Weeks 8 & 9: Arrowhead Lake to Wrightwood

Day 50 ( May 20 )

Took another Zero. To be honest, I was lazy.

In the afternoon something odd happened. At first it looked like smoke from a forest fire. 

It was fog rolling in from the hills. 

I spoke with some people who drove through it on highway 18 and they  said that it was so thick they could barely see 10 yards ahead.

Day 51

I met "Yellow Bear" a hiker from New Hampshire this morning. He is in town nursing an injured leg. He is going to "camp" on the lobby floor tonight  because all the rooms are full.  I don't know why, but as I was packing, I  had an anxiety attack. It stopped once I got moving.  

Lynn, the manager of the Arrowhead Lake Inn  spoiled all the hikers.

I left at about 10:30, but was unable to get a bus ride because I didn't have  a 1 dollar bill. I finally got to Cedar Glen Malt Shop at 1:15. I ordered a burger and fries and the burger was so filling, I was unable to eat all my fries. Amilo from the Malt Shop gave me a ride to the Trailhead.  I made it almost all the way back to the trail when I encountered a hiker heading to the Malt Shop.  He decided to return to the trail when I told him how long it would take to get there. I decided to camp at the bridge, where I had camped on Sunday. There are 10 hikers resting near the bridge. 

I guess this is a good time to start being realistic. At my current pace, I  probably won't make it to Canada before heavy snow blocks the passes in the Cascade Mountains of Washington.  I've actually known this for almost a month and to be honest that realization almost made me quit. Between the realization that I  probably won't make it to Canada and the near constant (minor) arthritis pain in my left knee, for two or three days, I seriously thought about packing it in and going home. After all, if I won't make it to Canada and my knee is bothering me, what's the point ? Right ? 

Then I came to the conclusion that not completing my through hike this year would NOT make me a failure, but quitting now just because of my slow pace and sore knee would. You might have heard of ( or even read ) "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens . I am working on a 21st Century PCT revision of that work, that I am calling "Realistic Expectations". 

At my current pace I can realistically expect to make it to the California - Oregon border,  so that is my goal. If I make it to the California  - Oregon border, I will be pleased. If I make it to Washington,  that would be great and if, by chance, I  make it all the way to Canada,  that would be AWESOME!

Day 52

Today was an interesting day. I started by crossing the 300 mile mark 

( twice. Rerouting the trail has changed where mile 300 is ) early in the morning. At Mile 308, I stopped to soak  my feet and knees in a natural hotspring.  I  had to be careful with the photos as there were several topless women at the hotsprings ( the hotsprings  are "clothing optional" ) and I didn't want a jealous boyfriend,  husband,  etc... to break my camera (losing one camera on this hike is bad enough ). 

After soaking my feet and knees for an hour or so, I resumed hiking. Less than a mile from the springs a San Bernadino County Sheriff Department helicopter flew overhead and circled around.

It proceeded to circle the area for a few minutes, obviously looking for someone.  It was joined by a second helicopter, and they searched the area for several minutes until they saw a group of people ( a family ? ) on a ridge trail north of the hot springs.  One helicopter approached the group slowly and lowered a person by rope to the ground.  

The crewmember then proceeded to give first aid to one of the people in the group. 

The helicopter returned and the person who needed the help was winched into the helicopter. The helicopter flew off ( leaving the crewmember on the ground ) to take the rescued person to an ambulance.  10 minutes later, the helicopter returned and the crewmember was hoisted into the helicopter. 

I continued hiking towards highway 173, passing the incomplete Mojave River Forks Dam along the way.

 I arrived just in time to get a ride to the Joshua Tree Inn.  I gather from comments in the FarOut App that the Inn is under new ownership.  They don't have rooms ( hikers can camp on the grounds) and the only food they had weIre hotdogs and chips ( you could order delivery though ). They say they plan to do better next year..

Day 53

I was dropped off at the trail by Joe from the Inn. His vehicle of choice  is a Nissan Leaf ( its actually his second one. His first was sideswiped by a truck ). I started hiking at 6:50 and made it to the picnic area on the west side of Silverwood Lake, a large man-made lake about 30 miles North of San Bernadino, about 12:30. 

I rested in the shade ( laid down on a picnic table and elevated my left knee ) and had lunch. 

I resumed hiking at 2:15 and hiked to a second picnic area where there was water. I filtered 5 Liters of water from a tap before I discovered a working water fountain nearby. Oh well. It also turned out that I didn’t to fill 5 Liters, because there was a water cache 3 miles down the trail. Oh well, it's not like I wouldn't drink the water at some point. 

I reached my campsite at 6:30 and called it a day. I could have gone further but the next campsite was almost 2 miles away and I was tired. I did 19.5 miles today, which is the most I have done in a single day . It helped that the grade wasn't steep and the climb wasn't high.

Day 54

I left camp at 6:30, hoping to get into Cajon ( pronounced Ka Hone) early. Cajon is a major destination for PCT through hikers for one reason: MCDONALDS !! You are probably wondering: What's the big deal about a McDonald's ? They're everywhere right ? Well, no they are not. The Cajon McDonald's is the first one within easy walking distance ( 0 4 miles ) of the PCT. So why do hikers want McDonald's ? Think of it this way, It's high calorie,  high fat ( you might not need calories and fat but hikers do, and lots of them ) food that we don't have to cook. The fact that we can fill our water bottles with water we don't have to filter is a bonus.

Unfortunately,  when I got to Cajon, McDonald's was closed. The store is being remodeled. 

I knew that, but I had heard that they were still open. To add insult to injury, the Fruit vendor wasn't there. The FarOut App ( the app hikers use to navigate by ) said that there was a fruit vendor at the convenience store everyday. Well not today !! Bummer #2 . 

By 11 AM there were 15 hikers resting in the shade debating what disappointed us the most, McDonald's being closed or the fruit vendor not showing up. We all made do with what we could get from the convenience store.  At 2 PM, the fruit vendor showed up ( just after most of us had finished pigging out on chips and convenience store food ). I still bought a plate ( fresh fruit is a VERY rare treat on the trail ) that I shared with a few hikers.

I resumed hiking at 3 PM. I made it to a huge ( 100 + gallons ) at 5:30 and started to refill my water bottles. I was wondering why the liquid I was pouring into my first bottle was pouring so slowly, when I read the label on the bottle I was pouring from: Hand Sanitizer.  Ugh !! So now I can only carry 4 Liters of water until I get a new bottle. So I filled the rest and hiked on. 

At 7:30 I reached what I thought might make a good tentsite until I discovered two things:

1. The site is to small for my tent

2. There is Poodle Dog Bush growing there.

If I  haven't mentioned Poodle Dog Bush ( PDB in hiker slang ) before, allow me to correct that oversight.  PDB sounds sweet and innocent,  but it's not. Trust me, you don't want to mess with PDB. It's like Poison Ivy on steroids and there's no treatment for it. Just stay away. 

So I  quickly packed up and hiked to the next possible campsite. I should point out that for most of the PCT, the terrain limits the number of places where you can camp. I made it to the campsite just before dark and decided to Cowboy Camp as there was no wind and very few insects. For some reason I  didn't sleep very well.

Day 55

I  woke up at 5 AM (I wanted to wake up sooner), packed up quickly and was on trail at 5:30 ( the main advantage of Cowboy Camping is you can pack up quicker ). 

Unfortunately, due to my late start I didn't have time for breakfast so I  made do with the snacks in my hipsack. I stopped 6 miles down the trail to refill my water and made a stupid mistake.  I drank as much water as I could and filled 3 Liters if water, figuring that was all I  would need for the remaining distance I planned to hike. Silly me! I forgot two things. One I was hiking in the middle of the day ( I was in a hurry to get to  town ) and I  was hiking uphill all the way. If two hikers hadn't gifted me with 1.5 Liters of water,  I would've been in deep trouble. 

I shared a cabin ( Air BnB ) with 7 other hikers.  I was so exhausted, I  was nodding off at 8:00

Resupply tomorrow. 

Days 56 - 62

I had originally planned on only sending one day in town, but I am waiting for a Trail partner to get well and resting my knee. I am in the town of Wrightwood which is 77 miles Northeast of LA. I definitely needed at least one day to resupply and rest. The hike into town was a 14 mile slog uphill ( 4100 feet ), followed by a steep ( 2300 feet ), 4.5 mile descent. Needless to say my knee is not happy. A fellow hiker, Alyssa, had rented the cabin because she wasn't feeling well. She and the other hikers left on day 56 and I  had planned on departing on day 57. 

Later that afternoon Alyssa asked if she could return to the cabin, as she was not feeling well. Alyssa originally started her hike on March 26th, but had to leave the trail for a month to heal a foot injury. She ( wisely in my opinion ) decided she would ( for now ) skip some of the trail that she hasn't hiked ( water is getting scarce in the desert ) and come back to hike the skipped sections later.

On Day 57, a Trail Angel took Alyssa to an Urgent Care in a nearby town. Good Thing !!

She has two infections that the Doctor says she needs to rest and heal for a few days.

I am going to try to get a ride to the trail so I  can "slackpack" the stretch of trail that she has hiked that I haven't.  Hopefully Alyssa will be hiker healthy in two more days. If you want to learn more about Alyssa and her mission, you can visit her website at www.thebcbackpacker.com. 

In case you are wondering why I am waiting for a woman I just met to get well, instead of going off ( she could easily find a place to stay ) on my own, there are three reasons.

Number One: You remember the two hikers who gave me water on Day 55 ? Let's be honest, if they hadn't given me that water, there's a very good chance I could've become a heat casualty. They told me that I didn’t owe them anything, so this is my way of paying it forward.

Number Two: Yes, this one is a little weird, but if you don't like it, oh well. Seeing as I  gave her hospitality on Day 56, I feel responsible to make sure she gets well before she goes back on the trail. If she decides that she wants to hike solo (so far she hasn't objected to my presence) I will respect that.

Number Three: Frankly, I am sick of hiking alone. For the past 8 weeks, I've probably hiked a grand total of 100 hours  ( if that ) with other hikers. So, hopefully Alyssa won't hike to fast. She has stated on more than one occasion that she intends to start off slow, doing a 12 mile day and then slowly build up from there.

On Day 61 ( May 31st ) I " Slackpacked" ( hiked without a full pack ) a stretch of trail that Alyssa had hiked, that I hadn't.  It was the stretch from the side trail down to Wrightwood to Highway 2. I got a ride from Brian who doesn't like being called a Trail Angel ( even though he is one ) because some Trail Angels are charging for rides. Personally, I don't mind paying for a ride ( especially with gas costing $6 a gallon ), but I  wasn't going to argue. At any rate I  hiked 5 miles East from the highway to the Acorn Trail down to Wrightwood. 

There are several ski slopes on the area

Yes, I could have hiked down the Acorn trail, but I had hiked it before and it was a royal pain in the knees. 

So I  turned around and hiked back to the highway. Some days I just get lucky. When I got to the parking lot on the highway,  someone was giving out drinks so I  lucked into a can of Coke. After finishing my Coke I  walked across the highway to try to hitch a ride. I had no sooner crossed the road when I  saw a van approaching. I barely had time to stick my thumb out, before the van pulled over and I got a ride back to town.

Sue was happy to give me a ride to town.

Babe kept me company.

On Day 63 I hiked another stretch, this time starting from a Trailhead 4 miles further west and hiking back to the highway. 

Smells like Vanilla. Definitely a Ponderosa Pine

I have now hiked a total of 374 miles of the PCT.

The view from Inspiration Point

The plan is to get a ride to where the PCT crosses The highway at mile 374 and then start hiking west.  We hope to summit 5 or 6 mountains ( Baden-Powell, Burnham, Throop, Hawkins, South Hawkins and Isley. We shall see how Alyssa does tomorrow.