This is the continuation of my Desert PCT section hike, notes for each day…
Day 14, Tuesday, April 8th, 0700-1900
22 miles, Whitewater Preserve to Mission Springs Trail Camp, Mm 240, 6700/1120 down. Elevation 7900′.
Camp so awesome. Rocks falling all night. Western screech owl. Bighorns peering over ledge in morning, played Bocce ball using boulders and tents. Passed day hikers, perhaps even some migrants along river in morning, then Ludo, French guy I’d been hopscotching for several days. Climb over small pass from Whitewater valley to Mission Creek. Then fun began hiking up the large wash, trail segments washed away from 2023 Hurricane Hillary for long stretches. Just like hiking the DWTH, so I was right at home. Others not so much. Took extra long lunch break, but still caught up to maybe 10 people in afternoon. The heat and rocks were getting to them. Not me! Had my brella up, no sweat. Route finding pretty easy, managed to find some long stretches of trail along the upper banks, much faster travel, trick was getting down/up banks of wash when trail ended. Some walls 20′ high…amazing power of flood on display. Then caught 23, Newt, and Polar at end of day. 23 was the guy I met at Davenport Gap and then AT Trail Days in 24, so great to see him again! He recognized me first. Made it to top of mission creek canyon, camped under pines, picnic table for dinner and creek nearby. Cold up high, about 8 people nearby. Met Crib first time.
Day 15, Wednesday, April 9th, 0900-1900
22 miles Mission Springs Trail Camp to before hwy into Big Bear, Mm 262, 2800/3900. Elevation 6810′.
Cold 35 in morning. Slow to move, ended up hanging with Polar, 23 and Newt through lunch. Had lunch at coon creek cabin. Dragging in afternoon, group took a break and I hiked on to water at end of Arrastre creek. Ate dinner there, 5 other hikers around. Hiked another hour to solo camp next to some junipers.
Day 16, Thursday, April 10th, 0700-0830
4 miles to Hwy 18 & Big Bear Lake, Mm 266, 560/500. Elevation 6830′.
Easy stroll to HWY, then hitch with Roman, who had no idea about the trail or hikers. Said he liked my umbrella, figured he’d give me a ride. Went to dollar tree, then laundry then pizza all done by noon! Polar, Newt and 23 joined for lunch and then we rode bus to Pine knot cabins. Hot water heater broken so we took showers in private residence next door. Free scoop of Ben and Jerry ice cream in town. Then Himalayan food so good! Watched Hunger games movie at cabin, was fun hanging out with other hikers all day.
Day 17, Friday, April 11th, 1400-1950
20 miles to Little Bear Spring, Mm 285.5, 2250/2530. Elevation 6580′.
Bad headache in morning, laid in bed for awhile, packed, went to hostel to meet up with hikers, worker there tried to charge $20 day use fee just for going inside lobby, left with Will, got more ice cream. Mailed some stuff from PO. Got ride to Vons with 2 people that hiked the PCT in 80s. Got more food then took bus to edge of town, then got ride from 2 ladies. Hiked with Will rest of the day. Took a wrong turn on side trail down to Big Bear, almost extra mile. Decided to hike into night so we could get to TM next day. Nice sunset, nice site.
Day 18, Saturday, April 12th, 0700-1520
22.5 miles to just past Deep Creek Hot springs, Mm 308, 1460/4450 down. Elevation 3540′.
Uneventful hike down Holcomb creek. Only saw Crib, 7Up, and Will. Then joined Deep Creek. Took break with Crib and Superglue. Then 6 motorcycles were driving illegally on trail, making a mess of the tread and causing major erosion issues in extremely narrow sections. Got pictures and video, reported them to PCTA and USFS later. Passed the 300 mile mark. Got to hot springs afternoon. Warrenhikes Summit Chef hiked in margaritas and tacos. Watched moon rise in hot springs. Crib, Will, Mango, and Sweeping Beauty also there.
Day 19, Sunday, April 13th, 0740-1930
17 miles to Silverwood lake, Mm 325, 1980/2080. Elevation 3540′.
Slow to get up and packed. Easy 6 miles down creek. Ride into Hesperia to Joshua Tree bar. Ate big meal at Airplane cafe with Will and Superglue. Had only 1 beer at bar. Back to the trail but then Trail Angel Shawn had drinks, so chatted with her until 4 pm. Managed to almost kill a whole day! Then did 11 fast miles with will, hard to find a good campsite at the end, but finally found nice one with view of lake right at dusk. Later learned that it was trail to Zero day beach. Fisherman came walking by at 5:45 am next morning and my tent was right on the trail, ooops. Really thought it was just a bare patch off trail. Also didn’t ever expect anyone to come by so early!
Day 20, Monday, April 14th, 0700-1900,
23 miles to Swarthout canyon rd and cache, Mm 347, 3130/3000 down. Elevation 3570′.
Good night’s sleep, nice walk along lake in morning. Lots of trash. Took break at Campground. Met Kiwi guy NewFinland on climb, talked to him all the rest of way to Cajon pass. Almost stepped on southern pacific rattlesnake in trail. Very calm, shook his rattle with my trekking pole because snake would not rattle even when poked, finally crawled across trail into bushes. McDonald’s packed with hikers…at least 15. In 2018, it took me 10 days to hike the remaining miles to the border. This time, it took me exactly twice as long to go the same distance. But I had a much better time! Walked another 5 miles in late afternoon with Will and camped with large group at cache.
Instagram post: PCT days 17-20. I spent a night in Big Bear with some friends I met at AT Trail days last year. Then I rushed to do 42 miles in 1.5 days to make it to Deep Creek Hot Springs for Taco Trail magic, provided by @warrenhikes Summit Chef. He packed in nearly 80 lbs of ingredients, including margarita mix. What an awesome combination with soaking in the hot springs… another experience that I skipped on my SOBO hike. I am enjoying the desert section of the PCT so much more this time around, namely because I have ample time to make ALL the stops, but also because there are really awesome people to share it with.
The next day, I also visited the Joshua Tree bar, got lunch at the Mile High Cafe, more Trail Magic from Shawn, and still managed to walk another 11 miles to camp with a fantastic view of Silverwood lake. This was of course followed with a visit to the Cajon Pass McDonald’s, which was overflowing with Hikertrash.
A couple of things I didn’t encounter on my SOBO hike were rattlesnakes and motorcycles. The latter are the much bigger problem. They have been illegally riding the PCT around Deep Creek and are absolutely destroying the foot and horse-traffic-only tread and infrastructure. I reported my run-ins with them to the forest service and PCTA but am not sure anything will be done. These guys were A-holes and intentionally tried to run their bikes into me when I wouldn’t get out of their way. I got so sick of yielding to and avoided motor vehicles on my desert hike from Tucson, now that I’m finally on a trail that belongs exclusively to pedestrians, why should I give them an inch? The rattlesnakes, on the other hand, have my full respect. Danger noodles are pretty cool. A guy had one in the cage was being used to teach dogs to recognize and avoid rattlesnakes. I’d take rattlesnakes over motorcycles any day.
Day 21, Tuesday, April 15th, 0730-1900 Nero into Wrightwood.
2 mile side hike to hwy, then ride to Wrightwood, Elevation 3570′.
Skipped 27 miles from mm347.3 to mm374 Vincent Gap, Had to get off trail here to get around large fire closure. Walked to Pine canyon rd, picked up by Trail Angel Carol. Stayed with her and husband Dale 2 nights. Amazing trail angels. Cute cabin outside, tree houses, and huge basement. Laundry, bathroom and small kitchen for hikers. Huge backyard, wonderful for lounging. Stayed with Glue, Will and Crib. Strong Warrior and Supertramp couple came for second night. Took cats Fiona and Logan for walks both days. Dale gave us ride to desert for larger stores, much cheaper than resupply in tiny Wrightwood market. Got little Caesars pizza. Went to Mexican restaurant in Wrightwood with everyone 1st night, 5 cent margaritas.
Day 22, Wednesday, April 16th, zero in Wrightwood,
Dale gave us all ride into town for free coffee, hot dog, 10 percent off at Grizzly cafe, free pin at hardware store. Wrightwood hands down best trail town, or tie with Quincy! Will got back on trail but everyone else stayed another day. Town also had a cat rescue shelter where you can play arcade games (for a donation) along with the cats…what an interesting combo. Didn’t need this since I had the cutest cats to play with at Carol’s. Fiona really seemed to take a liking to me and our walks. Took it easy rest of day. LAF, CDT hiker from 24, who knew Alan, came to stay overnight and give us all a ride the next morning. We all watched a movie in the basement.
Day 23, Thursday, April 17th, 0900-1630
12 miles Big Rock Campground \ Vincent Gap to Little Jimmy trail camp, Mm 384, 4260/2550 down, Elevation 7500′. LAF gave us a ride to Big Rock Campground to get around fire closure. I was a bit car sick after ride, very twisty road. Walked the dirt road 1.5 miles to Vincent gap, then climbed to Baden Powell 9400’…easy even with some snow. Ice on trees was very pretty. So cold, then sunny and nice on top. 1st time on this peak, skipped it in 2018 cause it was so windy. Hung out for awhile with D&D dutch couple and Glue. Could only see tops of tall peaks, but clear views of the desert. Marine layer very thick, very cool looking as it flowed over the mountains, like a breaking wave. Crib never showed, so Glue and I pressed on. Got colder and colder on descent. Drizzling at the end of day. Needed to stop early to warm up. Darian made a fire and another 8 people showed up. cold night.
Day 24, Friday, April 18th, 0700-1920
28.5 miles to Mt Gleason Rd, Mm 421, 3200/4900, Elevation 5620′.
Cold morning, I was anxious to find some space after so many people night before. Walked hwy 2 from Islip saddle to Three Points (where I camped in 2018), about 11 miles on road, shortcut trail quite a bit, part of this was necessary to avoid the frog closure anyway. Very few cars (maybe 10) due to road closure at Islip saddle due to Bridge fire. Road very nice and relaxing. Walked through tunnels, then down to Buckhorn, then slightly up to cloudburst summit, then down rest of way. Snowplow doing rock\debris plow stopped to offer snacks, gave me mini sweet potato pie…so nice! Lots of pull outs with toilets and picnic tables to take a break but so cold and cloudy, didn’t stop for long. Finally warmed and sun for break at stream near sulphur spring. Saw 2 guys and someone just leaving creek…only hikers I saw all day. Took Little Rock truck trail\Pacifico mountain rd Alt. all the way to Mill creek fire station. Spigot, toilets, tables there, nice spot for dinner. Walked another 3 miles for camp on ridge. Cold but quiet solitude.
Day 25, Saturday, April 19th, 0710-1600
22.5 miles to Soledad Canyon rd, then hitch into Acton, Mm 444, 2450/5890 down, Elevation 2860′.
Hiked Mt Gleason road from the start, about 10 miles, included side trip to top of Mt Gleason 6500′. Frost inside tent in morning but I wasn’t very cold overnight. Wind came up a bit but not too bad…got lucky. Road alt so quiet, closed to vehicles due to the fire, I guess? Went past 2009 Station fire memorial and Nike missile site…everything burned down. Lots of Coulter pines regrowing along ridge. Paved road right to top of peak, even old parking spaces. Several old tanks and structures. Spent lots of time Peakfinding. Views of LA skyline, Baden Powell, San Jacinto (last time!), Mt Cuyamaca, Telescope Peak and even Whitney, but too hazy to see the last one. 2 cyclists and one runner only people I saw on the old rd. Went down past several old campgrounds. Got back on trail at mm432 and finally saw a few hikers, then 8 were at ranger station picnic table. Host gave everyone coke and rice crispy treats, but I missed out, getting there just after everyone and he never came back out. Lingered for lunch but still no dice. Got 1 l of water from cache, at least. Hike rest of way hot and unremarkable. Took a while to hitch into Acton. Visited RV park first. 4 hikers there, including 7up, another named Cheeto. bought ice cream. Then hitch from a guy that trains Andalusian horses. Went to 49er Saloon. Very hospitable restaurant with camping in back. Took cold shower very fast, then had spaghetti and meatball dinner. A bit overpriced but considering free camping amenities, a good deal.
