Uncategorized – FURTHER

85 miles – 4/29/18 – 5/7/18

The morning of the 29th I said goodbye to my friend Strawberry (Sisse), who I had been hiking with since the beginning. She decided to stay in Wrightwood a couple of days and I wanted to move on and get ahead of the strom that was going through the following day.

I hiked back up to the trail the same way I came in, the noticably steep Acorn trail, it was quite the way to start the day.

Once I hit the top I saw a couple day hikers but no other through hikers. As I hiked by a couple ski areas the clouds began rolled in like a fog.

I continued on, still not seeing any other hikers. Everytime I would pass under a group of trees I would get rained on by the water that had collected on them. I stopped at a visitors center which was closed but seemed abandoned, the fog made everything seem a little creepy.

I made my way to Vincent Gap, the base of Mt. Baden Powell. The wind was picking up, the fog was thick and I was alone. I thought about the fact I could be back in Wrightwood splitting a room with Sisse to wait out the storm. I knew I could push on and would be ok but I wouldn’t enjoy it. While I know I’ll will have to endure days of bad weather I won’t always have the option to go stay in a warm motel room. I stood there and debated what to do. I told myself that I’d hitchhike for 15 minutes and if I couldn’t get a ride I’d push on. After 5 minutes of standing in the cold, being passed by cars that may not have even seen me in the fog, I decided I wanted to go back into town.

Luckily there were a few cars parked at the trail and two women and their dogs were just finishing up their day hike. Feeling slightly defeated I asked them if they were heading back to Wrightwood and luckily they were. As soon as we drove over the mountian I just hiked the sky became clear and sunny, I didn’t know if anyone would believe me about the weather on the other side.

I spent the next two days eating and being lazy as I waited out the weather. I ended up spending a lot of time at the Racoon Saloon talking with other hikers, which was a nice break for hiking. I also had an amazing cinnamon roll at Cinnamon’s Bakery. While taking a few days off put me behind schedule it was worth it, I’m sure I can make up the miles further along on the trail, plus there’s no reason to rush into the Sierras since there is still plenty of snow that needs to melt.

After my break I caught a ride back to where I left off and made it over Mt. Baden Powell and was slightly frustrated to see that the forecasted 6″ of snow that made me take the extra days off didn’t come to fruition. The top of the mountain was amazing. Next was Mt. Williamson which wasn’t as tall as Baden Powell but still a good amount of elevation. On my way down my left foot felt loose in my shoe so I stopped and tightened it up, apparently a little too tight. After a bit my ankle started to ache, it felt like the shoelaces was cutting into one of the tendons on my foot. I loosened my laces and continued on with my ankle still hurting. I reached a portion of the trail that was closed to protect the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog and proceeded to take the detour along highway 2 to the buckhorn campground.

The next morning my ankle was still sore when I headed out, so much so that I missed a junction and actually headed south on the PCT towards the portion that was closed. The trail was fairly eroded which wasn’t fun with my sore ankle. When I figured out I was going southbound I turned around headed back to another junction and proceeded to head up a trail that wasn’t the PCT at all. After I while, and 5 miles of being lost, I made my way back to the PCT.

Even with my bum ankle and my goal was to hike past mile 400, which would have been just 12 miles if I hadn’t gotten lost.

Took a lunch break at the 400 mark and then pushed on. I passed a parking lot where two ultrarunners and their huskies we’re handing out oranges and homemade brownies, I had two of each and they were amazing, especially the oranges. They helped me and my angry ankle make it to the sulphur springs campground and set up for the night even though it was early in the day, I wanted to take it easy on my ankle. A good amount of other hikers showed up which was nice since most of the time I don’t give myself enough time to hang out before going to bed. There was even a campfire.

The following day I made my way over the hill and down to a fire station, which was the last water source for over hot 20 miles. When I arrived there was a guy that stopped by with a convertible BMW stuffed with trail magic. He was on his way to set up a ways back on the trail but he gave me some grapes, strawberries, a Coke and a beer. After a little while I found my way to a shady spot under a tree next to a parking lot next to the trail and stretched out on my ground sheet. A little while later two very exited guys showed up after finishing up a 100 mile stretch. They gave a bunch of random advice for the upcoming stretch, most of which wasn’t that helpful. They did give me my 2nd beer of the day though.

I left the shade of the tree and proceeded to climb up a hill in the heat. The goal was to go about 18-20 miles from where I had camped the night before but there wasn’t much in the way of established tent sites until 24 miles, and I wasn’t interested in going that far. As I hiked I kept my eye out for a spot to camp but didn’t have any luck. Just as I thought I would have to make it the full 24 miles I saw a spot up on a ridge 21 miles in. I decided to cowboy camp first time which was a fun change. A bunch of hikers from the night before also set up camp there as well.

It was a short 17 mile hike the following day with a stop at a ranger station that had water and ice cold soda for $1 which was nice. It gave me a boost to make the push to my destination, a KOA campground near Acton, CA. I was exited about a shower, pool, hot tub and ice cream. However, when I arrived it wasn’t that appealing. There were a bunch of non-hikers and the pool and hot tub looked heavily used so I skipped using them. Apparently that was a good call because I heard that the health department shut down the hot tub the day after I left. I didn’t like the vibe of the place so I just hung out until it was time to sleep.

The final day before Auga Dulce was just a 10 mile hike with a slight climb and decent before hitting Vasquez Rocks which was a very welcome change in scenery. A good amount of movies and TV shows were filmed in this area including the original Star Trek, blazing saddles, The Flintstones Movie and even a scene from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

After Vasquez Rocks it was a short road walk into Agua Dulce and then a short hitch to the amazing Hiker Heaven, the perfect place to stay, but more akbout that in my next post.

57 miles – 4/4/18 to 4/7/l8

I woke up at 4:30 and next thing I knew I was packing up all my gear to start hiking again. Some hiker that was up all night started telling me about how all the rabbits started running around at the same time and how it reminded him of the Teletubbies.

Once I started hiking I did see a good number of rabbits as set out to put in an 16 mile day. Luckily starting early meant it was nice and cool. The first 6 miles were pretty flat and ran along a highway before leading to a campground. From there the trail started going up. Nothing crazy but once the sun was in full effect it was a little tedious. A few miles later I made my way down a short side trail to a small waterfall, which I immediately swam around in.

After an extended break at the waterfall I continued along the edge of the canyon where I ran into a bunch and navy dudes walking down into the canyon carrying rifles. Must have been training. The trail then crosses a highway and continues to climb, fully exposed to the sun. While I was taking a break a naked man hiked by and said hello as if was something he did everyday.

The trail became rocky and continued up snaking through the hills. Looking down into the valley I could see the highway I crossed earlier off in the distance. At one point the trail crossed through an area that may have had undetonated explosives. After a bit more uphill hiking I started looking for a camping site and eventually stopped after hiking 17 miles.

I set up my tent, filtered some water from a nearby stream and had a delicious dinner of instant mashed potatoes. It ended up being pretty windy all night but was fairly warm. Also, no condensation in my tent!

In the morning I packed up, ate some breakfast and headed out around 5am. Hiking in the dark is a nice break from being oppressed by the sun. I passed a bunch of hikers still asleep in their tents on my way up the trail. Shortly after it became light I entered a forest with a bunch of pine trees. It wasn’t quite possible samples as the ones back home but it was a nice change.

Instead of heading into Mt. Laguna I stayed on the trail and filled up my water at a somewhat random water fountain on the trail. The pine trees gave way to hillsides of short bushes (I should remember what it’s called but I don’t) before arriving at a view point overlooking the desert, which might have been the windiest place on Earth. After following the trail back down, and up, I arrived at highway viewpoint, which provided some nice shade underneath. When talking to other hikers I heard that the faucet at one of the upcoming water sources was broke. I’d need to summon my inner camel to make it though the following 24 miles. I continued on and just before the dry stretch filled up 6 liters of water at a picnic area.

This is where I met two notable hikers. The first just went by “Rick”. He kind of reminds me of Cotton from King of the Hill. He went on about he’s hiked the PCT 9 years in a row (although never completely) and gave constant unsolicited advice most of which I already knew. He was a crotchety old man who hated the book Wild and thought trail names were dumb. Enter “Metric Ton”. As soon as Rick told Metic Ton his thoughts on trail names and he just went by “Rick” without missing a beat he responded “Hi Rick, nice to meet you, they call me Metric Ton”. He had earned that name for a reason, his pack was 90lbs, after cutting down from 100 lbs, well more than twice what I’m carrying. Metric Ton was a really friendly guy, who kind of reminded me of Anthony Bourdain, he was like the anti Rick.

In full camel mode I continued on unit I hit 19 miles for the day. The camping spot I was aiming for was extremely windy, no way I could set up my tent there. Luckily, I was able to find another one nearby that was somewhat protected from the wind. I set up my tent and cold soaking some pasta for dinner. This time I didn’t allow enough time for it to soak so the past was a bit crunchy but ok otherwise. I went to bed a bit early knowing that the goal for the next day was Scissors Crossing, which was 21 miles away.

I woke up at 4:30am packed up, had breakfast and started hiking around 5:15am, in the dark. Hiking as the sunrises is magical, watching every thing light up and glow golden as you make your way down the trail. As I came to the top of a hill I spotted Metic Ton on the side of the trail. He said that it was way too windy to set up a tent and that he ended up cowboy camping. He also mentioned that he plans on dropping 10lbs from his pack, taking him down to 80.

Further down the trail I started to be passed by trail runners, it was simple sort of race apparently. I kept hiking and hiking, and it kept getting hotter and hotter. The trail was pretty consistent with occasional views of the desert below. I ended up in some sort of hiking trance. My feet were tired but I pushed on. Eventually it became hot enough that I got out my umbrella. That, however, was very short lived as a gust of wind flipped it out and broke one of the spokes (after further inspection it will still work). Knowing there wouldn’t be a water source until mile 21 of the day I rationed my water as I struggled with the heat. I discovered a hat with a mesh back wasn’t my best decision as my head is pretty sunburnt.

The last 4 miles of the day seemed to stretch on forever but I reached a junction where a trail angel had left some water and fruit. I drank some water, ate an orange, and pushed through to the scissor crossing where I’d planned to hitchike to Julian 13 miles away.

At first it seemed like getting a ride might a while until a guy in a beat up pick-up truck pulled over and waved. He told me that he wasn’t trying to give me a ride but did anyway. I’m guessing he wanted to give Sisse a ride. We hopped in the back, which was full of random junk and rode until he had to turn off the highway, leaving us with 2 miles to go. We started hitchhiking again and a guy named Matt gave us a ride the rest of the way into town. He had hiked the PCT in 2015 and was planning on hiking it again next year. He said he was giving hikers rides trying to build up his trail karma.

It took me some time to find a place to stay but ended up at Orchard Hill Country Inn. It was a bit more than I wanted to spend but it was well worth it. I arrived at happy hour and got a couple free beers and snacks. The staff was extremely friendly Later I made my way into town and grabbed a burger for dinner, which came with a slice of apple pie, before returning to my room, taking a showerand passing out.

Category: Uncategorized

Wrightwood to Auga Dulce

Lake Morena to Julian