Day 13 (May 22nd)
Mile 151.8-164.8
13 miles + 2 mile side quest to get water (20.9km + 3.2km)
Today was a crazy day which started in a warm, dry bed in our AirBnB and ended with us perched atop a giant boulder looking at the lights of Palm Springs in the distance. At around 11am this morning, Trail Angel Rob Muir ( he told us he was the great nephew of John Muir!) drove Julien, Darius, Thunder, Jacob, Slim Jim and me back to the trailhead so we could continue on our journey. During the car ride, he solidified the christening of Darius’s trail name– Salty for his love of salt and his salty personality. It suits him. My ankle was hurting again as we headed out of town, so Salty lent me a compression sock that he had brought from Germany. It helped a lot today! Hopefully it continues to heal.
Arriving at the trail head, we noticed that the trail already looked different than the low desert. We enjoyed a sunny but relatively cool afternoon hike, but looking up the mountain we could see the storm brewing. We hiked past a pair of hikers (Sweet Blood and Whoopsie) drying out gear, who told us that it had rained on them all night the previous night. I was once again grateful to be in town last night.
We continued up the mountin, betting that we would miss the storm. Unfortunately, at around 2pm the sky broke open, pelting us with hail and rain and giving us a show of thunder and lighting. I huddled under some trees with Julien, Jacob, Salty, Slim Jim, Sweet Blood and Whoopsie, clustered together for warmth. The temperature dropped considerably, and we would have prefered to be walking for the warmth it brings, but with the lightning, we wanted to stay put where we were confident we had some cover. I thought of our friend Thunder somewhere behind us and hoped that she had friends to keep her company during the storm.
As soon as the thunder and lighting faded, we continued on and were grateful that the sun came back out to warm us up and dry our gear. We eventually made it to the junction with a side trail that would lead us to water. 1 mile each way! We dropped our bags at the top and made the hike with just our filters and bottles. It was a beautiful creek with enormous red cedars and a view overlooking the mountains. It was nice to see flowing water again after so many days in the low desert. We carried our 8 pounds each of water back up to the main trail and pressed on. At this point the sun was low on the sky and my ankle was really starting to hurt, causing me to fall behind the boys. The sun got lower and lower in the sky with no clear spots to camp in sight. I began to wonder if I would be hiking in the dark– until I rounded a bend and saw Julien silhouetted in the sunset, standing on top of a giant boulder.
Salty was somewhere ahead of us, but we were shortly joined by Jacob and Thunder. Julien wanted to try some astrophotography, so he, Jacob and I climbed back on top of the big boulder for some pictures and to enjoy the view of the city lights. An amazing ending to an exciting day.
Day 14 (May 23rd)
Mile 164.8 – 179.4
14.6 miles (23.5km)
Today was the first in a series of technical days. We hiked up to an elevation of over 8000ft past the skeletons of trees in a burned out forest. This area was full of blow downs and we had to stop every 5 – 10 minutes to climb over, under, or around logs. Due to the blow downs, the trail was sometimes hard to find. At about 7500ft elevation, we started seeing snow for the first time on trail and we were able to collect water from surprise water sources created by snow melt.
The day was full of absolutely stunning views, but it was also mentally and physically exhausting to navigate the blow downs and the elevation. I hiked alone for most of the day then eventually met up with Thunder, Slim Jim and Jacob. We continued on together, stopping to eat dinner at a creek before continuing on to our campsite. After what felt like a very long 14.6 miles, we finally made it to camp where we rejoined Salty, Julien and our friend Trevor who had been waiting for us in Idyllwild. Tomorrow morning our group of 7 plans to summit mount San Jacinto for sunrise– so cheers to a very early wake up!
Day 15 (May 24th)
Mile 179.4-190.5
11.2 PCT miles, but ~13 miles total. (20.9kms total)
When I woke up at 2am for a sunrise summit of Mount San Jacinto and a 13 mile day, I expected to be in camp by noon, relaxing in the sun. Little did I know that I was in for 15 hours of difficult hiking, treacherous/ impossible to find trail, and possibly the best nap I have ever had. Slim Jim, Salty, Julien, Thunder, Jacob, Trevor and I left camp at 3am and began the 5 mile climb to the summit. We didn’t summit in time for sunrise, but we did see an absolutely beautiful sunrise over the ridge. The climb was steep and nearly entirely on snow.
In an effort to let the faster members of our group summit for sunrise, we split up– Salty, Julien, Trevor and Jacob went on ahead, leaving me, Thunder, and Slim Jim. While everything turned out okay, I don’t think that this was a good strategy. If you start hiking together, you really should stick together to make sure everyone is safe. Just as the sun rose above the horizon, Thunder, Slim Jim, and I made a steep climb up a treacherous and exposed section of trail. I ended up hiking straight up the boot pack, where Slim Jim and Thunder decided to take the switchbacks– so again we split up. Fortunately the snow was still firm in the early morning, and I was able to climb up the bootpack to reach the emergency hut, where I found the boys and Sweetblood and Whoopsie. We worried about Slim Jim and Thunder, until they joined us as well. We then enjoyed a hot lunch at 8am in the emergency hut.
Eventually started making our way back down. This involved losing the trail, backtracking, bushwhackng, slipping, sliding and falling on trail. At one point we moved only 0.4 miles in an hour– but we kept moving! Our microspikes and ice axes made a huge difference and kept us safe.
After a particularly perilous section–which involved making our way down a steep slope to a river (without falling in), crossing said river on a log over rushing water, and climbing 50m straight up a rock scramble to the trail– all seven of us sat down on rocks for a quick break, and promptly fell asleep. We did not discuss it. We did not move off trail. We did not take of our wet shoes. We simply dozed off in the sun, until the current of the PCT caught us again. I have included photos of my napping friends for your viewing pleasure.
After my nap the trail seemed more welcoming. Though the snow was softer in the afternoon sun, we made decent time as we crossed the infamous Fuller Ridge. All the trail reports said that this was the most dangerous section, with slippery snow and long falls to cliffs below. Comments on trip reports made us think that we were taking our lives in our hands by crossing the ridge. It was slow going and we did have a few slips and falls, but we all made it out okay (except for Slim Jim’s trecking pole). We made it to camp around 6pm after hiking for nearly 15 hours. I had not refilled my water at the last creek as FarOut indicated that there was water at camp. Sadly the only water was a thin, dusty trickle of snowmelt down the gravel road at the campsite. I patiently waited as it filled a bottle and filtered just enough to get by. I was exhausted. Fortunately, there was a picnic table (the pinnacle of campsite features) at the campsite and all was well.
Day 16 (May 25th)
Mile 190.5- 209.5
19 miles (30.6km)
Did your knees hurt today? If so, it was in sympathy to my knees as I made a 5000ft descent into the valley from our campsite partway up Mt. San Jacinto.
When headed to bed last night, Julien said to to the group “No one wake me in the morning”. We were all deeply exhausted and I think everyone slept in. When I woke up, Trevor and Jacob were already gone. Thunder was leaving, and Salty was just waking up. I took my time getting ready, even making a hot breakfast for myself at one of the campsite picnic tables. I’m finally starting to feel quite hungry during the day– my hiker hunger is coming on!
I ended up leaving camp around the same time as Salty, and so we spent the morning chatting as we hiked downhill. We were so engrossed in our conversation that we missed the side trail to get water. We ended up hiking a mile back up the mountain to go back for it, meaning we actually hiked two additional miles today. Down and down I went all day. I met up with the crew for lunch at a lovely little creek with croaking frogs. In the afternoon, it was back to the descent. As I walked, it slowly got windier, until I started feeling like I might just blow off the mountain.
When I arrived at my planned camping spot, I found my friends hunkered down behind a big rock, trying to get their stoves to work in the relentless wind. Thunder told me that her tent had actually blown away and had to be retrieved. I cooked my couscous and struggled to eat it, as every spoonful blew off my spoon. The wind was so strong that my friends tents were being flattened. Salty said he didn’t want to camp there and kept walking. Even though it was 7:30pm and the sun was setting, I decided to hike on as well. Eventually Julien joined the train. Thunder and Slim Jim were already hunkered down, so they opted to stay.
As I hiked, I sent Facebook posts to trail angel groups in Banning and Cabezon, hoping to find somewhere to stay. Eventually, a very kind trail angel named Nitsy told us that if we could get to her house, we could camp in the backyard. We hiked 4 miles in the wind over a dry river bed, with blowing sand whipping us in the face and the wind pulling us off track. We made it to the highway around 9pm and called an Uber, which brought us to Nitsy’s house. We are now cowboy camping in her backyard in Banning where there is blessedly no wind. Another long day! Goodnight!
Day 17 (May 26th)
Mile 209.5-220.1
10.6 miles (30.6km)
