May 13th, 2022 by Jon
We woke up feeling pretty refreshed with another 20-mile day ahead of us. As we woke, we could hear lots of other hikers stirring around us. There were even more hikers who got in pretty late last night, and they had cowboy camped all over the place. With the weather getting hotter, it’s somewhat expected. People take long breaks in the middle of the day, then start hiking again in the evening when it cools down. Thankfully, I didn’t hear a thing with my earplugs in.
We ate breakfast around 6:15, and I think I only saw two people/tents that weren’t awake yet. Singsong counted 23 tents/cowboy people this morning. We ate quickly and soon we were off, ready to head up the mountain. It was another one of those hikes down the mountain to the road and camp, just to hike up the other side of the valley in the morning type of situations. We seem to have a lot of those.
The climb up the mountain was long and winding. We kept passing around a very tall outcropping, hiking higher on a switchback, then passing back across it going the other way. We did that for a while before finally reaching the saddle in between two peaks. There was an unnamed dirt road at the top that we crossed before heading back down the other side of the ridge. We hiked along a ledge, enjoying quite a few oak tree groves that grew along the trail, creating a green tunnel as we walked through them. This would be a common feature for the rest of the day and a welcome respite from the sun when we had it.
We walked along a ledge for a while before reaching another saddle. We took our first break, but we actually got kind of cold in the shade and the wind, and it was a very short break. We looked down into a long, skinny valley that stretched for a long way. We did more ridge walking and enjoyed some great views down the valley. It was good to talk with Singsong during the morning; sometimes we hike apart, but most of this morning we were together. We’ve been trying to figure out a small road trip to take after the PCT with our dog, and it’s fun to talk through some of the different options. Of course, that could change down the road, but it’s still fun to do some hypothetical planning.
The trail went around numerous little outcroppings as we slowly made our way down off this series of mountains towards the road in the middle of nowhere. When we got to the bottom, we walked across a huge dry, sandy creek bed before walking up a small climb to the road. Before we crossed, we found a bit of trail magic waiting for us! There were two metal chairs, some water, a trash can, and a 5-gallon bucket with lots of cheap cookie packages in it. These are the best kind of extra calories to just have as a surprise. We caught Seabiscuit at the road, and so we got to enjoy it together.
We only had a quick 1.7-mile climb up to the spring, where we could get some more water that would last us the rest of the day. We climbed a steep series of winding switchbacks with a very hot sun beating down on our backs. We got to the spring and it was just barely trickling. I needed 2L of water, and I had to wait more than 5 minutes standing there to collect it. But it was cold, clear, and it tasted good. Plus, I got to stay in the shade of a few trees that grew right around the shade. Soon all of us had filled up what we needed and we had picked a spot for lunch in a few miles.
We continued our climb, and we began to hear wind on the other side of the ridge from where we were. Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t feel a darn thing, and we’re getting absolutely roasted on this climb. After another mile of climbing, we made it to the top, and we had sweet relief. A fairly steady breeze was blowing and it felt like stepping in front of a giant fan. As we looked forward, where the trail led, we could see a massive burn scar. Sometimes fires burn some limbs, but not all, and the trees will survive. Other times, it completely obliterates everything. This was definitely the latter. The dirt of the trail was mixed with charcoal-y sand that coated our knees down in a black paste when mixed with our sweat and sunscreen.
We walked for a long time with small, 1-foot-tall plants as far as the eye could see. The burn scar covered all the mountains we could see and had wiped everything out. It was a sad sight. We wound our way through blackened sand and a few burnt-out husks of larger bushes for many miles. Then we walked through a valley where long, lush green grass had grown up around everything that was black. It was jarring to see, but also beautiful. We got out of the valley, and it was back to black sand and bare hillsides. Eventually, we caught up to where Seabiscuit had found the smallest bit of shade among the dead trees. It was actually a pretty good spot for lunch, and we enjoyed sitting there for a good hour. We only had 5 miles to go to a turnoff where we would walk along an old forest road for 2 miles to go by a water source that was a fair way off the trail. The PCT parallels this road and meets back up with it right after a primitive campsite, which is where we plan to camp tonight.
We walked along the trail, and as we walked around the mountain, some sections were burnt, and some weren’t. The ones that weren’t were so green and we enjoyed a lot of green shaded tunnels. This was very helpful because it felt like it got into the 80s today. I felt like I zoned out for a few miles and my feet really started to hurt in this section. We came to the 4-way dirt road intersection, and there was a water cistern there, but we skipped it because a bunch of fire retardant went into it in 2020, and it’s kind of a “use this only if you are desperate” kinda situation. When I got there, Biscuit was already there and Stealth was just 2 minutes behind me. Everyone else was further back and we walked the road towards the water source.
The water source icon on our map was a ways off the road, and we basically had to walk along until we were as close as we could get on the road, and then tromp through a very grassy field before reaching what is called a water guzzler. I had never heard of them, but basically, there is a storage tank that’s covered by a roof, and when it rains, the water hits the roof and goes down into the tank. You basically have to lie down on the ground and reach down into the tank to scoop it up, but the water is actually super clean and tastes good.
After getting water, we walked the last bit to camp and made it down. There was a pit toilet, trash cans, and picnic tables, which were nice. We started making dinner at the table, and then more and more weekend people started driving up, bringing their dirt bikes and those rally car things. They were super loud and kicked up a lot of dust. Rune went over and asked if they were going to be loud, and apparently, they laughed and said yes. That’s when Rune and Stealth decided to hike to the next campsite. The rest of us will stay because we’re pretty beat and hopeful that things will calm down before too long.
Tomorrow we plan to wake up at 4:30 to get an early start. We’re headed to the desert floor and it’s supposed to get up to 94 degrees. We want to try to make it to Hikertown as early as we can. Hikertown is this funky little western-themed property run by some trail angels, and it’s right on the PCT. You can stay the night in one of the many rooms for 15 bucks because it’s basically a mattress in a shack. But it’s a place to get water, charge your phone, take a shuttle to a convenience store if you need it, and prep for the aqueduct walk, which comes right afterwards. More on that later.
