Day 22 04/07 Fuller Ridge

So it turns out the trail practically ran through our camp but you would never know it because it was buried under three feet of snow in a lot of places.
The night had been really clear with a bright moon that lit the mountainside and cast shadows from the ancient pine trees across the snow. The morning sun took a while to reach our little crevice of a camp. After we packed up I did the normal once over of my site to make sure I didn't forget anything. I actually found bleached bones, a femur for what must have been a pretty big animal, maybe a deer or a mountain lion.
It served as a reminder that we weren't out of it yet- we still had Fuller Ridge- though hopefully today would be the last day of icy snow traverses for a while. We started moving down the trail toward the ridge from a little above nine thousand feet past giant granite boulders that stacked against each other precariously and jutted into the skyline. The trail disappeared almost immediately and once again we were navigating cross country to each halfmile point. The snow at most times was at angles that if you fell would require a self-arrest with an ice axe- though luckily we didn't have any serious falls.
We were packed with a ridiculous amount of food to get to big bear, I think I planned for a week and had an extra day's worth. We made an effort to eat the heaviest things first. Joe's block of cheese, pepperoni and tortillas were the snack of choice for the day as they were almost two pounds.
Fuller Ridge went relatively well; the weather was good and we had a system down for navigating without the trail. We also kept an eye out for saw cut wood poking out of the snow banks- that would reveal where the actual trail was.
We had several small slips but nothing bad. One was pretty funny, I was taking a picture for Joe and I lost my balance while holding his brand new phone that he always seems to drop
I fell partway down the hill but I'd be damned if I was gonna let that phone fall- I held it high in the air the whole time I was sliding downhill in the snow and I never let it touch the ground.
Joe was grateful but cracking up, comparing it to watching someone try not to spill a beer.
We made it up and over the Ridge without incident and began the descent back into subalpine environment. Luckily we were facing the desert now and it was warmer. We saw four deer cut straight up a mountain at lighting speed, but they were graceful as they did it, prancing uphill one after the other.
We found a nice campsite that overlooked the giant wind turbines on the desert floor below and watched the sun set around the mountain. I picked wild onions by my tent and we both tried them. The moon rose high like a theatre spotlight in the sky. It was going to be a good night.
The San Jacinto's had lived up to their reputation for the early season, and put us to the test.
But we had succeeded.
I thought back to trail angel Dave's warnings on the car ride before we entered the range.
He had been right. You are insignificant in the mountains, and they don't care about your plans.
I went to bed tired but confident.
We had beat the early season beast.