Day 24 May 30, 2017

• Daily mileage 17
• Total miles 438
• Hiked from 5:15 am to 1:00 pm

Does a day that is 17 miles long but ends at 1:00 pm qualify as a nero?

There was quite a large crowd of hikers camped at our abandoned roadside last night.  As usual, I was first up and gone. I had a small climb of about 1,000 feet right out of the hopper, but I ran into Neal from Oz just as he was packing up so we went up the hill together discussing our professions in the real world.  All of a sudden we were at the top.

The PCT only recently reopened in this area after last year's Sand Fire.  Before that, there was a very substantial road walk involved. So, although walking through the recent burn was less than stimulating, it sure beat the road walk alternative.  It seemed like no time at all had passed when I came into full view of my final destination, the Acton KOA.  But then, the PCT turned away, went uphill (the KOA was at the bottom of a valley) and proceeded to seemingly needlessly go around a fairly substantial hillside.  Why do you do this to us PCT?

     

Barron, burned desert walking    

At least there was new flowers to see 

Trail traversing a long side hill

The desert is baron yet it has its own beauty

Anyway, after awhile, I got down to the road, and there was that magical blue sign saying "Coppertone is here".  Yeah, root beer float.     

Coppertone is here!

Then it was time to go to the KOA.  First order of business, a shower.  OK, there was no soap or shampoo, but I got at least the first layer of filth and stench off.  Then I got my laundry done.  Glorious.  Then it was time for beers around the pool with the other hikers.  One thing about hiking 20 plus miles a day is that you build up a calorie deficit.  Town days like today are all about reducing that deficit.  So, I have mentioned the root beer float.  Then it was a pint of Ben and Jerrys ice cream.  Then it was a microwave chimichanga.  Then dinner arrived, a meatball sub, fries and a side Caesar salad.  As I write this, I am thinking about what else is in my food bag that I can raid!

One interesting point that I thought of today is that here on the PCT, there are three constants on your mind everyday.  First, where is the next reliable water on the trail.  Second, where should I camp tonight?  And third, when will I be in a town to do a resupply next?  You really never think in terms of where am I vis a vis Canada.  The trail is just too long to entertain that thought at this time.

Day 23 May 29, 2017

• Daily mileage 21
• Total miles 421
• Hiked from 5:15 am to 6:00 pm

Today was about walking through a very large fire from a few years back

Nobody else joined me at my tent site last night so I had a very good sleep.  Got up at the usual time and got going in the nice cool weather.  Went past several tents whose occupants walk different hours than me.

The day was spent for the most part walking through the remnants of the Station Fire.  That fire must have been huge.  And tragic, as I understand several firefighters were killed while fighting the fire.  I eventually came to the Mill Creek Summit Fire Station where several of us waited out the worst of the heat in the shadow of the station.  While we were there, one of the 2:20 marathoners that we met yesterday showed up with a bag of mangoes and some apples and bananas.  I mean really, how great are these people.

      

Walking through the Station Fire    

Ken (on the right) one of the 2:20 marathoners with Neal the Australian through hiker

The afternoon hike was very humid and a bit buggy.  The first hill out of the station looked benign on the profile but it kicked the crap out of all of us.  The combination of heat, humidity and a loose sand track just sucked.  But I made it to the top and then cruised to what I had previously chosen as my destination for the night.  A note for future hikers: do not be tempted into staying at the Big Buck camp ground which is shown on all of the maps.  It does not exist.  Not sure if it did exist before the fire, but there is nothing there now.  So, at 5:00 I found myself without a home.  I hiked up the trail with a very cool couple by the names of Pebbles and Bam Bam and together we found a flat spot next to what I hope is an unused road.

     

Mill Creek Fire Station

Just above us is the remnants of a old forestry camp that was destroyed in the fire.  I got as close as the fences would allow to look around.  Very creepy as all of the non-cement parts of the buildings are gone yet the telephone poles are still standing.

A whole lot of other hikers have now joined our roadside oasis, but I suspect everyone will be passed out very soon.

Burned out forestry camp      

Evening in burn area      

Home for the night

Day 22 May 28, 2017

• Daily miles 21 plus 1 extra
• Total miles 400
• Hours hiked from 5:00 am to 5:30 pm 

I have now hiked 400 miles! 

Camping surrounded by a couple of dozen through hikers and what seemed to be about 10,000 Boy Scouts did present challenges when it came to sleep.  But what the heck.  It was fun.  I got up a bit earlier than normal this morning because I knew I has the dreaded Highway 2 road walk to do and I wanted to get at it before a lot of traffic got on it.

I got going right at first light and dropped down to my first of many crossings of Highway 2 today.  The first hill of the day waited for me on the other side.  It was a somewhat steep but otherwise mundane climb until I pushed off with my hiking pole as I do thousands of times a day, but something felt different.  I looked down and my pole was right up against a rattle snake!  We both seemed rather shocked by this, but I was the only one who jumped several feet and let out a small squeal.  Several hikers behind me reported seeing a rattler at around this point and they all commented that it seemed unusually agitated!  

Early morning views (after the snake encounter)

Then it was a long drop down to the second crossing of the highway.  A short mile later, I was at the third crossing, this one being the start of a three mile road walk.  Road walks suck in general and this one in particular because this highway is very twisty and attracts fast cars and motorcycles whilst providing little in the way of a shoulder.  But I survived.  The detour had been put in place to protect the habitat of some species of frog.  The detour itself was one mile longer than the section of trail it went around, hence the extra mile in today's total.

Hwy 2 road walk

Along the way, the highway passed an old, likely abandoned ski area with something that I have never seen before. A single chair lift.  Not as in a solitary chairlift by itself, but a chairlift designed to take one skier up at a time.  I did not take a picture, but I found the pic below later on the net.

A side trail from a camp ground reconnected me to the PCT.  This is where the second climb of the day commenced.  Even though it had warmed considerably, the climb went well.  And it took me to yet another crossing of the highway.  At this crossing, there were three gentlemen out supporting runners who were training for an upcoming ultra marathon.  Got chatting to them, and it turns out that all three had previously run 2:20 marathons.  That is pretty close to world class speed in the marathon.  And they were all very humble and nonchalant about their accomplishments.  They seemed more in awe of our hiking to Canada.

Further down the hill, we came to Camp Glenwood.  Now, backing up a bit, all of us had been silently disappointed that all of these highway crossings which were all at day use areas had produced not even one offer of food or drink.  Well, Camp Glenwood took care of that and more.  About 15 of us converged on the camp at around the same time.  We were greeted by the offer of a cold beer and a burger was thrown on the the BBQ for each of us.  Did I mention the fresh fruit?  And they provided a postcard of the camp for each of us to fill out and they will mail them out this week.  People are do great to us grubby, stinky PCT hikers.

Then it was down the trail for one last crossing of the highway.  The last mile or so to where I am now camped introduced us to the dreaded Poodle Dog Bush. PDB sounds like a nice plant, but apparently it is akin to poison oak on steroids.  The trail maintenance crews have done a great job of keeping it trimmed back from the trail.  

The evil Poodle Dog Bush

Right about where I am camped marks 400 miles hiked since I started the trail back on May 7.  Pretty proud of that. 

I have now walked 400 miles 

Home for the night 

Day 21 May 27, 2017

• Daily mileage 20
• Total miles 379
• Hiked from 5:15 am to 4:30 pm

The highlight of my day today was summiting Mount Badin Powell.

As I was sleeping at around 10 last night, a car camper pulled in next to me and proceeded to set up their tent for the next hour with their car headlights shining in my tent.  Because I was bone tired, this actually did not bother me that much.  Then when I got up this morning, I understood why it took them so long to set up the tent.  My first house was smaller than that tent!  

Early morning hike

I got going at my usual 5:15 and got lots of cruiser miles done until a highway pullover area called Grassy Hollow where I had my third breakfast of ramen and peanut butter.  I knew I had a big climb coming up to the top of Badin Powell so the carb boost worked out.  

I would rate the PCT as a green run personally  

That is sobering

As I descended toward the parking that services the day hikers for Baden Powell it was easy to see that there would be lots of people on the trail today.  And indeed there were.  I slogged my way up about 4,000 feet to the top where the view was outstanding.  

Day hiker parking lot  

View from the top of Baden Powell

The rest of the day was spent in a general downhill trend to where I am now camped at Little Jimmy Campground.  Along with the rest of the group that I have been hiking with for about two weeks.  The group has grown to about 10 of us.

Home for the night

Day 20 May 26, 2017

• Daily mileage 22
• Total miles 359
• Hiked from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm

Today was all about gaining elevation.

I did not get away from the hotel very early because they offered a complimentary breakfast.  It was ok for a first breakfast.  One of the most difficult tasks of the morning was navigating my was across the rather busy highway access road to get back to the trail.

Cajon Pass is a real transportation hub.  I had to pass under the I15 freeway and then over a very major railroad track.    

Under I15

I beat this train across the tracks!

Then the climb started.  I started at about 3,100 feet and ended at around 8,500 feet.  I will let you do the math!  Did I mention that I did all of this with a six day resupply and a full compliment of water on board? 

      

Early morning scenery

Mt Baldy.  The PCT goes not go near this one

Lots of uphill climb today

The day was grinding away at me pretty good in the mid-afternoon so I did something that I had yet to do on this hike.  I put on music from my IPod.  And almost immediately ran into a rattle snake.  This one was not too scary as it was several feet off trail.

I ended the day at a car camping ground called Duffy Campground.  It is surprisingly quiet up here considering it is the start of a long weekend.  It is really cold and windy up here as well.  The most difficult climb of the day was the last 200 yards into the campground when the PCT took on a very uncharacteristic steep incline.  Very cruel.           

Steep slope into the camp ground

Home for the night

Day 19 May 25, 2017

• Daily mileage 12
• Total mileage 337
• Hours hiked 5:30 am to 11:00 am

MCDONALDS!

No rangers showed up at my stealth camp last night.  It continued to be quite windy and even in my protected little spot amongst the trees it blasted my tent a few times.  Got up at the usual time and dawdled about a bit because it is a short day.

Finally got rolling and almost immediately ran into a young couple by the names Tyler (Bear Can Kan) and Madison (Little Bear Can).  I fell into stride with them for about 6 miles.  For pretty much the first time this hike, I chose to hike with someone else rather than solo.  It was really enjoyable chatting to them and would have been perfect if it were not for Tyler's farts.   

Tyler and Madison

The day never really got all that hot.  There was a very stiff wind blowing all morning, to the point that I hiked in my wind jacket the whole way to Cajon Pass.  Usually that is stored away by about 9 am.  The terrain was a bit mundane until we left Little Horse Thief Canyon and started the descent to the pass.  There, the terrain had formations that kind of reminded me of the Hoodoos in central BC.  

Little Horse Thief Canyon

Kind of like the Hoodoos

Ridge walking

Just before I got to my final destination for the day at Cajon Pass, the trail took us down a small piece of American motoring history.  We walked part of the road bed of Route 66.  That was kind of cool.  It went into an extremely narrow, twisting canyon that would have been like no other major highway today.     

Route 66

Route 66 as it entered a narrow canyon

Then I reached a sign that every PCT hiker knows and dreams of:   

Yup, there is a McDonalds almost on trail

Sat with a pile of hikers eating way more Mickey D's than I thought possible.

But I did not have this much!  Will from New Zealand (he ate all but two burgers and took those with him)

Hikers taking over McDonalds

Same

I must say that the staff at the McDonalds were fantastic.  There were probably 25 of us unwashed, ripe hikers, all with our packs inside (through hikers hate to be out of sight of our packs because they contain all of our worldly possessions) pretty much dominating most of the seating area.  But I guess from a business prospective, having starving hikers in a restaurant is not such a bad thing!

I have decided to stay here in Cajon Pass for the night.  My strategy is to resupply from the three gas station marts as best as I can and then make a run for Agua Dulce rather than hitching into Wrightwood in two days.

I understand that there are some of you readers of this blog who believe that I am not actually hiking this trail because I am not in any of the photos.  Perhaps you feel that I am actually secreted away on a small Carribean island getting spa treatments by day and drinking rum based girly drinks by night, all the while pilfering pictures from other PCT blogs to make it appear that I am on trail!  Well, let the image below act as proof for you skeptics.

Proof that I am on the PCT

Home for the night

Day 18 May 24, 2017

• Miles hiked 21
• Total miles 325
• Hiked from 5:15 am to 4:00 pm

Today featured trail magic, damn dam and pizza and beer.

Hated to leave my idyllic little camping spot this morning, but got going at 5:15 anyway.  Cruised up the trail a couple of miles to the hot springs.  Apparently no rangers showed up, so those who chose to stay there had a good nights sleep.  The hot springs were nice, but I only put my hands in.  The rest of the hike out of Deep Creek Canyon was uneventful.        

Hot springs          

Still in Deep Creek Canyon          

And still in Deep Crrek Canyon

Got about 8 miles into my day when a dayhiker goes by the other way and said Coppertone was set up just ahead.  Oh yeah.  No root beer floats this time, but an individual sized cherry pie and a banana sure hit the spot.  I had been puzzling about what to have for second breakfast prior to this!  Then another trail angel by the name of Hot Sauce Monologue showed up with her van and started cooking breakfast burritos for everyone.  Double Oh Yeah!

This is such a great sign to see on trail

I waddled away from there with ideas of an easy cruise over to Lake Silverwood on the mind.  It turned out to be not a bad hike, just nothing special.  Most of it was in a recent burn, so there was no reprieve from the sun (it was cooler today at least) and there were no features that made a guy want to stop and enjoy.  So I did a poor job of managing my hike, going far too long between breaks and not eating enough.      

This is somewhat typical of where we get our water from.  Yes, I filter it!

I was targeting Lake Silverwood today for my mileage.  Coppertone had mentioned that there was a bit of a road walk to do before we got to the lake.  So when I came out onto the first road off the trail, I immediately headed up it towards.the lake.  I only got about a quarter of a mile when I looked down onto the road below and saw hikers.  Doh. Took the wrong road.  So I backtracked to the original trail crossing, and sure enough, there is the trail on the other side of the road.  OK, now everything is fine.  Well....  I came to another road and took it towards the lake.  And it was a steep bugger.  Got to the high point on it and it was a dead end.  OK, now it is time to pull out the maps.  Sure enough, the road I wanted was still down there below me.  I eventually got it all figured out.

     

Nice view of the Silverwood dam that I should not have seen

Today I got introduced to the SoCal winds.  You hear about them on other blogs and see evidence of them in the form of wind farms, but today I got up close and personal with them.  I actually had to stop a couple of times while hiking for fear that they would knock me over.

I made it to a day use area where rumour had it a pizza place nearby would deliver.  Teamed up with a couple of other hikers and ordered a large pizza (actually ordered a medium but they sent a large) and a sack of beer.  An hour later, I was in a complete food coma.  Made it through all but two slices.  And they have breakfast written all over them.  
    

Windy Lake Silverwood

Tonight I am stealth camping at a picnic area.  There are mixed messages reagarding whether PCT hikers are OK to do this or not, but the idea of having flush toilets, running water and a picnic table are too much to resist.

Home for the night