He walked 482 miles to San Francisco in a bear suit. Now Jesse Larios is planning his next adventure

After walking 482 miles, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, in a bear suit, Jesse Larios finally reached the end of the road: Vista Point, at the north side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The clouds were wooly and gray, and wind lashed at Larios as he stood on the rocky coastline Saturday afternoon, still clad in the bear suit. Clutching a smartphone, he turned on Instagram Live and shouted over the waves.

“Look! My friends are here too!” he yelled, pointing the phone camera toward a group of wellwishers who had come to meet him.

Larios, 33, a data worker at a health care company, started his journey on April 12 in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. He clocked about 40 miles a day, carrying his phone, a charger, a few toiletries, socks, and a flashlight. He also brought cleaning supplies for the Bearsun costume — a teddy bear character he created for a marathon in 2016.

Still, social media photos show the costume got scruffy as time wore on. And Larios broiled beneath it, trudging through the Central Valley heat, and fueling on gas station snacks. He took sponge baths in gas stations and managed to shower three times — twice at truck stops and once at a Best Western hotel in Coalinga.

The hotel staff offered Larios a room for the night, but he declined.

“They were nice,” he told The Chronicle on Saturday. “But I said no. I literally showered, and I left.”

During the days, Larios enjoyed his solitude, eschewing music or podcasts but regularly updating fans on Instagram. At night he slept fitfully — power naps at the side of the road, during which he clung to the bear suit for warmth. Buzzing with adrenaline, he never slept more than four hours.

One night, a police officer tried to roust Larios as he lay, wearily, near an offramp of Interstate 5.

SOURCE:

sfchronicle https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/He-walked-482-miles-to-San-Francisco-in-a-bear-16126850.php