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Idyllwild to Big Bear
Tuesday, May 2: Fuller Ridge Trailhead — 12 + 4 miles (192.2)
We managed to break out of Idyllwild, though it wasn’t easy. Many of the hikers are staying over to rest sore knees, blisters, etc. I think that dread of the long climb out of town may have played a part too. They’ll undoubtedly catch up, sooner or later. The climb was long and slow, but at least without the hordes of hikers we saw on Sunday. We spoke with only two dayhikers on the Devil’s Slide Trail, then one German overnight backpacker and Chris Ramias, a PCT section hiker from Phoenix. We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the last water source for 22 miles. It was pure snowmelt – cold! It has been a slow day, between climbs, heavy packs and snow. Most of the snow is shallow, but it is still slippery. Jim’s knees don’t like the slipping and sliding (mine don’t either, but they’re not complaining as much.) We’re still high in the San Jacintos, with lots of huge pines and firs. Lots of snow up here, but soon we’ll begin a long 25 mile descent and the snow should begin to vanish. I’m glad to be out on the trail again, despite the difficulty.
Later: we hiked late, trying to descend past snowline. It was slow going, with a few scary spots and a few twisted knees and ankles. Fortunately, we could follow footprints, so navigation wasn’t a problem. They even went in the right direction, most of the time. There was enough clear trail that we could tell where it was, but enough snow to be a real trial. According to the altimeter, we climbed about 10,000’ today, up and down and up and down. And we do this for fun? We ended up camped at a car camping campground. There’s no water or amenities, but there are nice flat spots in the trees.
Wednesday, May 3: San Gorgonio Pass - the Middleton’s cabin -- 21 miles (213)
The descent to San Gorgonio Pass was interminable. The drop is about 7000’, but the trail twists and turns for endless miles as it makes the gradual descent. The first few miles in the trees were nice and cool, but the lower we dropped, the warmer it got. At the bottom we were only 12 miles from Palm Springs, where the temperature was 105° on Monday. The desert is in full bloom, with lots of variety in the bushes and flowers. We had nice views of steep-walled San Jacinto Peak behind us and snowy San Gorgonio Peak ahead, as well as a few peaks further west poking up above the smog. Yesterday the haze was so bad we could barely make out San Gorgonio, just across the pass. Today we could see I-10 below us and the weird shape of the windmills at the wind farm beyond. A couple of hummingbirds stopped by to check us out. We saw lots of lizards and snakes. One gray snake had lengthwise orange stripes. One big lizard had a brown back and greenish legs. Both were new to us.
At the bottom of the descent of Fuller Ridge there is a water fountain (at last), but then the trail weaves about six miles across the flat hot windy valley before we begin climbing on the other side. Ouch! There is a big boulder next to the water fountain, which creates a tiny patch of shade. We sat in that shade for about two hours, drinking and drinking and drinking. I drank so much water I felt sick, but I was totally dry after the interminable descent through the desert.
We had heard that there were a couple of trail angels, Don and Helen Middleton, living near San Gorgonio Pass. Tacked on a post along the trail beyond the freeway there was a photo of their home and the cabin/trailers they let hikers use (affectionately known as the Pink Motel). We stopped in at their house to say hello and were given some very cold ice tea. When Helen heard that Jim had hurt his foot on the descent, she insisted he use a foot bath and salve to try to heal it. (NB: Jim thought it was a stone bruise. Eventually we found out he had broken a toe.) We had a nice visit, then went on to the cabin about ½ mile away. It is set on a hill in the middle of an unfinished housing development. The place is surrounded by a small junkyard. There is a cabin with a living room, another with a kitchen and a couple of trailers. There are sofas to sleep on, lots of food to eat, a hiker box, magazines and bottled water. The cabin is unfinished — not much to look at, but a comfortable corner out of the incessant wind, and a very kind gesture from two non-hikers.
The trail across the valley was hot (90ish), sandy, windy and long. The gallon of water we were carrying from the water fountain at Snow Creek was very heavy. We were more than ready to stop. We both hurt more than expected. But then, that was a very long trail down the ridge. I think we weren’t really prepared for the force of the wind across the pass either. It was hard walking against the wind. Of course, that’s why they built a wind farm there – we should have expected it.
Thursday, May 4: Mission Creek — 15 miles (228.4)
It was an interesting walk this morning, up past a wind farm with huge white windmills, along and above a couple of dry canyons, then down to Whitewater Canyon -- a wide rocky valley with a good sized stream. We had lunch next to the river, after a lovely bath in the cold water. I was getting worried as there seemed to be no water in the canyon. For a mile and a half we walked along dry rocky washes, seeking water. The canyon is about half a mile wide, and the water was running on the far side, not near the trail. The canyon is nearly treeless, just a broad white rocky plain, very hot and dry. Only a few willow bushes and desert broom give meager shade. My hope for cool cottonwood trees was dashed again. It was hot, at least in the 90’s. But at least I was able to cool off in the water. What made the morning interesting was the incredible variety of flowers. There were 40 or 50 different kinds. Around every corner I found new ones, including pink and purple poppies, which I’ve never seen before. It was fun. We also saw a couple of tiny desert turtles, only about two or three inches long.
We had a short day, hiking until about 5:00. We were slow with the heat and sore feet. Some days we really seem to fight the trail, and it does slow us down. The country this afternoon was very dry and barren, burned a few years ago in a fire. We climbed up to a ridge, which we followed for about a mile, enjoying views (of a sort) in all directions. We could barely make out Palm Springs to the east. The smog is a disappointment. I hadn’t realized it reached out to the trail, but there is a grey haze over everything. We kept getting glimpses of San Jacinto, like a white ghost above the desert, obscured by the haze. Eventually we descended to Mission Creek, which we will follow all day tomorrow. We found a lovely campsite in the shade of a tree, within sound of the water. We haven’t seen anyone all day. It is very peaceful -- a few birds, a few bees, the song of the water in the creek. Very nice! We decided to try to slow down through here since once again we’re due to reach town (Big Bear City) on the weekend. If we had really pushed, we might have made it there on Saturday, in time to catch the brief hour that the post office is open, but it didn’t seem worth the effort. Taking our time and doing a few short days seems both smarter and more enjoyable. We have books, which we have already traded. Next up, Louis L’Amour. With the long midday breaks, a book is a necessity for me. I can’t just sit for two hours with nothing to do. I don’t have that much to write about, and huddled under a bush, there isn’t much to see.
Friday, May 5: Heart Bar Creek 15.3 +2 (243.7)
We had a nice night tucked under our tree, listening to the frogs. All morning we climbed up along Mission Creek, crossing it more than 20 times. Some of the crossings were pretty obscure, buried in deadfall and flood debris. The stream itself is only a couple of feet wide, no wet foot crossings here. Often only the footprints of previous hikers showed us which way to go. We lost the trail several times, even with that help, but since we knew we were supposed to keep going upstream, eventually we always found it again. The terrain was mostly desert, with lots of prickly pear and agave and various flowering bushes. There weren’t as many flowers as yesterday, mostly the usual brittlebush, lupine and paintbrush, as it’s so dry. The creek itself was dry for about three miles. It just vanished in the sand. We had lunch at a nice campsite at 6100’ near a tiny trickle of water. A horseman left behind a lot of garbage: clothes, rope, feedbags, horsefeed, etc. Too bad, as it would be a nice site otherwise. We saw one big orange rattlesnake hiding in a yucca. He didn’t rattle though. It was too hot, I think. The climb was a nice one, mostly gentle. The first hour was in the cool shadow of the canyon walls. About 10:00 some cirrus moved in, cooling things off considerably. We’re heading up into the trees again and should be fairly cool for the next day or so. That will be welcome.
Later: Of course, as I sit here shivering, waiting for dinner to boil, the cool is a bit less welcome. This afternoon, we continued the climb up above 8000’. We’re up in the pines and manzanita. Looking back, we could see snow on the ridge behind us. We set up for the night on a ridge above Heart Bar Creek. It was a long, long way down to water, following a dry creek. The guidebook said there was supposed to be water about ½ mile down, but I saw nothing. Finally, after more than a mile, I gave up and turned around. It was so frustrating, following the dry creekbed as I dropped and dropped on the steep trail. Then I spotted a cairn beside the trail. Looking beyond the cairn, I saw a hint of green below. Sure enough, it was a small spring — very small. I was following a set of footprints, but I don’t think he found the spring. Poor man. The next water is 14 miles ahead, so if I hadn’t found the spring, we would have had to turn back a couple of miles to Mission Creek Camp, which had a small trickle. Then came the hard part, lugging the water back up. I was very happy to see Jim, who had gotten worried when I didn’t reappear and came down to meet me.
Saturday, May 6: Nelson Ridge — 19.8 miles (263.5)
We’ve been making good time, wandering along the ridges above Highway 38. There have been some nice views of San Gorgonio and Ten Thousand Foot Ridge, back toward San Jacinto, west toward some unknown snowy peaks, east into the haze that is Palm Springs, and north to tomorrow’s hike. As the crow flies, this morning we’ve come about a mile. On foot it was eleven. The PCT does some odd things. It can be hard to be enthusiastic about the trail sometimes. It does wind! On the Appalachian Trail, 300 miles put you past the Smokies, the Stecoahs and into the North Carolina Balds. On the Continental Divide Trail, 300 miles gets you though Glacier, the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wildernesses. Northbound, it gets you through the Gila Wilderness. All are beautiful, worthwhile goals, totally aside from the long trails. Here we’ve had some nice views and lots of flowers, but mostly just lots of easy trail winding though the desert or through the trees. There have been few highlights. Our biggest challenges were the Scissors Crossing traverse and Fuller Ridge’s snow. Neither was that challenging. We don’t even climb any peaks on the PCT. The trail was 3.5 miles from San Jacinto Peak, not worth the extra time and effort, especially given the smog. Here the challenge is to keep going, despite the lack of obvious reward or challenge. I know it will get better. The Sierras await, and the Mojave. Those will be real challenges, I hope. In the meantime, I have to remember to savor the moment. It is still better to be out here hiking than sitting in an office staring at a computer screen. There may not be a great sense of accomplishment, but there is a happiness in just spending time in this strange and beautiful world.
It was an easy day, all in all. We stopped for an hour at the spring at Arrestre Trail Camp to rest and camel up, then carried water for another 5 ½ miles to a windy ridge overlooking the desert. A front seems to be moving through, brining high winds, cirrus clouds and cooler temperatures. Nice. We’ve been walking through sage and pinion pines. It felt like New Mexico.
We met a dayhiker at lunch and a large group from a camp or school, and saw bike, motorbike and horse tracks. It’s a busy trail on a Saturday. We haven’t seen any other thruhikers for three days, though we see signs of their passage. There is a large group just ahead. We’ll probably meet them in town tomorrow. We considered pushing on to Big Bear tonight, but 24 miles is a big day when your feet hurt as much as ours do. I’m not all that excited about going to town. Yes, a shower would be nice, but I’m not starving for any particular food and we’ll be camping, not staying in a motel this time. The local fire station lets PCT hikers camp in their back yard. Besides, passing Big Bear means dropping in elevation again, and I’ve enjoyed being up in the pines.
Sunday, May 7: Big Bear City — 4 miles (267)
We had a restless night, listening to the wind rattle our tent, so we were up with the sun, heading into Big Bear. The fire station is very welcoming to hikers, allowing them to use the showers and bathrooms and camp on a nice green lawn in the courtyard. We hitched into town early, ate breakfast, took a shower, did laundry, visited with the other hikers a while, took a local bus three miles to a grocery store, then came back to the fire station to relax a bit. It’s cool and breezy. It feels really nice to just sit in the sun and rest.
Since the fire station is right in the center of town, and free, there are a lot of PCT hikers here. It’s a bit hard to keep the other hikers straight at this point. We had only met one of them before — Emily — and she left soon after we arrived. Most seem to be former AT hikers. One, Doug, hiked the PCT before. I can’t imagine why he would want to come back, knowing what the trail is like! Some are only out for a short while, not thruhiking. A group, known collectively as the Menacing Vegetables (Ben, Ezra, Kate, Jonny, and Maria) is out for six months. They got their name from a line in the guidebook, which said to “watch out for the menacing vegetation.” They thought that was funny; so do I. They’re taking their time, not really planning or expecting to go all the way. They’ll keep going as long as its fun, I think. They do seem to be enjoying themselves though. Kate is off to join her boyfriend in Europe soon. Brad will head off to the Peace Corps in September. John Meyer has limited funds, so doesn’t plan to go all the way. He has hiked a lot of the PCT before, but says he prefers hiking in Europe to hiking in the wilderness. But then, he’s a talker, with very decided opinions. I’ve had to bite my tongue a time or two. He picked up a stray German shepherd dog along the trail. He said she had been abused, so he didn’t want to let the Humane Society try to find her former owners. Doug and Christa are also hiking with a dog, a chow/lab mix that is very unfriendly, growling and snapping. Drew plans to thruhike, I think. He is just out of the Marines, which he had to leave because he is allergic to just about everything. It doesn’t seem to slow him down any, but the military wouldn’t risk it. Sundance is a wildlife biologist, more or less hiking with Brad for the time being, but maintaining her independence. It’s pretty noisy and crowded here.
We still feel a bit outside the hiker community. Partly it’s the effect of last year’s solitude. Partly it’s because we don’t know whether any of them will last past the Sierras, or whether we will pass them or they will pass us and we won’t ever see them again. Some may become friends. Most will remain strangers. We’re tied by the common bond of the trail, but without time to get to know each other, it isn’t enough. We are all part of the early group. The majority of PCT hikers leave later than we did, but we wanted to be able to take our time, without being part of a pack, and with a fairly good chance at finding water in the springs. A week or two later, and the springs begin to dry up. We didn’t want to risk that. The tradeoff is that we’ll find more snow in the Sierras, but we decided it was worth the risk, especially since this is a low snow year. We also knew that a huge group was leaving Campo a week after we did, part of the PCT-L Kick-Off party (ADZPCTKO). We didn’t want to be competing for campsites and water with a large group. They’ll start catching up in the next few weeks, but will be spread out by the time they do, we hope.
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