On my twentieth day, I hiked across the Sawmill Mountain ridge onto the Liebre Mountain ridge, with excellent views north over Antelope Valley, and camped in the Bear Campground at Pacific Crest Trail mile 504.
From PCT mile 489.9 to 504.0 Total: 14.1 miles 4/26
I woke up in the dark, as usual, and took my time eating breakfast and packing up. A quick glance outside showed me that the sky was clear, and I knew that it would be a hot day, even up here near 5000 feet elevation. Maybe I’d get lucky and there would be some shady trees along the way, but I wasn’t taking any bets, either. This area was in the rain shadow of other coastal ranges, and a lot of it had burned recently. The best part was that there didn’t seem to be any deep valleys to cross, like yesterday. Maybe it would be flat and cruisey all day long.
According to the Far Out app, I still had four more miles of burnt zone to hike through. It contained plenty of Poodle Dog Bush to be wary of, as well. But forewarned is forearmed, as they say, and I successfully avoided touching any of the stinky plants.
After the dead zone, the hills were much more alive, and the excellent rains during the Winter of 2023 were bearing fruit in the form of lush green grasses and blooming wildflowers. It was a pleasure to hike such a cruisey trail, complete with floral accompaniment.
The miles flew by, or so it seems when viewing my photos. In reality, it was one step after another, over and over, that did the job. Maybe the miles walked by.
I passed Sawmill Mountain itself, a 5515 foot elevation bump along the ridge, and continued hiking to the northwest. The trail paralleled the dirt forest road the entire way. But there was no traffic, so I’m guessing that the gates were all locked. This was fine by me. It made things peaceful.
Eventually, the trail crossed the road and shifted over a bit, and was now on Liebre Mountain. I couldn’t tell the difference without a map. It was all the same long ridgeline to me.
It was long past lunchtime when I arrived at the day’s water source. There were two options. One was a “guzzler” catchment water tank, and when I examined it closely, I was less than thrilled. There was water, but it was a bit green, with floaties on top. This looked annoying, not only to collect, but also to purify, as I would have to squeeze it through my Sawyer filter. I hated doing that.
I climbed up the slope to the big concrete water tank that was buried in a hill alongside the road. This was here for fire emergencies, and was kept full by the forest service. It isn’t considered potable because they don’t bother to chlorinate it. Luckily, my favorite mode of water purification is via chlorine treatment! So I climbed up top and swing open the metal access plate, which was only attached by one bolt. I got out my CNOC scooping bag and withdrew some extremely clear-looking water. Success! I filled up my gallon jug and got out my little Aquamira Chemistry Set. I mixed the two solutions, let them sit for five minutes while I read my book, then added it to the gallon. I shook it up and all I had to do was wait a half hour or so for the chlorine to work. I got out my trusty lunchtime pop-tart and took a break up there. Nice view, too!
It was still early, and I only had a couple more miles to go that day, so I relaxed a bit longer than was strictly necessary. Why not? I was even too lazy to distribute the gallon into my other water containers. When it was time to go I simply carried it with me, shifting the burden from one hand to the other every so often.
Before I knew it the campground appeared just off the trail to the right. I never found the official side trail, so I simply bushwhacked directly toward it. There was another hiker couple already there, but they were just hanging out at a picnic table. I decided to find a shady spot to camp right away, and set up my tent within a small grove of trees. Very nice.
As it turned out, the Bear Campground was destined to become a very popular spot that night. More and more hikers arrived as the afternoon wore on. I took a walk up on the ridge for photo purposes, to look down at Antelope Valley, then headed back to camp.
I met up with some fun groups of people. Tramilies were beginning to form here at the 500 mile mark, and one of them had my recent acquaintance Monk as a member. I walked over and hung out with them at their picnic table while they ate dinner. They were a fun group. Storytime got out her nail polish and painted Monk’s fingernails. I was surprised that she willingly carried the extra weight of nail polish bottles, but then again, I had a few items like that myself, luxuries worth carrying, things that made life better. This was one of them. And it really was a lot of fun.
In fact, this group was having the most fun of anyone in the campground. As it got dark, I headed back to my tent, and the laughter from Storytime’s table was the loudest and longest lasting. Sunset is bedtime on the PCT, and this crazy crowd was partying past Hiker Midnight! I didn’t really care. It was good to hear happy people rather than groaning, exhausted ones. A day of easy hiking on a long ridge will change anyone’s outlook on life.
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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