Author: mmbowden60

 

Hiked 24.2 miles today. At mile 235.5.

It rained on me overnight. The wind was very strong so I had not bothered pitching the tarp. It wouldn’t have held up to that wind. Seeing dark clouds, I staked the tarp spread on the ground. I staked 3 upwind corners and places large rocks over each stake. This covered my sleeping pad, etc like a blanket. I slipped under the tarp at the unstaked corner. All night the tarp was flapping directly on my body and face. When the rain came one stake pulled loose and I got up and secured it. Not a restful way to sleep, but I stayed out of the wind and rain.

Just north of I-10 is San Gorgonio Wilderness. It is the prettiest area I’ve seen on the PCT so far. I wanted to turn around and hike it again. The trail traverses big open spaces as it winds around gorges. It was full of wildflowers and even the lizards seemed playful.

Most of the rest of the day was spent climbing up Mission Creek Canyon. It was hot, but the trail frequently crossed the creek where there was cool shade.

I walked through a farm today. A wind farm.

Mountain view reward after sumiting out of very hot gorge just beyond Mesa wind farm. I’ll bet you can’t spot the cows.

Whitewater river in distance

The most difficult water crossing on PCT in Southern California.

Playful lizards are friendlier at San Gorgonio. In the desert they are unsociable and run away.

 

Paper Bag Flower

Wildflowers at Incredible San Gorgonio

 

 

 

 

Hiked 24.7 miles today. At mile 211.3.

There was a little snow in couple of spots on the trail. I spent most of the day hiking 20 miles to descend the nearly 8000 feet to the desert floor. All the while I could see clouds gather over the San Jacinto massif. The clouds began moving down the mountain, but never reached me. This evening while viewing the mountain from camp, the clouds lifted to reveal new snow on the upper slopes. My camp spot last night being well above the cloud line would have received significant snow.

As I started descending, I saw a missing person bulletin. Thomas O’Sullivan, a PCT thru-hiker was last seen on April 7, 2017. Today is April 7th, so it was exactly a year ago. Last year there would have been 5 – 6 feet of snow on that date .

I hiked for 20 miles without a water source. I carried a little over 5 liters.

After reaching more than 20 miles, the trail approaching the I-10 bridge turned into beach sand. To make it harder, I was walking directly into strong wind. Upon reaching I-10, I had no desire to camp there and had to continue. Already exhausted the last few miles really wiped me out.

Here are the photos. 8 photos

Snow on trail

Finally, cactus flowers.

The trail and rock formations.

The storm in Mt San Jacinto.

Another Rattlesnake!

 Tahquitz

Here is where I stayed while in Idyllwild.

Having left my sun hat in a car, I had more than the usual organizational problems to solve before I could be on the trail. Not having transportation, I expected it to take most of the day.

Don’t laugh about the hat. On the PCT without the best clownish looking hat your brain will bake and  your neck fry.  Many people bring specialized umbrellas.

Packed all up, I walked out of my room and saw a guy with a backpack getting in a car. “Hey can you give me a ride too?” It was David the Trail Angel. He dropped me off for breakfast at the Res Kettle. He met me back at Mountain Hardware where I picked up Denatured Alchol for my stove and a micro USB cable to charge my headlamp (the old one broke in two just that morning. You wouldn’t want to be in the dark in the wilderness?) He waited while I shopped. I told him about the hat and he took me to the outfitters where I picked up an OR neck scarf which fit the bill. I also bought a spoon. The handle broke off my spoon the first day. David waited in the car while I shopped. Actually he was busy loading 2 more hikers in the car. Shopping done, problems solved…David drove all of us to the trailhead. We signed his register and offered money that he wouldn’t take. He gave each of us a roll of lifesavers for the trail. It was  9:30 AM. Full belly and ready to hike.

Lifesavers. Thanks David the Trail Angel.

 

Tahquitz Rock – It was here and nearby Suicide Rock that Royal Robbins invented the difficulty rating system for climbing.

Miley the dog. Jeff is hiking the PCT with his friendly dog.

Chris the fire volunteer originally from England, now  lives here. He was packing a 25 lb pressure treated. 6×6 timber. See him ahead of me slowly moving up the trail with a strange load, I first assumed that he was another eccentric PCT hiker. His 55 lb pack was also loaded with tools.

See the 6×6 sticking out of his pack.

The fire tower is from 1919. It is being rebuilt on Wednesday. Here is where David’s pressure treated timber will go. The footing under the first step.

Here are the steps that will be rebuilt. Everything packed up 3000 vertical feet.

Here is the Firetower. The panels come down to reveal windows all around. David stays in the tower overnight watching for the glow of distant flames.

From Tahquitz Peak you can see the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island where there was an earthquake yesterday.

Here are some photos of the day. 

The snow now here would have been several feet deep last year at this time. 

This sunset photo was taken from sitting position in the door of my  tarp.  Really there is no door, just an opening.

 

More sunset photos. It lasted a long time and kept changing with new effects 

In sleeping bag and on my Thermarest X-Lite as I write. Very windy, but tarp is holding with stakes in ground and covered by large rocks. This sandy soil doesn’t hold as well as Georgia clay.

Goodnight

 

 

 

 

Hiked 12.6 PCT miles, Detour on Spitler Trail, Total 17.6 miles hiked today, At mile 168.6

i saw a Tarantula photo on the PCT2018 FB group and was reminded that several days ago, Jack and Quoi were talking about seeing a fight between a Tarantula and a snake. The snake was losing.

It seemed like I was going uphill all day. I reached the highest elevation of the hike, over 7200 feet. The climbs were steeper than those of previous days. The trail is closed from mile 168.6 to mile 177.3. The detour forces hikes down side trails and a visit to the reset town, Idyllwild. I’m typing this from my motel room. Tomorrow, I’ll try to hitch a ride to  a trailhead to allow me to hike back to the PCT near PCT mile 177.3. 

I left my hat in the car of a person giving me a ride. I’ll need some kind of head  covering. The sun is brutal. I even have sunburn through my shirt. Did I mention that my legs feeling very worn out? It was a hard day!

Here are the photos.

Morning view from my tent site.

The trail. Notice the trail in the distance on 2nd photo.

Trees

Desert is thousands of feet below.

 

Hiked 21.2 miles today, At mile 156

Here is a sample of my diet and calorie burn. I started the hike weighing 167 pounds. I think I’ll need to eat more than this to maintain weight.

Ate a breakfast of 2 pop tarts and a cup of cold coffee then hiked nearly 11 miles to a water tank and picnic table where I had peanut butter on a sandwich thin. Then I hiked 6.5 miles to the highway, caught a ride to the Paradise Cafe where I really ate. There, I made up for the two previous tiny meals by having a turkey burger, fries, and 2 beers. After Paradise, I hiked another 4 miles after which I had a small pack of tuna and two tortillas.

I have now lost all of the hiker buddies that I previously made. I may have the pleasant surprise of unexpectedly seeing them down the trail. Today, I met a nice assortment of trail angels, section hikers, thru-hikers, and day hikers. Rob, a section hiker hitched a ride together to a popular spot with hikers, the Paradise Cafe. Tiki joined us. We got a table and as other hikers streamed in, they joined us. Hi to “Out” and “Back”! Comment on this blog post if you have trouble emailing me. John and Mogli from Alabama showed up a little later. Mogli wears a tie while hiking. Finally Spicy Charlie arrived.  All of us enjoyed each other’s company at Paradise. 

Up next is Idyllwild, the trail detour, and Mt San Jacinto.

The most important event today wasn’t on the trail. It was my wedding anniversary. I’ve been married to Sandra for 31 awesome years and not only do I love and miss her, but she is the best and most understanding person you will ever meet. Understanding enough to abide my 5 – 6 month absence.

I’m in my sleeping bag. The stars are overhead. Mountains are visible in the distance as I lay in an open landscape of boulders. At this elevation, about 5200 feet, there are nearby groves of pines. It also promises to be colder than the desert i have recently slept in.

Here are some photo highlights.

Still sleeping campers on the PCT

First encounter of this type of cactus since climbing the San Felipe ridge after Scissors Crossing.

Underground Cistern. Rain runs off a cement collection area into the Cistern

Water Cache – There is a registration book to record date, name, and how much you took. I recorded that I took none here.

Perfect beach sand with some decorative boulders and plant. It could be a high priced tiki bar.

Trailside flowers. These grew on only one hill. I never saw them again.

Trail looks like it could crumble into this gorge.

Boulders populate area near where I am camping tonight.

Enormous pine cone. Nice to see real trees again.