Section 3 - Idyllwild to Big Bear City
May 4
20 miles (18 on the PCT) today. I'm back on the trail
after 2 days of much needed R&R. I healed some injuries,
gained some lost pounds, and lost the trail grime. I even
saw a movie, Life is Beautiful (highly recommended),
at the local theater.
Idyllwild is a nice mountain town with amenities and
without pretentiousness. The area looks a little like
Yosemite Valley. It's apparently a rock climbing haven,
with climbs such as "suicide rock," and it would
have suicide to climb in that snow and ice.
Shirt and Packrat also took two days off and we had some
tasty, artery-clogging meals together. The 3 of us caught
a ride to the trailhead this morning for the 2,000 foot
climb back up to the PCT. I walk a little faster than
those two so we probably wont see each again until Big
Bear in 100 miles. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and
fortunately much of the new snow had melted off all but
the north-facing sections of the trail. I continued the
high traverse of the San Jacintos and eventually crossed
the shoulder of Mt. San Jacinto--at 10,700 feet, the highest
peak in the range. From there I could see the next segment
of my journey--the San Bernardino range. Unfortunately,
between the two ranges lies a knee-crushing 8,000 foot
drop to West Palm Springs/San Gorgonio Pass and Interstate
10. Ouch! I did over half the plunge this afternoon before
camping on another windswept saddle overlooking the pass.
It's so windy here that there's a commercial wind farm
just across the interstate. I can see the turbines from
my camp. I crawled under the brush again to escape the
wind but with only moderate success.
Water is very scarce here. I walked through hours of
3-foot snowdrifts today but the soil is so porous that
the melt just sinks into the ground and disappears. It's
a 10-mile walk from here to the next source and then another
14 miles to the following one. I'll be glad to get to
the Sierras and not have to worry about water.
May 5
22 mind and feet broiling miles today. This was the hardest
day of the trip so far. I got dehydrated and nauseous,
my feet hurt, and I almost stepped on a very angry rattle
snake. It was officially 90 degrees but it was much hotter
than that in some of the Kenner Easy-Bake-Oven canyons.
I don't do desert hiking well. All afternoon I looked
longingly back up at the snow-covered San Jacintos and
wished I were there. But there is no other way to get
to the San Bernardinos other than to cross the desert.
According to the weather forecast it will be 10 degrees
hotter tomorrow but I hope to be back up at 5-6,000 feet
by then. The mountains were cool, green islands in the
sky and I missed them terribly today.
I'm camped in a desert river wash at about 2,500 feet.
Another PCT hiker, Margaret from Bellevue, WA is camped
about 100 yards up the trail. There's a small stream 30
yards away and I dunked myself as soon as I got here.
The insects flutter in the evening stillness and the bats
fly in silent pursuit.
Tomorrow will be a better day.
May 6
17 miles today. It was hot, monotonous, and I neither
sleep nor felt well. Most of the day was a slog up a desert
river valley, through thankfully there were some shade
trees along the river banks. I finally reached the start
of the mountains late this afternoon and am now at about
6,500 feet.
The San Bernardinos are something of an oddity as they
run east-west. Consequently, the higher peaks further
west create a rain/snow shadow over this part of the range
and 6,500 feet here feels like 3,500 feet in the San Jacintos.
It also means that I'm beginning the big turn to the west
and will hike in a westerly direction for almost 2 weeks
until I turn back toward the Sierra.
I walked in sandals today which slowed me down but felt
much better on my pressure-cooked feet. It's 40 miles
to Big Bear and I can smell that steak from here.
May 7
22 miles. I had a much better day today. I walked at altitudes
of 7- 9,000 feet and it was at least 20 degrees cooler
than yesterday. I also felt well for the first time in
2 days. The cool pines were heaven after the hellish desert
heat. I mostly walked ridges with views of the San Jacintos
and the high San Bernardinos. There were a few patches
of snow but it's very dry here and there's no water in
the streambeds.
I stopped at a water source at 4 p.m. for dinner and
ran into 3 other PCT hikers who had the same idea. Two
of the hikers, Jim and Sven, have completed the 2,200
mile AT. It was good to hear, in a twisted sort of way,
that they were having feet problems too. We all stayed
until 6 p.m. and then hobbled off down the trail to get
in a few more miles before dark.
Tomorrow I hike into Big Bear Lake for a day of R&R
and as much real food as I can stuff down my gullet.
May 8
18 miles and a late lunch--and dinner--in Big Bear Lake.
It has been a long hundred miles since my last real meal
in Idyllwild. For some reason I've developed an aversion
to nearly every food item in my pack. When the last piece
of today's large pizza finally hit bottom I sat back and
smiled. Later, I walked down the street to the first steakhouse
I could find and ordered up a 1 lb t-bone steak, baked
potato (extra butter and chives), salad, and Sierra Nevada
(on tap). I'm almost full.
The trail crosses a dirt road 3 miles above Big Bear
Lake but I hitched a ride into town from Tom&Tom--I
called them Tom squared. They were a couple of beer drinkin'
good old boys, out for a day of 4-wheelin' in the hills.
They offered me a beer but I'd eaten very little and opted
for a coke. It was the coldest, best tasting coke I've
ever had.
Cynthia's brother, James, is coming up from San Diego
tomorrow. It will be nice to see a familiar face and take
a day off.
Thanks so much to everyone for all the e-mail. I've hiked
280 miles--a little more than 1/10 of the way--and
the e-mail inspires me to keep me going (and going, and
going...)
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