My third day on the PCT was spent hiking from Cibbets Flat Campground all the way up the long grade to Mount Laguna, which was covered with several inches of residual snow. I climbed about two thousand feet and hiked a bit over fifteen miles.
From PCT mile 30.2 to 45.4 Total: 15.2 miles 3/25
Vicki and I woke up inside the car to a frosty world. Our breathing had condensed on the inside of the windows and then frozen. Interestingly, even though it was very cold, the air was so dry outside that there was no frost on the car. We cooked up a simple breakfast at the picnic table and said hello to the dog Sandy, who came out of Ian’s tent fully dressed with a doggy-jacket. She had short fur, so this was a good idea. Eventually, Ian also emerged, and then we all ate some food and packed up our gear. After making sure we had everything, we got in the car and headed down Kitchen Creek Road to the spot where Vicki picked us up yesterday.
I said goodbye to Vicki (we were planning to camp together again in a few days, near Warner Springs) and headed north with Ian and Sandy. It was a bright sunny day, but still cold in the early morning hours, so we left our jackets on, for now. Sandy was also carrying her own backpack which contained some of her food. She was having a great time, and loved to scout out the trail ahead of us. The trail climbed steadily through the chaparral-covered foothills, and the air gradually grew warmer. We hiked on, one step at a time.
About halfway through my fifteen mile day we stopped for a lunch break. I got out my usual pop-tart and Ian began cooking up a regular meal. I was impressed, but eventually, I realized that I needed to get going. They were only hiking a few more miles to the town of Mount Laguna, whereas I was continuing on beyond Monument Peak. Ian had things to do that required a zero day, and he was staying at a place in town. And that’s the PCT, where friendships are made today but time, schedules, and hiking paces can split them up again at any moment. Particularly in the early days of a thru hike.
I crossed Long Canyon Creek and continued up the long grade. Soon, I came across patches of residual snow. This didn’t bode well, as the snow was in the sun, and was also lower than 6000 feet elevation. I was going to be climbing as high as 6500 feet very soon. So much for my nice dry shoes, I thought.
The trail’s slope got easier once I entered the pine forest near Mount Laguna, but the snow got deeper. Most of the time there were melted places to step on, but that was also where the mud and puddles were lurking. The snow was about four or five inches deep, at the most. I did a careful dance through the slushy snow and mud. Somehow, I managed to keep my shoes mostly dry.
Up at 6500 feet, near town, the snow was fairly constant when under the shady trees. Only when it became chaparral was the sun warm enough to melt it. Just the same, it wasn’t very deep, and it was quite pretty in its way.
I still had a few miles to go when I passed the town. The trail swung around to the east, giving me views out over the Anza-Borrego Desert, and then it headed north once more. At this point it was on an east-facing slope, and the sun was no longer working its magic. The snow began to get icy and crunchy, and I had to take care of my footing once again. Earlier, it was avoiding mud and slush, and now it was avoiding crashing down on my butt.
I hiked along next to Stephenson Peak and then Monument Peak. I was getting closer to my proposed camping spot at mile 45. The sun was getting lower and the air much cooler, so finding a spot was paramount. Not surprisingly, mile 45 was on a saddle of sorts, and the wind was blowing steady and strong out of the west. There was a great view over the desert, but I didn’t want to blow over the edge!
Right about that time, I met up with two French hikers, Eduard and Arnoult, and the three of us wandered around on the saddle in the open chaparral, searching for a flat sandy spot that had some low bushes to block the wind. There was also snow to avoid. Eventually, we found an acceptable spot. I put down my pack and put on my Goretex hard shell suit, to block the wind before I froze to death. All three of us hustled to put up our tents and set up camp.
I warned them that it was supposed to get very cold that night, about 25 degrees Fahrenheit, which I then had to translate into degrees Celsius. They were also worried about getting in trouble for camping here, as we were technically within the Laguna Recreation Area, where camping was only allowed in official campgrounds. I told them that the authorities would have to catch us first and ask us to leave, and that the National Forest Service had no money for enforcement anyway. Besides, there was no way we could make it to a campground or hike another seven miles that day, so, technically, it was a bit of an emergency. Emergencies cover most situations adequately.
After that, I changed into some much warmer base layers, and put on my goose down pants and jacket. I was feeling fine, and the wind wasn’t too bad in the lee of the bushes. The only unhappy part of my body was my feet. When I removed the sweaty hiking socks I discovered some rather large blisters, one on each foot. They were big, about an inch and a half in diameter, but hadn’t burst yet. This was worrisome, but there wasn’t much I could do at the moment. After that, I cooked dinner in the tent’s doorway, not moving from my comfy air mattress. I ate my hot ramen noodles. Then, before sleeping, I made sure that my water hose was empty of water so that it wouldn’t freeze overnight. I didn’t worry about the Smartwater bottle. I didn’t think that it would freeze at 25 degrees, at least not right away. And then I went to sleep, snug and warm after a solid day of hiking.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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