Southern California
26. April 2003 — Day 1 – Campo, CA to Lake Morena, CA – mile 20
Got up at 4:30am because we wanted to get an early start from the border of Lake Morena Campground - the first 20 miles of the PCT. I didn’t bring all my stuff - just camera, guidebook and water. We did the usual photo session at the start monument, signed the register and stuck our finger through the border fence. Then we headed off through the amazing landscape of Southern California. We started at 6:30am and reached the half way point at 12 which was quite slow. The others needed lots of breaks so I went ahead. I reached the camp ground at 3:30pm. It took the others a really long to get here and we were worried that something had happened, but it turned out that they just took a long time. So for this day, 20 miles from Campo, CA to Lake Morena.
27. April 2003 — Day 2 – Lake Morena, CA to Burnt Rancheria Campground – mile 42.2
Started off after a cold night, there was actually ice on the outside of my tent. Headed out with Graham, one of the hikers staying at Glen’s, at 7am. Made a good pace for the first 6 miles to Boulder Oaks Campground, which had water. Then made it to Long Canyon Creek adding another 10 miles. The water there was supposed to be below some cattle and we didn’t want to filter so we went the next 4.4 miles to the campground.
28. April 2003 — Day 3 – Burnt Rancheria Campground to 1.5 mi after Lucky 5 water stash – mile 60.5
In front of Mount Laguna store, sunny day again, waiting with Graham for the post office to open. Day 3 to a place 1.5 miles after the water stack “Lucky 5” - did about 17 miles in 6.5 hours. Trail miles 60.5. Was a long day and we had to set up our tents because clouds were drawing up. There were lots of people in front of the store today and it was good to meet some fellow hikers. Astonishingly, my knee does not hurt at all, but my right ankle hurts quite a bit - not enough to stop but enough to be a nuisance.
29. April 2003 — Day 4 – 1.5 mi after Lucky 5 water stash to 4 mi after Hwy 78 – mile 84
I’m getting on better than expected and I’m actually ahead of schedule. Woke up today and it was really, really cold and windy. Luckily it did not rain last night. Still, my sleeping bag got a little wet from condensation. Hike was good a lot of the day across an area that burned down last year. Just before we reached the water cache at highway 78, we saw a snake, white-black striped - no idea what species that is. Hung around at the water cache and met the Andersons that live 400 trail miles further north and they offered a place to stay. They stopped at the cache to meet hikers and they brought beer and fruits and sodas. Left the cache to climb up the next hill. Graham was first when suddenly he made 2 steps back, nearly running into me. There was a 2 foot rattle snake in the middle of the trail, all prepared to attack - amazing - had to go around it. Now sleeping underneath the stars. I think it’s gonna be a cold night. Strange desert 24-30 degrees during the day and nearly freezing at night.
30. April 2003 — Day 5 – 4mi after Hwy 78 to San Ysidro Creek – mile 105
Continued up San Felipe Hills. The trail followed the contour of the mountains all day gradually climbing up and then dropping down in endless switchbacks to Barrel Springs at Hwy 522. After crossing the Hwy, the landscape changed from burned chaparral to meadows and rolling hills. We reached the creek with a nice spot to camp and there were about 13 people - Stone, Potato Picker, Special Agent, So Far, Teatree, Hawkeye, Sumner, Graham, Rich, Larry - to name a few.
01. May 2003 — Day 6 – San Ysidro Creek to Warner Springs, CA – mile 110
Everybody left the campsite pretty early. We were the last to leave at 7:30am. Only had 5 miles to the post office. Got my package there with way too much food. So I’m going to send about 3 days worth to the Pink Motel. Then most of us checked in the resort - in my room Graham, Sumner, Rich, Larry and Special Agent. The resort is cabins in a huge area with two 25 meter pools - one cold and one fed by the hot springs. Really nice and for $11 a real bargain. During the day, we decided to stay an additional day because we would reach Idyllwild on a Sunday, which wouldn’t be any good. The afternoon was basically sitting at the pool, sorting gear and then in the evening 20+ hikers had dinner together at the resort lounge. Nice evening - had pasta penne and a few beers.
02. May 2003 — Day 7 – Warner Springs, CA – mile 110 – zero day
Woke up early like most of the people in my room. Went over to the golf club restaurant for breakfast. Had 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 pancakes - nice little hiker breakfast. Now sitting at the pool again with 20 people. We are having a BBQ this evening. Continued: BBQ was a lot of fun. 30 or so people but everybody went to bed early. Like somebody said before - Hiker midnight is 9pm.
03. May 2003 — Day 8 – Warner Springs, CA to Chihuahua Valley Road – mile 128
Woke up and it was raining - not strong but steady. Anyway, we set off, well most of the people left at 8:30am but I waited at the PO for a letter from Emma. It didn’t arrive that day so I left a forwarding address for Big Bear City. So I set off alone at 10am in the rain. After about 100 meters, my feet were soaking wet. This was not comfy at all. The wind was quite strong and it was kinda cold even with my fleece and rain gear. After 17 miles, I came to Chihuahua Valley Road which had a huge water stash and boxes with oranges and candy bars - you have to love those trail angels! There were some people camping there, but the gang went a bit down the road to an abandoned house and found the double garage was unlocked. I found out then that they had three people who were near hypothermic condition and that was the reason why they went into the garage - the house did not really look abandoned. I didn’t sleep in the garage because I didn’t feel comfortable. So myself and two others stayed in a wooden shed outside the fence. It was a cold night, one guy said it was snowing when he went outside at 12pm.
04. May 2003 — Day 9 – Chihuahua Valley Road to Table Top Mountain - mile148
Woke up at 6am pretty cold so stayed in the sleeping bag till 7am. Everybody got ready and we marched off. Most of the stuff was still damp. The weather started to get better around lunch time, so after about 10 miles we reached a water cache and started drying our stuff. From there it was a good trek up the mountain and down to the next water cache (7 miles) where we did another 1 hour break. The next hour was pretty hard because I was very tired. Somehow our group got split up and some people went on to the highway, but about 7 of us camped in a great place.
05. May 2003 — Day 10 – Table Top Mountain to Pines-to-Palms Hwy – mile 153
An easy 5-6 miles that seemed longer than it was. We reached the Hwy at 9:15am and there were 8 of us trying to hitch a ride into Idyllwild, which was 15 miles away. We tried to split up a little but somehow we ended up at the same spot. After about an hour a guy with a huge truck stopped and thought he would just take the three people standing but somehow we fit 8 people in to the back - very nice of the guy. We got to the post office then made our way to the Tahquitz Motel. It was a very productive day - did laundry, found the library. In the evening about 15-18 people went to the local Mexican restaurant - $1 tacos, $1.50 Margaritas special; had four tacos and it was yummy. Lots of fun and after dinner we all scrambled into our room, watched telly for a while. It’s very strange, there is really no drinking - everybody is very conscious about not drinking alcohol or coffee before hiking the next day so your body does not dehydrate too much. That’s it for now, Marko
06. May 2003 — Day 11 – Idyllwild, CA – zero day
Not much happened. Had breakfast together in the Red Kettle (13 of us). Bought my supplies for the next section. I’m still not used to US supermarkets. I’m always running around like a headless chicken. Was looking to get my photos developed but that was a no go. Have to wait until Big Bear City. This evening we rented two movies and made delicious dinner in our room. We made pasta with fresh veggies and salad, oh and garlic bread. The food was yummy. The movies we watched were ‘Meet the Parents’ and ‘Blair Witch Project’ which I thought was shite!!
07. May 2003 — Day 12 – Pines-to-Palms-Hwy to Fobes Jct. – mile 168
Woke up in Idyllwild ready to head out, well not quite yet - breakfast first, but nobody wanted to go except Teatree and myself. So we went to the Red Kettle and within 15 minutes, everybody else of the gang came in. Had nice French Toast and four cups of coffee, which had me go pee all day! Pat was giving us a lift to the trail head. The weather did not look good when we started walking, but it got better and we climbed about 2000 feet. At that altitude, clouds just froze at the trees and branches. When we reached Fobes, the wind was so strong that we decided to go down in elevation on a side trail. Camped in a meadow close to the trail head. It started raining when I set up my tent and cooked. Rained through the night.
08. May 2003 — Day 13 – Fobes Jct to Saddle Jct – mile 180
After a night with the rain, we started off quite late. The weather in the valley we camped in did not look good but we could see that the weather on top of the mountain cleared up. We climbed up those 700 feet back to meet the PCT. In the sun it looked totally cool, all the bushes and pine trees were ice coated. The next 2 miles were really hard - not sure why - but it was cold, windy and uphill. We reached a side trail - Apache Spring Trail - which we had to follow for .5 miles dropping 500 feet to get water. We stayed about an hour and had lunch there before continuing on. Had to cross our first snow today. Then lost our way but finally made it to Saddle Junction.
Thankfully the wind died down on the saddle we camped on. It was a very exposed spot, but I couldn’t have cared less last night. We hiked until 7.45 and then ran into some other people camped there. I just searched for a space out of the wind, ate some cold food - tortillas, cheese and tuna. Slept underneath the stars.
09. May 2003 — Day 14 – Saddle Jct to Saddle on the side of San Jacinto – mile 202
Woke up after a cold night - when I checked it was -3.5 degrees Celsius. I was wearing everything (hat, gloves, sweater, socks and long johns) and I was comfy. My water bottle was frozen this morning. Everybody was in good spirits so we headed off to get over Fuller Ridge. First we climbed 900 feet and there was some snow at 9090 feet. Then we descended 1000 feet just to climb 800 feet again and then it went wrong. The group of 5 went the wrong way and descended down Merrion Mountain Trail for about a mile and 1200 feet in elevation before we realized that we came the wrong way. Had to climb up - very bad. Did lunch when we reached the top and then continued on. We reached Fuller Ridge at 8700 feet and then the trail followed the contour mostly in snow. Some tricky stuff but not too bad. Then we started descending at 5pm and by that time my leg was hurting quite a bit. The down hill for nearly 3 hours did not help. When we stopped on a saddle at 8pm, I just fell into my sleeping bag.
10. May 2003 — Day 15 – Saddle on the side of San Jacinto to Pink Motel – mile 213
Started off early this morning at 6:45. The One and So Far had already left. Everybody was eager to reach this place. It was about 8 miles and 3000 feet descent to the next water, which took me nearly 3 hours and I ran out of water 1/2 hour before reaching it. I had a short rest at this point and then continued on the last 4 miles crossing the San Gorgonio Pass. Interstate 10 goes through it and along side you find a lot of windmills to produce electricity - this valley between the San Jacinto and San ?? Mountains is notoriously hot and windy. I reached the Pink Motel by 12 o’clock. A classic place, not a Motel and not Pink! It’s more like a junkyard - Don collects stuff (old trucks, cars etc). The PCT goes nearby and hikers are welcome to use a kitchen and a ‘sleeping room’ in the middle of the stuff. Don and Helen bring up food and water - super couple.