Day 11 May 17, 2017

• Daily mileage. 15 plus 5 miles off trail
• Total miles. 192
• Hours hiked 4:45 am to 3:30 pm

Once again today, where is everyone.  I thought this was supposed to be a crowded trail!

I had my alarm set for 4:45, but I woke up at 4 and said to heck with more sleep.  Got all packed up and headed out in the dark with my new headlamp in use.  In order to get to the PCT, I had to road walk 2.6 miles with a pretty significant grade.  Then I had the Devil's Slide Trail to conquor which was another 2.6 quite steep miles.  So before I even stepped foot on the PCT, I had logged over 5 miles along with a lot of vertical.  I was offered a ride to the trail head (at a more reasonable time) by the hotel staff, but I feel sullied enough for skipping 8 miles of road walk into Idyllwild.  Let's not get into a habit of this.

The PCT at this point is up on a mountain and is vegetated with subalpine forest.  It made for great hiking.  Really pretty trail.  It was a bit lumpy up and down trail and was hovering between 8 & 9,000 feet.  That, along with my early start left me feeling a bit sluggish most of the day.  Shakras just not lined up properly.

Interesting rock formation 

And then there was the great mystery of the day.  Where is everyone.  I saw a total of three through hikers, two day hikers and two trail runners.  I also saw three tents along the route, obviously with hikers sleeping in.  Funny one was I had just gone off trail a fair ways and was about to dig a cat hole for you know what when I happened to glimpse two tents about 50 feet away.  That could have been a bit embarrassing.  "Hey, good morning to you.  Look what my dog taught me to do!"

Looking back at Tahquitz Rock 

Lots of great views and pretty trail today.  Because I was so far up in elevation, it never got really warm.  Now I am all set up in camp and the wind is kicking up.  When I look down in the valley below me, there are a ton of wind farms down there, so I guess that makes sense.  I have this really nice campsite all to myself, or do far at least.  

A lot of effort was put into building this trail

Interesting Jurassic era beast     

Looking ahead to the next mountain to come on the PCT Mt San Gorgonio

I went across the infamous Fullers Ridge today.  For weeks and months leading up to my starting the trail, this section of the trail, which is the first to be exposed to significant snow has been the talk of the PCT FB group.  The general consensus has been the micro spikes were essential, with some advocating for an ice ax as well.  So, rather than mail my micro spikes ahead, I have been carrying them since Campo.  Not a big deal, just an additional two pounds of gear in the pack.  So when I got to Idyllwild and checked FB again, totally different story.  All the snow has melted, leaving minimal small patches to cross.  Doh!  So I mailed home the micro spikes and today crossed the section of trail in question with only a rare glimpse of snow.

Backside of San Jacinto

Home for the night