
Peggy spread it like jelly on a tray; under the low heat, it congealed and dried and turned into flexible edible plastic.
Sometimes, you work for a little flavor. It goes a long way on a 2,650 mile hike.
Payday in Big Bear - Rations arrived from TD in Big Bear via general postage. The couple picked up the box of food in preparation for the next stretch from Big Bear Lake to Cajon Pass. Notice the dehydrated sriracha in the pink bag below box at left. Flavor for the trail.
The red broken jagged pieces are ready to be dissolved in instant mash potatoes, raman, mac & cheese - the bane of Jensen Douillard and Celia Peterson existence as they scramble through pine and juniper northeast of San Bernardino .
The siracha came in the box of food we sent to them general deliver to the City of Big Bear Lake.
The pair should hit the 300 mile mark today on the Pacific Crest Trail putting them fairly close to Deep Creek Hot Springs - a respite for weary hikers with painful joints, sore backs, hurting toes and angry muscles.
Prickly beauty abounds in the southern California Desert.
Heavy packs come with the long jaunts between stores and Post Offices as they have to carry food for six days in this section.
Celia, a 2019 TDHS Grad, said they hit the small town of Big Bear on May 7, and got a shower after 8 days. She said the nice couple that gave them a hitch into town could bear the smell, but their poor son and the shih tzu in the back seat were less fortunate as she and Jensen squeezed in with them for the 20 minute ride.
Windows were rolled down.
But that’s all part of it, Celia said. They went to a small bar in Big Bear after a day's rest and a shower to get a cocktail. And before they left, the bar owner thanked them for coming in clean. She told them that four rank hikers the day before cleared the place and killed the profits for the night.
Earlier in the week the pair pointed their trekking poles for the pine and juniper of Fuller Ridge as they followed the siren call of windy Cabazon and its In-N-Out Burger and Animal Fries.
“We hiked to eight or nine thousand feet,” Celia said. “There was a lot of snow. But there were foot holds, so it took a lot of time. But the views were gorgeous.”
The next day was all downhill.
Celia sports some athletic tape on her right calf and ankle. She said the ankle is healing as she uses stretching and massage daily to help it recover.
“It’s hard on your body to go downhill all the time. My knees and ankle were hurting a lot. But we made it to highway 10. It was so windy, we were following all these windmills,” she said laughing. “The wind was whipping up the sand so fast. It hits you in the legs and hurts.”
But it was worth it for the hitch to In-N-Out where they spent $30 on two double burgers, fries, a pop and a Neapolitan milkshake - yeah the trifecta of perfection- frosty strawberry, vanilla and chocolate that soothes like a mother rocking her baby.
Oh No! Oh Yeah!
“It hurt my stomach, but it was so worth it,” Celia said.
And the other pain?
“People keep passing us,” she said. “It’s frustrating. They take a zero day of not hiking, and then pass you. They are so fast.”
“But I’m feeling optimistic,” she said. “My ankle is starting to feel better. It’s been super tight and it's hard to relax the muscles. I’ve been stretching a bunch and massaging it. And I’m really looking forward to Deep Creek Hot Springs.”
Six miles of the PCT were washed out by mission creek in this section, making for some difficult hiking for 6 miles. But cairns were in place to guide the way.
The terrain has been tough at times, Jensen said. Six miles of trail was washed out by Mission Creek and the pair had to hobble through the creek bed rocks guided by cairns outside of Idyllwild.
The two share a set of AirPods - each getting one and keeping the other ear clear to talk.
They just finished Fellowship of the Rings and are into a “terrible romantic fantasy” that is so bad it's entertaining. And they recently cued up the Smiths, a Manchester, England Rock band from the ‘80s, in their playlist.
But sometimes the best distraction is right next to you.
“We will start talking and have these awesome conversations and I’ll wake up from it,” she said, flowing words soft as a sand dune. “And we’ve gone several miles.”
