My zero day this round turned into four… I was resupplied and ready to go on Tuesday and then as 2023 has been, it was obstacles galore.
The obstacles are at the core of this year’s trail, but built on a foundation of a trail that is inherently difficult. It’s designed to wind through some of the most beautiful and consequentially most difficult terrain long the mountains created by the great tectonic uplift along America’s Pacific coast. Other norms are the unexpected mishaps that you just can’t plan for. I’d originally planned a Monday departure, but the hotel (a Marriot) failed to tell me that they don’t do laundry Sundays the earliest was Tuesday at 9am. The few clothes I have are at an extreme premium and also really need washing after 5 days straight of 7–10 hour hiking days, so I’m at their mercy…
After that lost day, it was Uber time from civilization in the Inland Empire back to Cajon Pass (a highlight with a driver who officiates four different youth sports in his spare time – just awesome given the massive shortage of refs, mostly because of dumb parent behavior). I loved his stories!
Next up on the obstacle front was a fire closure, after a brief, failed prescribed burn around Lytle Creek, mile 342 to 363 was closed with a big warning about fines. There was an alternate road walk along Lone Pine Canyon (making me think of 1985’s Back to the Future) that covered the 20 trail miles in 10, but allowed some walking. So I set out at 3pm, thinking I could cover the 10 miles by dark. The highway was not busy, but did have cars buzzing by both ways every couple minutes. It was still beautiful country, but the shoulder ranges from none, to 18 inches wide, to an eroded ditch. I passed up the first unsolicited offer for a ride a mile in, but after 2 miles and about an hour of walking, I took the offer, figuring I get some more walking in Wrightwood.
Hitching is again a PCT tradition, and the vast majority of people are kind and helpful. It’s still prudent to have situational awareness and this ride offer I had to make a snap judgement. The driver of the big white pickup had a weed-emblazoned hat and face tattoos, but had a positive vibe and his passenger was clearly his elderly Mom. So I tossed mg backpack in the back and had a fabulous 15 minute conversation the rest of the way to Wrightwood where he was helping out his Dad who had a heart attack the day before. The old adage of never judging a book by its cover was clearly true here. It’s never easy to balance being aware and deploying trust-but-verify, but personally I embrace and love the challenge and I loved this moment.
I’ll continue this post over the next few days, but time to get out to the trail now!
With 15 hard miles now complete, I’m letting the first rays of sun dry out my shoes, my ice-encrusted tent and my brain. The ascent up 3,000 feet out of Wrightwood generated classic PCT moments, starting the debate among housemates as to what to do next. The connector trail was known to have a bit of exposure towards the top and their was an open section or Hwy 2 to circumvent that. The fresh snow was likely to make that trickier and since I was going early, I’d have a first look. One of the other guys was planning to execute