Week 10: Wrightwood to Green Valley

 Day 64 ( June 3 ) The Hike Resumes

Alyssa and I got a ride to Vincent Gap from a Trail Angel. When Marlene dropped us off at Vincent Gap ( 4 miles West of Wrightwood ), Alyssa was recognized by a fellow hiker who follows Alyssa on Instagram. We started hiking up to Baden-Powell at 10:30. The 4 mile, 2800 foot climb was hard on Alyssa, but she powered through. She felt nauseous most of the way, but she never gave up. On her previous attempt  (May 26), she had to go back to town after throwing up 6 times before getting halfway to the top.

First snow I've seen on trail in almost 250 miles

We made it to the top of Baden-Powell at 1:45, took photos and ate lunch. Mount Baden-Powell is named for Lord Baden-Powell who started the scouting movement.  Scouting troops in southern California do day hikes to the top every year. 

 

We then continued on. Along the way we passed a pair of Limber Pine trees, one of which is over two thousand years old.

We continued on, arriving at a spring just before dark. As I  filtered water, a Northern Junco decided to bathe in the spring water.

Day 65 ( Mega Magic Day )

Alyssa is still not 100%. She woke up feeling nauseous , but she pressed on. We hiked to where the PCT crosses highway 2. We reached a parking lot where a lot of dayhikers and scouting familys were parked. Alyssa managed to get us a ride to Burkhart Junction about 4 miles down the road. There is a stretch of the PCT near where we reached the highway that is closed to protect the habitat of an endangered frog species.

When we got to Burkhart Junction, someone had set out some AWESOME trail magic ( fruit, drinks, sandwiches,  muffins and hardboiled eggs ) we took a little magic and decided to hike the highway, as we weren't sure of the Burkhart trail. We had barely hiked a mile, when the gentleman who had dropped us off drove up and asked us if we needed a ride. Yes Please !! Three gentlemen got out of the back and Alyssa and I piled in. The Angel took us another 4 miles along the road to Cloudburst Summit where the PCT ( outside frog habitat ) crosses Highway 2. 

As we hiked the trail. We came upon a group of Korean Americans who come up every Saturday ( from L. A. ?? ) to do dayhikes on the PCT. They were in awe when we told them that we were hiking tge entire trail. The gave us a sandwich and some chocolate.  

Alyssa made an interesting observation as we hiked on. She said that South of Idyllwild , the majority of dayhikers were white with a few Latinos. In Central California,  most of the dayhikers are Asian Americans.  

We hiked about 5 miles to Three Points Trailhead ( crossing busy Highway 2 three times), arriving about 1:30. When we got there, we saw a van parked in the lot with a table loaded with trail magic in front of it. There was a sign on the van saying the Trail Angels would be back at 3 PM. There was also a bus in the lot. At 3 PM the Trail Angels returned. They were the people who set up the Trail Magic at Burkhart Crossing !! They proceeded to restock the table (it got picked over throughly while they were gone) and set up a charging station for our electonic devices.

While we rested, the Korean American hikers trickled in in small groups. While they waited, one of them picked up some broken glass from the parking lot. Once they all arrived, they filed onto the bus and it departed. Wow ! Imagine a group of hikers so big they rent a bus every weekend to go hiking !

Finally, at 3:30 we decided to hike on. Alyssa was feeling a little depressed because it was the anniversary of her Grandmother's death. To get motivated for the hike ahead, she put in some ear buds and played some music. It worked  ! We hiked the remaining  3.9 miles to camp in 1 hour 20 minutes. In total we hiked 11.1 miles. Most of the hikers we met ay Three Points didn't  hike any of the trail between where Alyssa got our first ride and Three Points. Their logic was " The trail is 2650 miles long and is dangerous enough as is ( the PCT Class of 2022 has already had 2 fatalities ), why risk your life to hike 4 miles of road that aren't part of the trail anyway ?

When we got to camp the bugs were everywhere. I perfected a new skill: setting up my tent, throwing my pack into the tent and then unpacking my pack and setting up everything while inside my tent.

Day 66: Rattlesnake, Bees and Disappointment 

Alyssa had a most frustrating day. It started with her going " #2 " ( or as I call it "doing a bombing run" ) three times ( once inside her tent) in less than one hour. The only reason I  knew about it was because she laughed as she told me about it.  You have to respect and admire someone who can laugh at  that sort of situation. I am positive that if it had happened to me, I would have  been a VERY unhappy camper. 

We hiked two hours to a water source. As we waited to get some water ( there were people there ahead of us ) several bees started to fly around us ( I think they were going for the water that had spilled on the ground ). Alyssa panicked and ran 100 feet down the trail . She has never been stung by a bee ( lucky woman ) and was worried about going into Anaphylactic shock if she were stung ( a logical fear to have when you are 10 miles from the nearest road). A woman who was at the spring filled Alyssa's water bladder and I carried it to her. She was still upset by the bees flying around her, but she filtered her water. We then packed up and resumed the hike.

At about 1:20 Alyssa placed a Pizza order to be delivered ( by 3 PM ) to a Day Use area we were hiking towards.

Then she MOVED OUT. Do NOT stand in front of Alyssa when she is hiking for Pizza. She will Yomp all over you. She was hiking so fast, I had to run at times to keep up with her. About 2 miles from the Day Use area, she suddenly yelped and jumped to one side. When I asked her why,  she said RATTLESNAKE !!

Sure enough there was a large Rattlesnake coiled up on one side of the trail. She was worried that I might not be able to get around the snake but it never moved or rattled as I moved around it on the other side of the trail. We moved at a fast pace ( 3.6 MPH ) and arrived at the Day Use Area at about 2 PM. When we got there,  there was a man giving out Trail Magic.

We were expecting Pizza at 3, so we only took a drink or two. Unfortunately, the Pizza never showed,  so we started hiking the last leg, 2.2 miles with a 750 foot gain in loose sandy soil.

It was a brutal, hard, 3 hour slog. We set up camp and took photos of the sunset.

Day 67 ( Valentina and Moses to the Rescue )

Today started well and we were on the trail a little after 7. We were hiking at a good pace, when all of a sudden, Alyssa stopped and sat down. When I asked her what was wrong,  she said the foot she had injured was acting up. She then spent an hour and a half calling for a ride. We then hiked 1.8 miles to where the trail crossed a dirt road and waited for a ride.

After an hour, Moses and Valentina arrived in a Gator and picked us up.

Moses then carefully drove us to their home, where they treated us like visiting royalty and gave us the best Mexican food ever.

Valentina then drove us to Acton KOA. We then settled in. I hitched a ride into Acton to pick up mail and Resupply. Getting a hitch to Acton was easier than getting a ride back. I had hiked halfway back before I  got a ride. 

Day 68: Zero day at Acton KOA 

We spent the day at KOA. At noon, we hitched a ride to Acton so Alyssa could resupply. The woman who gave us a ride works in the film industry and told us something interesting. 

The reason why so many movie and TV shows are filmed in Eastern Los Angeles County, is because if the filming is done outside LA County ( even if it's only one mile past the county line ) the studio has to pay more. I'm not sure it's for transporting equipment ( that's what our driver does ) or other fees or both. After hitching back to KOA, we spent the afternoon in the pool.  Alyssa said that she would probably want to hike alone at some point. 

Day 69: Heat !!

Alyssa was feeling nauseous in the morning,  so it was 9 before we started hiking. I should have insisted that she stay another day.  At 11 AM,  I  took a shade break because the heat was getting to me.

Alyssa came up to me, looked at her phone and kept hiking. After a few minutes I started hiking after her. After a few more minutes, I  got the feeling that something was wrong so I started hiking faster. 

How do you crossa busy Highway?

Go under it.

When I  got to the tunnel under the Antelope Valley Freeway, she was there, calling for a ride. Evidently she had a case of heat exhaustion and fell three times on the trail. When the ride arrived, Matt ( a hiker we met in the tunnel ) carried her pack up to the Freeway. We then got a ride to a Mexican restaurant in Agua Dulce.  After lunch, Farmer John gave us a ride to his campsite. Alyssa called for a ride to Santa Clarita. I spent the night at Serenity Oasis in Agua Dulce.

It is a new hiker hangout that is pretty good and getting better. It has an outdoor shower and an outdoor bathroom, don't call it an outhouse, this building has running water and electricity ! In the evening I hiked to Vasquez Rocks Natural Area to photograph the rock formations.

The area is named for a bandit who used the area for a hideout in the 1850s. Several TV shows and movies had scenes filmed here.

Several hikers spent the night at Serenity and a group of us decided to get up early so we could start hiking at 4 AM. I learned a lesson: if you are setting up your tent on hard ground , don't pound the tentstakes all the way into the ground.  You will bend them when you go to pull them out.

Day 70: Long Day in the Hot, Hot Sun

Woke up a bit before 3 and was hiking at 4.

I made it to my destination ( a water cache ) about 11 miles away at about 8:45. I  then did something stupid. I had planned on staying at the water cache until about 4 PM and then hiking as far as I could in the evening. The next water source is 13 miles away. Instead, when all the other hikers left, I followed along. D'OH !!

I had hiked 5 miles when I realized that I was committed to hiking the entire 13 miles. UGH !! Oh. Did I  mention that the high temperature fir the day was expected to reach 105 degrees ?? Yeah, not the smartest of moves. At 1 PM I  took a shade break in a small grove of trees. I only stayed an hour before the bitting flies drove me out. You know it's bad when a hiker prefers the possibility of heat stroke to the certainty of multiple insect bites.

My water source destination. 
Filter before drinking

At any rate, I persevered and made it to the road to Green Valley at 5:30. I decided to celebrate my first 20 plus and first 100 degree hike by going to Santa Clarita.

I got a hitch to Santa Clarita from Fred Cannon. I ordered a 10 inch pizza and devoured it in one hour.