PCT California Section C

We hiked this in April of 2014.  Originally the posts were individually posted, but for convenience I regrouped them.

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
― Mark Twain


Ziggy and Bear's to Mission Creek Mile 231:

We went 21 miles through some strikingly handsome countryside today.  The trail meandered up and down and over and around.  It is hard to believe I wanted to quit yesterday. This hiking life is great!

We woke up and Ziggy and Bears at 3 am!  We started to leave the place around 4 and I realized my hat was missing.  We looked around with our head torches on, rudely awakening others I'm sure, but couldn't find it.  I loved that beat up old hat and when the capricious winds start blowing, it is needed as the umbrella doesn't work very well then.  Oh well and boohoo. 

We climbed up and through the windmills by interstate 10 just as dawn was turning  the sky pink and the magical day began of ridge walking across a desert landscape.  The sky stretched wide.  Ravens were soaring above and below us and the trail glittered with black and gold caterpillars on the move.  Desert flowers too were shining bright and hummingbirds zipped by like mini jet fighters. It might look barren in the photos, but I'm telling you it felt alive.  We felt alive.   We also had 2 flowing streams.   TWO!!  Whitewater and the lovely Mission creek with its canyon walls colored orange, brown, gold and pink.  We washed our clothes and ourselves and took a 3 hour siesta under a bright green sycamore tree adorned with its gold dingle balls.  It doesn't get much better than this in our book. 

Mission Creek to Mile 250

Yesterday's easy 21 miles had us grinning and dreaming of thru hikes.  We hoped to make 22 miles today.  Haha!  10 steps into our hike this morning and I knew what a difference a day could make. 

The trail climbs steeply from 3400 to about 8000 feet in 8 tough miles.  I especially struggled and had to use my granny gear to get up the hill.  It took us 5 hours to go those first 8 miles, while the day before we went 16 miles in 5 hours.    Granted the climb wasn't as sustained the day before, but it did go up and down a lot and overall gained about 2000 feet a few times.   I am not sure what my problem was.

After a 3 hour break at the water source today and after eating a lot of food, the next 10 miles went better.  Of course there wasn't any sustained climbs and the temperature was cool at the much higher elevations.  Mount San Gorgonia was to the west of us and it stood proudly covered in a saintly robe of snow.   It made me think of a mythical mountain where a trove of karate masters train or a secret lair of dragons.  The desert does strange things to your eyes and brain. 

It's cold here.  I'm wearing almost all my clothes and we zipped our sleeping bags together tonight.  It feels like it will be below freezing soon.  Funny thing is I wanted to send my cold weather gear home the day we sat in the triple digits in Ziggy and Bear's backyard.  Fortunately Uncle Bob has better sense than I.  Good ole Uncle Bob, he takes care of everybody. Especially me.

To Big Bear We Go:

Hiked 16 easy miles today, rolling and flat, but it was cold!  Brrr!  Good hiking weather.  The terrain was mostly in the forest with big beautiful cedar trees and various pines, junipers, spruce, noble fir and oaks too.  It was quite lovely.

After coffee and a breakfast of power bars, we packed up camp and I wore most of my clothes ( smart wool shirt, pants, rain pants, down jacket, rain jacket, polar fleece hat, buff scarf, sun gloves, and warm gloves!).  Yes.  It was cold.      We shortly came upon what our map called animal cages and we saw tigers and bears basking in the sun.  I talked to the bear and he rolled over onto his back and turned his head and looked at me while his paw appeared to wave.  Cute stuff.   During the night I had awoken to a strange animal sound and now realized it likely came from here. 

Eventually, it warmed up a bit and I packed away the down jacket.  Later we left the forest and came into open sage country with a few Joshua trees.  Clouds began to roll in and the wind had a fresh bite to it.  I thought a snow flake fell, but then dismissed that notion.  We arrived at highway 18 at about 2 pm and snow did begin to fall.  We were told we could hitch a ride into town, but we were hesitant because we are wusses,  so we called the number for the posted Big Bear Hostel ride.  We waited.  We got cold.  Another hiker, Karma from Sacramento, joined us.  Our trail friend Oblivious showed up, but he chose to hike on into the snow.   No Big Bear for him.  

Our ride eventually arrived and took us to the hostel where we were greeted by the young men A to Z from Oregon.  Z seemed genuinely glad to see me well as he had last seen me pretty sick on the trail.   Lots of other hikers are here, some like Poppa Sol we know, others we recognize. 

We hurried around town and did our grocery shopping and found me a hat.   We showered and Mark's now doing our  laundry here.  Its a very convenient place for hikers.  A bit too many people mingle around for my comfort, as I'm kind of uncomfortable in crowds, so I've been snacking and resting in  our private room.

Tomorrow morning they will shuttle us back to the trail and off we will go.  About 76 more miles to our finale for this season's hike.   We think we will make it in 4 days.  Time will tell.

Big Bear to Little Bear Springs:

Morning began with Mark getting a job serving coffee at the famous Grizzly Manor Cafe in Big Bear.    We even got a discount! If you have been there you will know what I mean. Great food and fun environment.   Then hugs when we met up with 70 year old Arthur who we had hiked previously with in Mission Creek.  He shared his epic journey off the trail in the snow and we exchanged emails.

Grayson, from the hostel, shuttled us back to the trail and we were off on a peaceful forest walk with crown sparrows providing the sound track.  Pines. Oaks.  Good views to Big Bear Lake.  Met barefoot Paha,  who after the first hundred miles put on flip flops.  We had open, heart filled conversation.  He made me think of St. Francis with his desire to throw off worldly things and his open communion with nature.   We later met Russel hiking for wounded warrior.  A day filled with intense people.  Like the 2 bear like men we met who scared both Mark and I for no reason at all.

We camped about 19.5 miles in and slept like babes full on milk.  We are having the time of our lives. 

Little Bear Springs to Somewhere:

Wow!  It's amazing what one's legs and feet can do.  20 miles today and we felt good.  We had a late start this morning and a two hour lunch break and swim too.

We bushwhacked down to Deep Creek to this lovely still section of river tonight.  We had our own beach and in the night it became an enchanted land full of nocturnal animals.  The moon lit up the rock wall across the water.  Toad and Frog serenaded us to sleep. 

Every evening we make notes on our day.  This is our list:

*Blogged under umbrella while husband was parched.
*Commercial shoot along river inspires us to make our own. (Coming soon)
*Soundtrack- water all day
*Mile 293? Swimming hole on Holcrum Creek
*Burning Yucca in afternoon light
*Desire to hike on and on and on
*Willow Creek back track to river
*Enchanted animals round our tent
*Toad/frog song
*Moon shadow

* Fire Ball

Holcrum Creek

Deep Creek Bridge

Somewhere to Silverwood Lake:

24 mile day and we feel great.  I twisted my ankle at mile 22 but after icing it in Silverwood Lake it feels good.

It was a hot day.  Enough said.

From Mexico to here the trail went through small quaint towns.  Today was our first glimpse of the anonymous Borg of Southern California.  Jarring graffiti on rocks, smog, trash, rumble of trains.

Day started nicely.  We hiked a couple of miles and sat in deep creek hot springs.  All by ourselves, until the naked man jogged by.  LOL. There were bags of trash nearby, but it was still beautiful and restorative. I've read this can be a wild place at night, but it was very peaceful mid morning.

Lunchtime chat with Karma, a 28 year old from Sacramento.  Nice guy with common sense.
Sometimes in short supply on the trail.  Like when a 51 year old lady (me) tries for miles to overtake a young man only to twist her ankle in the end.  Ridiculous!

Beautiful late afternoon hike alongside Silverwood Lake.    Crickets.  Voices and laughter drift on the wind.  Clandestine camping with other hikers ends our day.  Only about 14 more miles to go to reach our goal and we are a bit sad. Bittersweet.

Who knew two old, overweight people could hike so many miles day after day and still enjoy the hike, the scenery, the people along the way and each other? 

Silverwood Lake to Cajon Pass:

This section hike is over.  We sit in a Best Western waiting for the rental car to show up.  We will then drive about 3 hours back to Campo where our car is parked.  3 hours drive took 20 days of hiking. 

We had a fun 14 mile hike today.  Easy because it only had a few short climbs and the weather was cool.  Weather makes all the difference. 

Terrain had a few cool ridge hikes and there were flowers and shrubs.  We ended at McDonald's.  It feels weird to be back in modern society.  On a happy note, we met back up with our trail friend Raven.  We wish we could continue on the trail, but our ranch beckons us home. 

In the next few days we will try to write up a trail reflection post and eventually my buff infomercial will be here as well.  I really look forward to creating a slideshow or two from the snapshots I took along the way.  I hope they convey the trail we walked.

Mark's Reflection:

...A tall ship, and a star to steer her by....
     I love a long walk more than sailing,  and my star of choice would be our sun,  but otherwise this line of poetry makes as good an explanation of why I hike as any.  We all would have different lists of just what a "good adventure" might be,  but we ALL need adventure in our lives.  Hiking long trails is high on mine.  Where matters of course, but not as much as I believed it did.  And with whom is perhaps even more important to me than I previously imagined.  This section-hike of the southern pct clarified a few things.  Turns out that I hike mostly as I live... as part of a couple.  Even though we often hiked without conversation for long stretches, it was a companionable silence.  Struggles, success, joys, beauty, heat, cold, everything shared as naturally as our tent.  We breathed our own breaths and sweated our own sweat, but for me the experience remembered seems wholly tandem.
     I recall being concerned about water, heat, snakes, blisters, boring terrain, and not having enough to eat.   Except for a few moments, NONE of these were a problem.  Flowers, and beauty were to be found every day.  A few days we even hiked next to sparkling, flowing water nearly the entire day!  (up Mission creek, and down Deep Creek)  We found and enjoyed swimming spots and hot springs.  Though we had a decent physical base to begin, we started slowly.  We limited our mileage by walking slowly, stopping often, and camping early.  We gave ourselves time to adapt, and I tried to ignore the wacky trail routing and just hike the trail.  The daily mileage began to get higher, and easier.  By the last week, 20+ mile days still left time for two hour breaks or soaking in the lake or creek and were almost automatic.  I remember marveling that we were less tired than half the miles would have been just a few weeks earlier.  And less sore than the same hours spent in a car would have made me.  With joyous amazement we discovered that we could walk, with all the possessions we required, over 20 miles day after day, and get stronger.  And love it!  We felt like REAL hikers!  This trail, like many in the sierras,  reveals itself with enticing horizons.  Now none of those horizons are out of reach for more than a few days.  "Give me my backpack, my companion, and a long trail to walk upon..."

Tj's Reflection:

I'm addicted to backpacking.  Especially with Mark.  It's like any other addiction in that it holds on to my conscious with a steely grip.  It's almost all I think about.  After finishing our recent 3 week hike along the Pacific Crest Trail from Campo to Cajon Pass, I might possibly be ruined for real life.  I feel a bit trapped inside my house, and we have way too much stuff!   Decisions?  What,  I can't make decisions.   I'll just think about the open trail with my pack on my back.  It's very freeing.  

I remember one day especially.  We were hiking through the burned area north of Mt. Laguna.  In my mind's eye I saw the trail as a ribbon.  It was loosely swirled, with lots of zigs and zags and its color various shades of earth tones: rich browns, tans, gold, cream, rose.  A beautiful ribbon with people dotted along it like various colored and shaped rhinestones.  We were all connected by the trail.  I zoomed out a bit more in my mind's eye and I saw how it stretched across the continent from Mexico to Canada.  Incredible.   Instead of feeling small and insignificant, I felt an immense connection.  I felt an expansiveness.  I felt a little bit like I was touched by God.

There were things that surprised me on the trail.  Other hikers surprised me.  Some hikers don't hike much, others hike too much too soon and get ridiculously big blisters.  Others walk roads for shortcuts or hitch from town to town.   Then there are those hikers that go the extra mile and climb peaks along the way and walk alongside a struggling hiker to make sure they make it to safety.  The Handyman who kept fixing things at trail angel's houses and carrying tents for young ladies.  (He might have had ulterior motives about the tents).    I was surprised too by the unexpected beauty of the desert;  the way the light danced on a sycamore tree, the fragility of the flowers, the glittering body of a lizard.  I think the lack of green made all that was alive shine just a bit brighter.  I felt brighter too.   The wind surprised me with its fierceness.  You could hear it coming like a freight train.  Wow.  It still gives me shivers.  It was like an invisible lion roaring.  I've never experienced wind like that before.  The weather always surprised us.  One day 102 degrees, 2 days later snow. 

When I reflect overall on our recent hike I realize that everything went better than planned.  Even my bronchitis went better than it would have at home.   The walking kept my lungs moving and kept me coughing and cleaning them out.  I always thought that if I had lung issues I would just have to quit hiking, but I didn't!  This too is liberating.  All of our gear did well.  The only thing I would change is I wouldn't send home our tent footprint at Mt. Laguna.  Crazy weight Nazi that I am, I sent it home because it took 6 ounces of weight from my pack.  Now we have a perfectly wonderful tent with a floor dotted with minuscule holes. What a waste!  I might also pack in more wet wipes.  I didn't really enjoy sleeping dirty. 

We went on this hike hoping to see if we had what it took to do long distance hiking with the idea that someday we might do a thru hike of the PCT.  I think we could have what it takes.  I think it takes a love of the open trail, a willingness to detach from your job, home and family and an attentiveness to your feet.  One step at a time will surprise you in the distance you can go.  It certainly surprised us.  We also realized on this hike that while we think we could do a PCT thru hike, we might just keep section hiking because I would really be ruined for 'real life' if I spent 5 or 6 months hiking. 

BUFF INFOMERCIAL:

Here it is.  A REALLY bad (but in an amusing way)infomercial brought to you by my cerebellum and a bit of Fireball.  Maybe mostly the Fireball.  We did this in one take.  Surprises me, but maybe not you. 

https://youtu.be/MPG40ONhvhc

Slideshow of PCT California Section C and a wee bit of D:

https://youtu.be/-a_x5SCQcnI