Start point
Warner Springs at mile 112.5
End point
Indian Flats PCT Connection at mile 119.6
Miles hiked
7.1 on trail. 3+ off.
Wilderness area
Cleveland National Forest
People I met
Rob
Big Box
Big Tuna
Chopper
Danny
And so many more
The day on trail
Yesterday you could see the trail stretch in from of you, it seemed, forever. Today it disappeared and dipped behind hills, mountains, and rivers. It was almost playful.
It was a sunny, beautiful day. It was warm and not hot, and breezy and not windy.
Yesterday I woke up in a tent with a fly soaked from the outside, from snow and rain. Today Roberta and I woke up to a tent with a fly soaked from the inside, from condensation. It was so wet from a combination of the rain, moisture, and two people breathing inside. No amount of ventilation could have prevented it. I’m just glad I have a double wall tent, otherwise all that moisture would have pooled in the bottom of the tent.
Even more. My socks were frozen solid. There was ice on my rain fly. My rain shell was also frozen!
Warner Springs is close to a glider port, so all day you could see and hear a plane towing a glider up, only to release it for its (hopefully) slow descent to the earth.
Not many of my landscapes came out well this morning; my camera fogged out because of the humidity the night before. Damn. But they were gorgeous.
I loved seeing the snow on the mountains and looking over the valleys. It’s bonkers to think that yesterday I was in the mountains on the other side of that valley and I walked here.
I’ve no idea what these are the (plant) skeletal remains of, but they were so beautiful.
Manzanita bushes have the most unique blends of textures.
The dew on the agaves was just…ugh delightful.
And this flower was just standing tall all alone.
There were probably five times in a couple miles we had to cross Agua Caliente Creek and, well, we just went for it. Feet wet and all. It wasn’t a problem because of the weather.
After about six miles we got to the trail junction where Roberta parked her car. It was about a mile down the trail to this beefy, double locked gate.
And oops! We’ve all made this mistake when finding backcountry trails — she didn’t park where she thought she did! It was about a two mile road walk to her car.
What a first overnighter for Roberta. She got rain, snow, condensation, sun, water crossings, and a surprise road walk! All she needed was a cathole to round out her first hikertrash experience!
Roberta drove me to the Gas Mart in Warner Springs for a quick resupply. They had an impressive amount of kosher things (tuna packets, many with flavoring), tortillas (often made with lard so finding kosher ones is a gem), and ever reliable PopTarts and Lenny and Larry’s cookies.
Well. Getting back I was running out of sunlight so I hiked about 1/2 mile up trail to a water source, got a campsite around five others, and about 8 other hikers soon came in crowding it.
I’m not a fan of the crowding. But that’s part of the deal. Many of them are going to flip up at Tehachapi and hike back down to Idyllwild. I’m thinking of joining a group of people looking to push through San Jacinto. We’ll see.
What a sunset.
What a day and what a great way to close out March. See you soon, April!
That’s a beautiful sunset. Sigh. I also find it trippy to think about you on the other side of those valleys…and all the distance you walked in between. How you got from there to here. With your own two feet and a home on your back. Those legs of yours are putting in a lot of miles! Glad you had good company on the trail today, even though camp sounds like a dang party (and less fun than how I initially envisioned it). I’m still hoping the miles in the San Jacinto mountains aren’t too impassable… but happy to hear how many kosher things were available on your resupply run!
It’s bonkers what our feet and legs can go. And it’s nice to know there’s at least a little accessibility for dietary restrictions.