Daily Miles: 6.6, Total Miles: 178.6 A beautiful, windy hike this morning along a high ridge in the San Jacinto Mountains peaking at about 8,600 ft. Still some patches of snow hanging on. Once at Saddle Trail junction, the official PCT mileage ends, but I still had to hike 4.5 miles into Idyllwild. I was almost at the Devil’s Slide TH when stopped by two forest service rangers who asked for my PCT permit. Surprised because I’ve heard that most…
Daily Miles: 14.0, Total Miles: 172.0 Live Oak was the best spring yet but I had to walk up the mile-long, steep climb back to the PCT. That started the tough, sometimes steep climb into the San Jacinto Wilderness. A real calf and thigh workout as I went into a baby step mode. I had to detour off the trail again at Fobes Spring to tide me over for tonight’s dry camp. I set up camp on a high ridge…
Daily Miles: 21.4, Total Miles: 158.0 The next section of trail seemed to wander up and down and all around due to some land ownership issues. Hot day and drinking lots of water, so good to see the Anza Hiker’s Oasis water cache at about mile 143. I finally got to Highway 74 but not before seeing the 4th, 5th and 6th snake. Enough on the snake count, probably counter-productive at this point. Only significant milestones from now on. I…
Daily Miles: 21.6, Total Miles: 136.6 While packing up, a hiker camping nearby said, “Purple Haze, I found my first white roses on the PCT!”. I said “Nice” thinking that Puppy must be a botanist because she commented on the diverse flora the day before. She said, “Purple Haze, white roses are used toilet paper!”. Now I know. A steady 2,000 ft climb out of the Agua Caliente drainage to the boundary of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I had…
Daily Miles: 19.0, Total Miles: 115.0 A few hikers came by my camp last night hiking to a full moon. I think I’ll save it for the real desert. I headed down the mountain to Barrel Spring to top off my water bottles. On the way, I saw a fox that looked to be inspecting a campsite. Took the short detour to Eagle Rock and had lunch – I have seen so many pics of this place but still an…
Daily Miles: 18.4, Total Miles: 96.0 Julian was in a fog bank this morning. Nothing seems to open up early here but we did find coffee and a cinnamon roll. Mrs. Haze and I said our goodbyes at Scissors Crossing – already looking forward to a great reunion at South Lake Tahoe! The trail slowly climbed just over 2,000 ft over the next 18 miles, following the contours of the San Felipe Hills. Much of the lower reaches in the…
Daily Miles: 0, total Miles: 77.6 After a good night’s sleep in a bed too soft, we headed to Anza-Borrego Desert to be tourists. The objective was to see the welded steel free-standing sculptures by artist/welder Ricardo Breceda. Prehistoric animals that used to roam this area and some that probably never did, but still cool and scary. Some of these mammoths, camels, sloths, wild horses and dinosaurs were life-sized. The scorpion, grasshopper and serpent were much larger than life, all…
Daily Miles: 4.9, Total Miles: 77.6 Another cloudless day but still have shade from Granite Mountain. Not many redeeming qualities to this morning’s hike through burnt and washed-out creosote and cactus desert until approaching Scissors Crossing. I found the water cache under the bridge and was just sitting down when Stumbling Norwegian and friends came down. They had more water and a case of PBR beer to drop off before their SOBO hike to PCT Kickoff Days. Had a nice…
Daily Miles: 20.0, Total Miles: 72.7 I sure like that Neoair mattress – sure hope it holds up! Little shade today as the trail passed through Oriflamme and Chariot Canyons. I saw my first snake today slither across the trail – too fast to identify. Plenty of prickly pear and hedgehog cactus with deep rose to purple-colored flowers. After about 16 miles, I arrived at Rodriquez spur with good water originating from a tank. Met a few more hikers loading…
Daily Miles: 10.4, Total Miles: 52.7 No plans for big miles today so a leisurely morning and later start. Tempted to go into Laguna but I kept moving. Not as many hikers today but plenty of trail runners. I intended to get water at Penny Pines but the tank was temporarily closed. I arrived at Pioneer Mail early in the afternoon and found water, shade trees and picnic tables. I’m cowboy camping here tonight to give my feet a rest….
