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Day 19, Good Karma

Posted by James on March 29, 2015
Posted in: PCT. 2 Comments

Day 19

Mile 266, Big Bear City.
I camped at about 7500 feet so this morning was understandably chilly.  33 degrees to be precise.
I lolligagged in my sleeping bag until about 8 this morning.   I had a short day ahead of me as I had 10 miles to hike into big bear to resupply.
Camped next to me was an old timer and his dog named Bob.  For whatever reason I never caught his name.  He chatted me up most of the morning. He told tales of hiking many of the eastern United States including the AT.  He struck me as someone who spends most of his life on trail.
I made breakfast and broke camp.  I enjoyed the slow pace of the morning. Normally I move with a purpose first thing, but today was different.
I filled several liters from a “faucet” used for filling a horse trough.  Above it a sign was posted, “water not tested, drink at your own risk.”
Nothing new to me. I’ve filtered and treated water from worse sources. This was a relatively easy water source to get water from.  It was a faucet.  It didn’t require me to submerge a bottle, along with my hand, in a snow melt stream where the temperature was just above freezing.  It didn’t require a half mile hike on a side trail down the side of a mountain to get water from a “spring” only to discover the water to taste like garden house.  No, today I used a faucet.  What a fantastic invention.
I filtered the water. Only three liters today.  I said goodbye to the old timer and Bob and hit the trail.
Today the trail remained relatively flat with a few ups and downs.  Going into big bear I dropped 700 feet over 8 miles.  Very gentle grade.
About 7 miles into my hike I saw a small pack of wild donkeys. 4 in total.  They were meandering along the trail.  When they saw me they scurried about 50 yards down trail.  We played this game for about 15 minutes.  They seemed uninterested in leaving the trail.  Eventually they turned south and left the trail.
The remaining miles were uneventful.    I ran across three small groups of day hikers. Two of them with kids.  Good for their folks getting their kids outdoors.
I arrived at the intersection of HWY 18 and the PCT.  There was a sign posted by a couple of local trail Angels that offered ride into big bear.   I gave the number a called. “Papa Smurf” answered.  I inquired about a ride into big bear.  Unfortunately he and the family were off the mountain and wouldn’t be back until Thursday.   He said it would be difficult to hitch a ride into town.    Somewhat deflated I hung up the phone.   I hoped it would be easy.
I started walking toward the packing lot just as a Subaru pulled over on the opposing side of the street. A young guy in his 20s motioned me over.   He and his female companion were looking for good trails in the area. They asked about the trail I had just come off of. I told them it was the PCT.  They asked how long it was.  I said, well hiking back the way I came will take you all the way to Mexico.  They seemed a little baffled.
After another minute of chatting I asked if they were heading into big bear. They said, ” yeah, do you need a ride?”
I said, ” Sure if it’s no trouble.  But I do have to warn you, I’ve been on trail of 6 days.  I will likely be offense to your olfactory sense.”
They said, “no problem, get in.”
We hadn’t as soon pulled away before she said, “Oh my god!  You weren’t kidding!! You REEK!”  And then busted out laughing.
We exchanged a few jokes about how bad I smelt. They were fascinated by the trail.   The miles into big bear lake went quickly. As we pulled up to my stop, I offered them money for gas.  The guy replied, “No thanks, we work on karma.”
I thanked them again and headed into the restaurant I wanted to eat out.  Unfortunately, they close at 2 and it was 1:57.  The sent me away. Based on my attire and smell, I would have sent me away too!
I walked a few blocks and found a restaurant with a patio.  I asked to sit outside as not to offend any other patrons with my manly aroma, rather pure stink.
The owner walked by and asked if I was hiking the trail.  I said yes.  She commented she thought it was really early to start.  I agreed and added, “the weather has been mild this year. There’s not a lot of snow on the trail to contend with.”
I will pick up my resupply tomorrow first thing. But for now I’m off to a motel for a shower.  

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Day 18, Small World

Posted by James on March 29, 2015
Posted in: PCT. Leave a comment

Day 18

Mile 256.1  Arrastre Trail Camp

The night was chilly as I was camped at 6000 feet.  Around 530 I hear E-train rummaging around and breaking camp.   I decide to get up and get moving as well.  I make breakfast and tear down my tent.
As we are breaking camp we are chatting.  Turns out we are both from San Diego. His kids are grown and only one left at home still in college.  This is his first thru hike attempt.
He asks where I live in San Diego and I tell him near Cowles mountain.   He says, “No shit? I live at golf crest and Jackson.”
Turns out he lives less than a mile from me.  Small world.
After breaking camp and hitting the trail the sun is up.  I hope the temps are cooler today, I suspect they will be as we are at elevation.
Over the next several miles the trail ascends rather gradually which makes for nice hiking.  At this point I’ve gotten acclimated to being at elevation so the hiking comes easy.  Here are a few stretches in which I’m breathing hard but it much more relaxed than the hiking in San Jacinto.
At the last water available for 16 miles I see a hiker camped.  He doesn’t appear to be in the area.  The directions to the water source are as following. “Go 60 yards to the end of the closed road, make a left.  Walk 110 yards just past the horse corrals and make a right. Walk 100 yards and you will be at the water source.  Water dripping from roots into a blue barrel”.
Sure enough there is a small cave if you will that has been eroded from years of snow melt dripping from the roots of the tree above.
Here I find he hiker whom wasn’t at his camp.  His name is haiku.  He hiked the AT in 2013.  We chatted for a bit as he finished filling his water bottles.
He went back to camp and I filled mine.  The water was a brisk 33 degrees as it was snow melt.  But once filter was some of the best tasting water I’ve had on trail.  The marketing slogan would never work tho, “fresh tasting water bottle at the source from a mountain seep.”  Just doesn’t work.
I load up with 5 liters as its 16 miles to the next water and I don’t think I’ll make the mileage to get to the next source. So I needed enough water to dry camp.
I walk back to where haiku is camping and we chat for about 20 minutes.  He laments how different the pct is from the AT.  He’s having difficulty with the constant temperature fluctuations and the lack of shade on the trail.  He’s having trouble making his mileage per day goals because of the altitude.  We say our goodbyes and I’m back on trail.
Over the next several hours the trail meanders from 7500 to 8300 and back down.  All in a gradual fashion so the miles aren’t difficult.  Around 1230 I end up on the south facing slopes of the San Bernadino mountains which face the San Jacinto Mountains just across the desert.
I think to myself, “oh I will have cell signal!”
The last two days I have been out of range.  Really back country.
I call home and catch up with Brian and Austin.  It was good to get connected to the world.  While on the phone both E train and Haiku pass me.    After chatting for 30 minutes or so and I hit the trail.
I catch up to e-train who is enjoying a break. About 2 miles from where I intended to camp I run into haiku.  I stop and take a break. We chat some more and he tells me he plans to hike to at least the next water source, 6 more miles.
I’m not sure that’s in the cards for me so I say, well I will hike with you until I decide to camp.
Over the next hour or so we chat pretty much non stop.  He had started a company and spent 8 years doing nothing but eat sleep and work and got burnt out.
He took a leave of absence in 2013 to hike the AT.   After the AT he still wasn’t ready to go back so he planned the PCT.  If he finishes the PCT, he plans to do the CDT (the continental divide trail) next year to complete the triple crown.
After all that is said and done he wants to go back to school to become a therapist.  He wants to use the back country to help people work through their issues.
We also talked about Burning Man.  He’s excited to go and I’m sure he was sick of hearing about it from me after the first hour!   What can I say? I love the burning man experience.
We were so engrossed in conversation we completely missed where I had planned to camp that night. And as it turned out were only two miles from the next water source, so we continued on.
We arrived in camp shortly before 7 and just before sunset.   I quickly made camp and began cooking dinner.  The temperature was dropping quickly as the sun went down.  The camp is at 7100 feet.
We both are dinner and he packed up with the plan of hiking another couple miles.  He said he felt like he found his hiking gear today.  I told him he had simply acclimated to the altitude and should have an easier time from here on out.
We said our goodbyes and he was off.   Being a trail camp there were a few picnic tables and fire pits.  I decided I would stay up a little later than usual and build a fire in one of the fire pits.  It was my first fire on the PCT.
After an hour I got sleepy.  A 21 mile day.
 

Day 17, Startling

Posted by James on March 29, 2015
Posted in: PCT. 1 Comment

Day 17

Mission Creek
I slept great and was on the trail by 615.  The weather was warm last night so it was little chore to roll out early.
I crossed white water creek once and then the climb began. I spent a good part of the morning climbing out of the canyon only to drop into another and follow mission creek north west.
The hiking along this creek was difficult. The canyon is clearing a victim of frequent floods.  As a result the trail is very difficult to follow and the creek path changes frequently.   I think I crossed the creek better than 15 times.
I frequently lost the trail but knew the trail followed the creek up the canyon for many miles, so I would trudge along as best I could.  I generally found the trail after 5 to 10 minutes of walking.   On one particular trail blaze off the trail I ran across day or two ok mountain lion tracks.  This will get your attention.
In another instance of loosing the trail I hiked down a dry wash and climbed up the eroded bank next to a downed tree.  As I hopped over the tree I heard the unmistakable rattle of a rattle snakes tail.  I froze and looked left to discover a nice healthy 4 foot rattle snake about 8 feet away.  He want coiled as of yet but was definitely in a more aggressive position.  I slowly backed away and his rattling intensified.   When I was about a dozen feet away I snapped a picture of him.  See below.
The rest of the day was uneventful aside from the heat.  The weather has been rather intense.
After hiking 15 miles and coming to the last creek crossing/water source for 6 miles I made camp on the first switchback out of the canyon.  It was only 330 but I was dead tired and done for the day.  Plus I knew the next 8 miles of trail ascended from 6000 feet to 8500 feet.  Better to save that for the cooler temperatures of morning.
I made dinner and filtered some water.   I was in my tent by 530.  After sunset a hiker rolled into my camp.  The first person I had seen all day.   His name was Andy. He had thru hiked the PCT in 2014 and was revisiting several spots he enjoyed.
About 15 minutes later another hiker came into camp named E-train.  It was pretty dark at this point.  One thing I do know. Setting up camp in the dark isn’t much fun.   We exchanged hellos but that was about.
I was asleep by 8.

Day 16, Whirligigs 

Posted by James on March 29, 2015
Posted in: PCT. 1 Comment

March 26, Day 16

PCT Mile 220.1, Whitewater Creek.

I woke up early this morning after a fitful night of sleep.  As I have mentioned earlier, I sleep a lot lighter out here. I was camped with Sampson, Jason and Aric.  We were all camped rather close together as the area we stopped had limited options. As a result, anytime one of them moved, I was awake.

Even with an interrupted night of sleep, I felt reasonably rested this morning.  This came as a bit of a shock as I put my body through hell yesterday.

After packing up camp and eating breakfast I was on the trail by 6:45.  The first planned stop was the trail Angels, Ziggy and the Bear.  They were approximately 5 miles from where I camped so I knew I would make it there rather early.

The scenery this morning was substantially different than yesterday. I trekked across flat desert wash.  It was quite enjoyable. I love the smell of the desert in the morning. There is an aroma that I’ve never been able to identify, but it relaxes me and makes me feel good.

I crossed under Interstate 10 shortly after 8am.  Awaiting hikers was a pleasant surprise, Trail Magic!  There were several coolers, one with bottled water, one with sodas and one with beer!   I opted for a full flavor root beer (I usually drink diet).   Man what a sugar rush.

We all took a pause and signed the trail log to thank whomever the angel was for the hospitality.  In the log I saw Connor and Khalil are roughly two days ahead of me.

We all caught back up with each other and hiked together the remaining mile or so to Ziggy and the Bears.  The Bear greeted us and Ziggy joined in short order.  They are a retired couple in their 80s who have been hosting PCT hikers for the last 20 years.   Their first year, they only saw 12 hikers.  Last year they hosted over 1100!

They have a great set up for hikers. They immediately offered us Gatorade and offered to charge our electronics.  We all accepted.  We all made conversation and relaxed.  They had a hiker box full of food, so we all rummaged through to see if there were any goodies we may like.   I found some crackers and granola bars and had them as an early lunch.  Sampson found a jar of peanut butter and strawberry jam mixed.  He exclaimed, “Boy, I just love this stuff. I’m going to eat this for lunch.”

Over the next 20 minutes he consumed the entire jar…  I guess his hiker hunger has kicked in.

The time quickly slipped away as we chatted and rehydrated.  About 10:30 I decided it was time to go.  I wanted to get some more miles in before it got to hot.  It was to be in the 90s today.

From Ziggy and the Bears, you head east on the PCT and walk right along a windmill farm. I had never actually been that close to a power generating windmill.   They actually make quite a bit of noise, but the breeze was nice so I couldn’t complain.

The next several miles were pretty warm. The wind was at my back and the temperature was pushing 90.  I was sweating profusely.  I had the foresight this might be the case and brought more water than I thought I would need.  Many hikers can get by with a liter every 5 miles.  I’ve learned for myself in the heat, I need about a liter every three miles.  I knew my next water source was 10 miles away, so I left Ziggy and the Bears with 3 liters.  Even with the extra I was running a deficit today.  I could feel my energy being sapped from the ascent of the trail and the heat.

I pulled into camp this afternoon around 3:30 somewhat delirious and done for the day.  I’m camped right beside whitewater creek and this far it’s my favorite place I have set up camp on the PCT.  The creek is flowing well and provides a nice audible backdrop to a great view.

Although today was rough physically, I have to say it’s one of my favorite days.  I saw many day hikers today and when I happened upon the creek there was a young family teaching their two boys about backpacking.  The mother struck up a conversation about hiking and asked if I was thru hiking.  I said that was the plan.  She was super friendly and offered me some chocolate chip cookies.  Boy, that made my day.

It’s truly fascinating to me how many people have gone out of their way to be friendly to me or help me out when they learn I’m a thru hiker.

In Idyllwild we went to the GastroGnome restaurant.  When I walked in they asked if I would rather be inside or outside.  I responded, “oh I would prefer to be inside. I’ve been outside for the last 10 days.”

One of the owners happened to be close by and asked if I was a thru hiker.   I said, “yes. ”

She responded, “Oh, well I have something for you then”

Once we were seated she swept by and dropped off a bag of homemade oatmeal raisin cookies.  She then looked at Austin and Brian and asked if they were thru hiking.  They both said no. She looked at them and smiled and said, “No thru hiking, no cookies for you.” And walked off.

The generosity of people is pretty spectacular.  I received a discount on my room in Idyllwild as well.  It feels as if I’m a member of an elite club most people don’t even know exists.

Trail Angels, trail magic and the generosity of random people, do it for no more thank a thank you.  In a lot of instances of trail magic a thank you can not even be given since often their magic is in the form of an unattended stash.  The PCT seems to be a magical place.

Day 15, F%&*ing trail

Posted by James on March 25, 2015
Posted in: PCT. Leave a comment

March 25, Day 15

PCT Mile 206, Snow Canyon Road Faucet.

Last night was pretty chilly.  It was 32.3 degrees this morning.  I absolutely love my sleeping bag. I was warm and toasty all night.  About 11:30 the wind picked up and howled all night long.  Fortunately I postitioned my tent almostt perfectly and was protected from the wind for the most part.  When an exceptionally large gust would come through it would rattle my tent.

I hit the trail about 7:15 this morning.  I felt it rather late, but with the temperature as it was, I loitered in my sleeping bag later than usual.

Once I rolled out of my bag and got dressed the chill didnt bother me too much.  I had numerous more snow fields to cross today.  One of them got the best of me and I fell for the first time since starting my hike.  Fortunately I just fell to my side, so I really didnt do much damage.  Im sure tomorrow morning will be the real test of how my body took the fall.

Starting first thing this morning, the trail was in descent mode.  over 18 miles the trail drops about 6500 feet in elevation.  It was a very tough day on the body.  The trail aside from being a descent for 18 miles is overgrown in a multitude of sections.  So there was lots of brush to contend with.

Also, this is a 20 mile dry section, so I had to carry all the water I would need all day.  I left camp this morning with just shy of 5 liters.  Another long heavy water carry.

For those of you that don’t want to hear me bitch and complain skip to the next paragraph.

The designer of this section of trail needs to be slapped.  This is how I imagine the planning of this part of the trail.  Someone asked him if he would design a trail through the san jacinto mountains down to the valley. He said, “sure!”  Being the sadist that he is, he went and got drunk, and then looked at the map of the mountain.  He found every single conceivable way he could screw with a hiker.  Let’s find the most rugged sections on the mountain and build a trail. For good measure we will throw in several metric tons of loose rock every mile.   Then we will add 10 miles of switch backs.  After designing and creating the trail, we will let it grow over for 10  years before we will let anyone use it.  Here and there we will throw in hidden rocks that will serve to trip you.  Basically, we will try to make your day a living hell.  To sum up the trail today, where I am camped from where I started this morning is 4.2 miles as the crow flies.  I hiked 18 miles today and dropped 6500 feet.  Enough said.

Other than the futility of trying to enjoy today’s hike, I’m in good spirits.  I crossed the 200 mile mark today.  I also met a thru hiker from Mississippi named Sampson.  He’s a mid 50s married man with an imposing stature and a melodic southern twang to his chatter.  Very nice guy. He hiked the AT in 2013.

I also met two hikers from Oregon, that rolled into camp later this evening.  I haven’t yet caught there names.

The views today were great, as I have always enjoyed the scenery in this area,  Tonight promises to be significantly warmer than last night, as a heat wave is about to hit.  It supposed to get to the mid 90s tomorrow.

I cross Interstate 10 tomorrow.  Yay, my second major freeway crossing.

More on that tomorrow!  Thanks for reading!

Look what I found today….