May 8th, 2022 by Jon
Today we celebrated one month on the trail, and we crossed the 400-mile marker. We feel happy with our progress thus far, and our bodies feel fairly decent, albeit a little sore.
We woke up in Little Jimmy Campground. Thankfully, the troop of Boy Scouts camping nearby didn’t stay up too late, so we got to sleep at a decent hour. We packed our tent, then went back to the picnic tables to eat breakfast before leaving. Even though the sun was shining, it felt like it was around 40 degrees and there was a breeze that made it feel extra cold. We ate quickly, looking forward to the heat that hiking brings. Seabiscuit, Singsing, and I always leave before everyone else, even if it’s not by much. We like getting out early and starting the miles. Today was no exception.
Shortly after we left the campground, we entered the Bobcat Fire area, which burned fairly recently. The area was pretty devastated and completely void of anything green. The trees were black and any remaining limbs were sickly and orange. The other unfortunate side effect of a burn is the appearance of poodle dog bush. It grows like crazy in burn areas around Southern California and looks kind of like a small fern. It also has purple flowers that will bloom later in the season. There is an oil on the leaves that will give a person a pretty gnarly rash that many say is worse than poison oak or poison ivy. It’s not something I want to mess with, and I spent most of the morning keeping an eye out for it.
The trail itself led us on a long ledge overlooking a valley for a few miles before dropping us down a quick series of switchbacks to Highway 2. The road was still closed from here back to Baden Powell for the winter, so there was no traffic. We crossed the road and there was a small hiking trailhead at the bottom of Mt. Williamson. We used the pit toilets and had a quick snack with Seabiscuit and some other hikers at the picnic table there before setting out to climb the mountain.
The trail was steep. Just as steep as Baden Powell, unfortunately, but thankfully, it was only about half the distance to the top. There weren’t nearly the same number of hikers, given how early it was. We climbed rapidly, given the trail’s grade, taking many breaks along the way to catch our breath. After 45 minutes of hiking, we made it to the top. There was a side trail you could take that was about one mile round trip to actually summit the mountain, but we could see the top from where we were, we still had a good view, and we really didn’t feel like hiking another steep climb. We took a small rest before switchbacking our way back down the mountain on the shady side which also happened to be the windy side. It was cold going down that mountain and we had to dodge more poodle dog bush on the way. At one point, I was watching my feet on a steep part and managed to smash my head into a low-lying branch. I only found out later that night in our tent that I bled a little bit. It definitely hurt.
At the bottom, we took another break to catch our breath. We were standing in another parking lot next to the highway that runs along the ridge, and the clouds were moving like wisps crawling over it. We hiked another mile along a small ledge next to the road and came down to a day-use picnic area. This was where we encountered our first trail closure on the PCT. For the last few years, there has been a closure to protect habitat for an endangered mountain frog. As a result, 4 miles of the PCT are closed. Most people choose to walk along the highway for a few miles and then get back on the PCT, and that’s exactly what we did as well.
Hiking the road was boring. There isn’t a lot to look at, and the pavement feels very hard compared to the soft trail we are used to. We had about 2.7 miles to a campground where we could have some lunch, and the water faucet was on, so that’s where we were headed. With the road closed so close behind us, there was hardly any traffic on the highway. I think we saw around 10 cars the entire time. Eventually, we came to the turn-off that led down to the campground. Rune and Stealth were already there because they walked the 0.6 mile road around the mountain this morning instead of going up and over like we did. I’m don’t judge them at all for it, though; everybody is here to hike their own hike, and sometimes that means you skip something.
We sat at a table for a while eating, but it was still pretty cold, so we moved to the ground to be in a patch of sun. It’s our natural environment to be down in the dirt I guess. As we lay there, a man walked by and greeted us. We stopped to chat, show us a photo of the trout he had just caught, and invited us to come hang out at the private ski lodge a mile away. He offered beer and a place to hang out for a while. We were sold. We told him we would join him as soon as we finished eating.
Now, the actual reroute around the closure has us taking a hiking trail from the campground we were at back up to the PCT, then hiking along a ridge before coming back down to Highway 2 in 5 miles. Another option was to get back on the road and hike 1.5 miles to that same spot, thereby skipping about 5 miles of the PCT. But now we had this offer to go to the ski lodge along the road, so we chose that.
We bushwhacked up a steep hill to get back on the road, then walked for a half mile before coming to a dirt road with a sign reading “Buckhorn Ski Lodge.” We walked up the road and came to a lodge with a big deck. One other hiker and Mike, the man from earlier, greeted us as we walked up. We joined them and had some beer and leftover snacks, including oranges, fruit snacks, and M&M’s. We learned that it’s a private ski club that was started in the 50’s and they used to have an old rope tow with 5 or 6 runs on the property. Now the rope tow is gone and they either hike up or take snowmobiles and then ski down. Some members usually come up over the weekend and at other times of the year to hike, fish, or just hang out.
After hanging for a while, we played a short round of disc golf around the property, which was super fun too. I got pretty into it during COVID so it was really fun to play again. Feeling fulfilled after a nice break, we had to plead no more snacks before thanking Mike again and again for letting us come and hang out for a while. We walked another mile or so up the road and hopped back on the PCT. From there, we hiked down a pretty gentle forest road for a long time. After a couple of miles, we passed the 400-mile marker! Very exciting. It’s hard to fathom how far we have come, and how much further we have to go.
A mile or two later, we came to a private cabin right on the PCT. Usually, there is water there, but I guess the spigot broke or something, and all the water drained out. Apparently, the owner is trying to get a water truck to come fill it back up, but that won’t happen for a while. Still a nice place to sit at a picnic table and use the pit toilets there. The owner wasn’t there, and it’s kind of them to leave it all available to hikers. We continued on and came to a spring a mile later, where we could top off our water. From here, we had another 5 miles to our campsite, so we really didn’t need much. Those last few miles wound through lots of sandy riverbanks and small hills, and I had no idea which direction I was going anymore. Thankfully, I can just follow the trail, but it was very disorienting.
At last, we came to a small creek with lots of campsites and more picnic tables! We’re really lucking out lately with them. We set up camp, joined friends for dinner, and then retreated to our tents and sleeping bags by 7:30, when it got too cold to stay up any longer.
We hiked 22.8 trail miles today, but I think when you add the road-walking miles and the skipped miles, we actually ended up only physically hiking 18 or 19 miles today. We feel very tired, and our feet are more sore than usual from that road walking. Looking forward to more fun tomorrow.
