We hiked this section from north to south in March of 2016
There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them. – Ralph Marston
Day 1:
(Day 8 of our hike as we hiked section E for 7 days before starting section D)
Mile 454.4 to 436.4
18 miles
The Sauffley's, trail angels in Agua Dulce, graciously host us even though we are pre season. We think we have the trailer all to ourselves and are surprised by a bunch of chicks in the bathtub.
Cheep, cheep, cheep.
Donna tells us all about her recent adventure along the PCT in section G, including crawling under fallen trees on the treacherous goat path around Jenkins Mountain. Later, Jeff comes home and we have a nice chat with him as well. We see why they are such favored trail Angels.
The sun is just peeking out behind a mountain as we walk the mile to Sweetwater Cafe for breakfast. We linger over our good food and coffee. We start hiking at 8:20 down the road. We stay on the road and miss the trail at Vasquez Rocks. We are watching a road grader. Um. Time to lose our coats and beanies and get out our hiking poles and get serious.
Vasquez Rocks are cool. Lots of movies have been filmed here and some of the scenes pop into my mind. Reading all the botanical signs we realize we are going slow again. But it's worth it.
Hikers! North bound hikers to ply for trail information. They are about our age and from Canada. We talk for about an hour. We had previously read that the North Fork Ranger Station, our destination today, has water. The Canadians cast doubt on this assumption. Which sets us in a quandary.
Hiking the ten miles to Acton is dreamy. We are part of a western painting, with the colors of pinks, reds and greens. A flock of Ravens, or is it a coven of Ravens, fly with us. ( I always like to capitalize Ravens and they seem otherworldly somehow). They gobble up the caterpillars that line the trail. They flit, they roll, they soar on unseen winds. Clouds come and go, a bit of rain falls. We come to the spot where the whole PCT was completed and then a train blows by.
At the hiker friendly Acton KOA we eat cup of noodles in the lounge and load up on water. But how much? We decide we really aren't capable of carrying our 7 days of food and the needed water to hike the 25 miles to the known water source at Mill Creek Fire Station. We decide to carry enough to hike the 8 miles up to North Fork, to cook dinner and then possibly hike down if there really isn't a water cache. 2.5 liters each. I put a bit more in. 3 liters. Good. Then neither one of us drinks any water for the whole grueling 8 miles. Ha. We both try to conserve.
The first 4 miles are up, but easy enough. The next 2 miles are ridiculously steep. Ridiculously! I'm kicking in steps into the white sandy dirt and two poling it. My heart races, my legs shake. My toe nails curl. We keep moving. We don't talk. I take no photos of these rugged San Gabriel mountains. Thank goodness it is cool and late in the day from all our dawdling. The last two miles to tonight's camp roll along a bit more gently and at 6:45 we make it and of course there is a water cache and a friendly ranger named Todd. And camping sites in the picnic only area that he says are ok for us who are just passing through to use. He seems nice and committed to keeping the water cache full.
My body starts getting really cold and we eat and hightail it to bed. Shivering.
Day 2:
Mile 436.4 to 418.6
17.8 miles
Wake up feeling good and laze around in the sun drying our gear. Start hiking at nine through a bit of poison oak and puddle dog bush. Or is it just called poodle bush. Either way, both are poisonous and can cause allergic rash. The trail is okay, if you like hiking through dead, burned out forest.
The Station Fire devastated this area. It affords a panoramic view and shows off the pretty blue sky, but otherwise this is very sad and bad for hikers. Enough said. We hike on. And on. Through devastation.
We hate section D. Well, at least from Acton to Mill Creek Fire Station where we are camping under some telephone poles hidden in some scrub. We can hear the static and chatter of the dispatch over a PA system at the station. Cars roar by on the highway. Best spot ever! Not. Even. But water is only a short walk away at a spigot. Bliss. Liquid gold in this post apocalypse landscape.
The sunset is sweet.
Our feet hurt. Our resolution to continue our hike dims.
Day 3:
Mile 418.6 to 400.6
Camp Glenwood
18 miles
We got this.
We wake up put on our big girl and boy britches and continue hiking.
1700 feet in 5 miles along a wonderfully graded trail up into trees and rocks and chipmunks and birds. Heaven. My eyes tear up.
I love walking and always brag that I could just walk anything no matter what. Yesterday really tested that, and I'm not so sure anymore. But today. Today is golden. Pleasant.
Decomposed granite trail, soft, luxurious, flat from side to side, no holes, pine needles wafting their aroma. Occasional cedars to add color and smell. Granite outcroppings. Easy tread. Smooth sailing. No spats. No sore feet.
Springs, lots of them. Fiddleneck and Fountainhead and Sulpher Springs where we soak our feet in icy water. We soak them too long and our feet hurt for awhile. But it's good, it's all good.
Temptation hits at Three Points where our trail hits Highway 2 again. 1.8 miles away is a restaurant. The mister wants a cold brew, I'd like a glass of wine. I pray and am led to hike on. He grumbles. The trail is right next to the HIGHWAY. Not so cool. Temptation strikes again. Do we stick with the trail or commit trail adultery by road walking or, aghast, hitch hiking ahead. We hike. We've been married 35 years and adultery does not enter into the equation.
Surprise! There are caretakers, camp director Brad actually, at Camp Glenwood who gives us wine and a cold beer and some wonderful home smoked ham and green licorice. Trail magic. Wonderful. We have a picnic table and the sun is still high in the sky, so our gear can dry. No clammy bag tonight. Hallelujah!
Cheers!
Day 4:
Mile 400.6 to 384.1
Camp Glenwood to Little Jimmy Springs
17.5 miles taking the unofficial detour to protect Mountain Yellow Legged Frog
I'm mean. I try to be nice, but I kind of get bossy and force Mark to stick with the trail today. He wanted to road walk more today. For shame!
We sleep in and depart Camp Glenwood at 9:00 am. We've got the camping part of hiking down. It's great. The trail is great. Meanders around and through forest. Real forest. We do cross that darn Highway a few times, watching carefully for all the speed racers out for a Saturday drive. They are crazy! Tires squeal.
We meet thru hikers and chat. Especially nice is Happy Trails. Who wouldn't be nice with a name like that to live up to.
The Copper Canyon area is outstanding and has a nice stream. Lots of water today. I forget my poles at a pit toilet (they are everywhere in these mountains!) and jog back to get them.
We come to the Burkhart trail, the unofficial detour to protect some endangered frogs. We meet day hikers, lots of them in their shiny clean clothes. We smell terrible and look ridiculous too with our zinc oxide.
We chat more in Buckhorn camp. I'm kind of chatty today, euphoric really, but I'm usually kind of shy with strangers. I'm taking up a lot of time with all my talk.
Our detour has us walking the highway for 2.7 miles. It makes me nervous. Really nervous. The cars and motorcycles go too fast! We stop at an old ski resort and eat our lunch. We get back to the trail and this is where I get really bossy and we go up and over Mount Williamson so I can stay true to the trail. A bit of a spat ensues. A continued road walk would be much easier. The switchbacks slow me down and I feel guilty and that makes me angry. Why? I storm on and hit a wall. I can barely walk. Mark silently follows. Tries to take some of my gear to help me out. But oh no, I'm too proud for that and I grit my teeth, eat a jolly rancher and make it up the trail and then back down the other side to the road again. Haha. A difficult 4 mile detour. It wasn't even 2 miles on the road.
Onward and upward the last couple miles to Little Jimmy Campground. Across a bit of snow. The camp is full of people. First time in eleven days we have camped by people. The fire is nice and shared conversation fun.
Tomorrow we attempt Mount Baden Powell. We've been carrying micro spikes since Agua Dulce. I'm a little bit nervous.
Day 5:
Mile 384 to 374
10 miles and one mountain
We meet Woody as we head up the mountain. He has sneakers on, no spikes, but cautions us about the descent off the top. Lots of snow and ice.
That's all we've been hearing as we question people about Mount Baden Powel. Snow and ice. Go around. Except Jeff Saufley from Hiker Heaven and he should know. He said we would be fine with microspikes and hiking poles.
The trail is pretty easy at first. Until it reaches the snow. On go the micro spikes and I get a lesson in crossing icy snow on a slope. Reminds me of when Mark taught me to ski when I was 15. He's a good teacher. I had forgotten. I focus. I've never done this before.
We pull out the phone gps to stay on the trail, but it is on the north slope and kicking steps in is tedious for Mark and slow, so after an hour Mark leads me up to the ridge where we pull off the spikes and just scramble along on the south side of the east west ridge. He's good at figuring out the quickest way from point A to point B and because it was a scary trail, I went along with it.
We meet up with two young men that we saw yesterday on Williamson. (They heard us fighting, awkward). They are out for the weekend. They look like high schoolers. We all decide the ridge is the way to go.
Mark finds another geo cache on the ridge. He found one in section E too. Maybe we will take up a new hobby of finding these things. Mark is apparently good at it. It's a slow slog, with a 2000 foot rocky death fall to the south. I don't look down much. Vertigo. A bit breathless we make it to the top.
Five miles in five hours!
Then down the south side we go through a steep snowfield. Carefully we make our way down. I know Mark would be having some fun sliding if I wasn't there, but I'm glad we go slow. It is steep with a huge run out. There is quite a bit of snow, but it is much softer than earlier. He doesn't have to slide his spikes to make flat spots for me. I've never done this before and Mark leads me step by step. He's a good guide and I feel fine.
Finally, we return to a mostly brown trail. Now I can stop focusing. Blam! I slam into the ground and my backpack flops over my head. Ouch, but I'm okay. If I had fallen on the icy slope, so much for the nifty self arrest technique Mark taught me using the hiking pole. I couldn't do anything with that sumo wrestler pack over my head. Good thing I focused. I better focus just a bit more yet.
We water up at Lamel Springs. Dry camp tonight.
More switchbacks, some a bit slippery with ice and then we are at the Vincent Gap parking lot. Okay, now I can relax. It's been a full day
We share mountain stories with the two young men ( never exchanged names oddly enough). Their ride shows up. "See ya later," we call out and then realize we probably never will see them again. 'Have a good life', I whisper.
We quickly hike on up the trail to try and find a flat spot. Sometimes flat spots are hard to find and you just have to make do. We make do. We are tired. Mark starts shivering. Usually it's me.
We hiked very focused from 9 until 5. 8 hours for 10 miles. They were good miles too. Great views, challenging terrain. We are adventurers! It was definitely outside my wheelhouse, but I was never afraid. Just focused. I don't think I have ever stayed so focused before.
Day 6:
Mile 374 to 360
14 miles
Some days are diamonds and other stones that you have to polish up a bit.
The sun peeks in our eastern tent door. It's morning and I am stiff and sore. Mark is fine, but my quads scream whenever I move and my feet are swollen. We enjoy the sun and dry our gear and dilly dally over coffee and oatmeal. I try to stretch.
Packing up I move slowly up the trail. I don't feel right. Some system is just not working . Blam! The trail jumps up and grabs me. We laugh it off and then a mile ahead, Blam, it happens again.
We see some nice mountain lion tracks in the snow and enjoy the slow morning hike. I try to stay erect and not prone on the trail.
At Grassy Hollow visitors center I drink and eat and hope for the best. Whenever I have days like this hiking eating a lot is all I know to do, and it usually works. I pick up a bit. The views are amazing. The Los Angeles Crest is very narrow. Awesome. Looking east you have the desert and west the LA basin. The weather is perfect.
We meet a man at the highway who reminds us that Grassy Hollow is our last water until Cajon Pass about 29 miles away. "What about Guffy Springs," we ask and he tells us it is dry. We had been counting on Guffy, so the man generously offers to drive Mark back to Grassy Hollow to fill up on water and I wait.
I meet thru hiker Willhelm from South Africa and feel a bit responsible answering his questions about the trail ahead. He seems very earnest, but a little lacking in knowledge of what he's hiking into. He's alone and with a hurt ankle. I tell him all the options. I hope he makes it okay.
Mark comes back and we hike slowly on to Guffy Campground. I'm still slow. So slow that Mark thinks he needs to carry some of my gear. I balk and then relent. I give him my half of the tent. I choose to be unfaithful to the trail to save time and we walk about 4 miles of a gravel road instead of 4 miles of trail. The view is great of Mount Baldy.
The spring is really dry at Guffy. We had to check, so often information you get is wrong and there is snow all around, so how can it be dry? But it is. Mark plays around and melts some snow to see how much water is in it. We eat and drink and enjoy the sun in the empty campground with Mount Baldy hovering overhead. My attitude improves, even if my body is still in recovery mode.
We continue our hike through a lovely forest and across little snow patches. It is a lovely stroll. Fun. We see a nice flat spot with a view of the sunset and of tomorrow's dawn, so we stop.
Our last night on the trail. Savor it.
Day 7:
Mile 360 to 342
18 miles mostly downhill
During the early hours I get up to pee and the traffic below on Interstae 15 is bumper to bumper going north. Weird. Did something happen and are people fleeing LA?
By dawn the traffic is flowing again and we decide it is safe to hike the 18 miles and 3600 feet down to Cajon Pass. Wouldn't want to go there if people are running from zombies or something.
It's another beautiful day. We are really grateful for the weather we have had.
Down through forest and then another burned area. So much of the trail is burned. Poodle bush tries biting us, but we wiggle through. Some areas of the trail have washed away and are only about 8 inches wide with a 500 foot drop off. Yikes! Good thing they are only skinny for a short distance. I don't look down. A lot of the PCT through section D are hovering over a death drop. These are steep and ruggedly beautiful mountains. Don't under estimate them. They are dry too. Mark has a liter of water to hike on and I have a liter and a half left. Oops!
We usually carry too much water and as a rule of thumb plan on one liter each for every 5 miles, plus another couple of liters for dry camping overnight. On this trip we've taken that rule down to 1/2 liter for every 5 miles because the temperature has been cool and we make sure to drink at least a liter at each water stop. Today we are taking our new rule to an even lower number, and wonder how we will do.
We pace at about 3 miles an hour and my toenails start hurting from the steady downhill. I might be getting a blister on my heel and Mark has a hotspot on each foot. Downhill may be easy but it has its drawbacks.
Flowers start showing up as we descend lower. I like flowers. Hikesforflowers should be my name. The wild oats are head tall in some areas and hide the trail and perhaps a rattlesnake? We haven't seen one yet on this hike, but they are out at these lower elevations. We slow our speed a bit and rattle our poles in front of us to really piss them off.
A train whistle blows. We are getting close. We meet Lucky, a thru hiker completely covered from head to toe. You can't see his face at all. He is equipped for the desert sun. We share water information and hike on.
Mark's mouth is dry. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth. I still have water to share, but he wants to see what a little bit thirsty feels like.
There are cool sandstone rocks and birds and things. We go up a bit and down a bit and around a ridge. Will this trail never end? Under a train track through a tunnel and then through a spooky grove of cottonwood trees with the ground covered in their 'snow'. Finally under the highway. We hear kids and they tell their parents that they see ZOMBIES! We are the zombies they see and we play along. Their parents ruin the game and tell them we are just hikers. Like the kids didn't already know.
We are not usually big fans of McDonald's, but we are today, as it is the end (or the beginning) of section D.
End of section D.
112.5 miles
16,000 feet of elevation gain.
Slideshow of PCT California Section D:
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