"Rim of the Earth"

by Stephen Jabaut

For my birthday this year, I rented a Subaru and trekked up to Big Bear, California for a free day of skiing and two nights camping in the back of my car. Leaving Los Angeles around 9:00 AM, all of the East-traveling traffic had dissipated and I had an easy shot to the mountains and arrived there in about two hours. The road coming up 330 to 18 is one of my favorites in all of California. They call it the Rim of the World Highway because you run along the edges of ascendant mountains and through wild canyons that have expansive views of the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Basin below. As you climb ever higher, the air crisps and the trees turn evergreen. Eventually you’ll see snow, and you’ll wonder how at 55 degrees in February such a thing could even be possible, but it is.

Once I got to the little alpine village, I got my skis waxed and sharpened for the next day’s events, and then went thrifting for ski poles and to see what I could find in the mountain consignments around Big Bear Lake. I found a Cashmere fitted cap, and a hand-made shearling sheepskin jacket, as well as some nifty UGGish boots that are now in my arsenal of warm wear for the home. I went to a favorite restaurant, the Teddy Bear, to grab some biscuits and gravy. With a belly full and the sun now set, I immediately began to feel sleepy.