Start point

Spitler Peak Trail/PCT junction, mile 168.6

End point

Idyllwild, CA

Miles hiked

4.7

Wilderness area

San Bernardino National Forest

People I met

Scott and his parents

San Jac Jon!

The day on trail

Off. The. Mountain.

We got up around 6:30am and started packing. There were a few hikers who came through and wanted to know what the conditions ahead looked like. I was trying to finish getting ready to get back to town, but helping others with this kind of information, especially with the dangerous conditions, is super important.

The first two hikers to come through, I forgot their names, had tried the trail earlier this year. They had crampons and ice axes. They asked Shark, Half Pint, and me what the conditions were. We filled them in. As we were filling them in, Jon (of sanjacjon.com fame) came up the trail.

Basically, Jon’s assessments of the trail and of Mt. San Jacinto is taken as truth. He doesn’t sugar coat anything, he doesn’t fearmonger. If there’s a way to do something safely he tells you so. If there isn’t, he tells you so.

Jon started telling these hikers about the trail that had yet to be broken and blazed, and told them that it was too dangerous. They listened, though they were super frustrated, and understandably so. Another couple groups of hikers started filling in at this junction, some from Europe, some from the US, and Jon repeated himself patiently and thoroughly.

Jon also had his dog, Annabelle I think was her name. She was so sweet and an excellent snow hiking companion.

Many of the other hikers continued on to see Apache Peak and the areas that aren’t traversable for themselves. We just headed down to get back to town.

It was just under five miles and had blowdown after blowdown. And there was a rock slide that took out parts of the trail!

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I’ll be honest, though. The blowdowns were kind of fun. Getting through them reminded me of the heist movies with the laser-trip alarms. You kind of have to dance through the fallen trees. But with a big pack on your back.

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There was some honeycomb laying by the trail. With the hive in the rocks behind me while I faced it.

And the views, as we descended, became less alpine and more desert.

But despite the desert, yes, there was still some snow.



We got into town with a ride from a guy, Scott’s, parents. He’s out here supporting some of his friends, and his parents had some extra time between picking up Scott’s friends so they took us. On the way to town we saw Tobias, who’d come by earlier, walking to the main highway for a hitch. We ended up shoving him in the back!

When we got to town we all had things to take care of. First and foremost was the post office, as it’s closed tomorrow. So anything mailed needed to be taken care of today.

I picked up my new pack, refused the replacement from Gregory Packs, and mailed Beth my ice axe. I refused the Gregory pack because it came through UPS so it would’ve been too much to forward it to Beth. I’ll just take care of that later. I also picked up some new merino wool undies that were delivered.

I waited in the lobby for Shark and Half Pint to mail their axes and snowshoes home. It was an ordeal for them to package it all. I got lucky because my axe fit nicely in the box my pack came in.

After that we went and got food at the Idyllwild Brewpub. I got a jalapeño burger and started moving everything from my old pack over to the new. It was rough, but I was doing it in a hurry so it wasn’t too organized.

After that we checked into our room and did some laundry. It’s important to take care of your clothes. You need them out there, except for June 21 (if you know, you know).

Bottlecap and Pat ended up sharing a room next to us! We share a wall! So we got together for some porch side beers and caught up.

Soon it was dinner time. We went to get some mild resupply, since we were only out for two days, and some food. I got spaghetti and meatballs. They got pizza. And we picked up more beer to share.

I repacked my bag with some help and input from Shark, since it’s my first pack with no extra pockets, and I got it perfectly set up with a full resupply. It fits nicely and feels great. I’m pumped to wear it!

Then I went to karaoke! It ends up that the Lumber Mill actually has it Friday nights here. And, oddly, I met the guy whose seder I was trying to be at! He was asking why he hadn’t seen me there before, and I told him it was because I’m on the PCT and just traveling through. He told me his name, which is very Jewish, and I asked if he was a member of the tribe. He said he was and I told him chag Pesach sameach. He told me that they were hoping to host a PCT hiker at their seder, but he didn’t show up. Yeah…it was me. On the mountain. After I received the address too late.

Bonkers.

Anyway, I sang some songs. Had a ball. It was a great night. I’m ready to be out of town though.