On the final day of my 2023 PCT Thru Hike I continued uphill out of Mission Creek to Onyx Summit near Big Bear, when I fully realized that my feet were accruing significant damage via a painful episode of Plantar Fasciitis, which takes months to heal, and I took the even more painful decision to call off my long-anticipated trek.
From PCT mile 235.4 to 250.2 Total: 14.8 miles 5/24
The day started off perfectly normal, however. It was true that I had been having heel pain in the evenings recently, but it never seemed to bother me during the day while I was hiking, and it was no different that morning. I woke up early, cooked my oatmeal, drank my lumpy protein powder slurry, and packed up my gear to leave camp just before dawn.
I had another fifteen mile day planned, and this day was the second day in a row where I would be climbing 3000 feet, as well. Once I was within the high mountains near Big Bear I was planning to bump up my efforts to twenty miles per day. Tomorrow, in other words. I thought that I was ready for this major step, and had planned my camping sites, water refill spots, and food cache accordingly. My muscles were strong and the days were long. I could do this, I told myself confidently. No problem at all. One step at a time, all day every day.
The temperature was delightfully cool that morning, which was a relief after the heat I experienced yesterday down at the lower desert elevations. It felt good to see some trees again, rather than shadeless chaparral. I knew that there were two more crossings of Mission Creek ahead of me, after 27 wet-foot crossings yesterday, but when I got there the creek was markedly diminished in size. I could step right over it! This was excellent news. Meanwhile, there were plenty of flowers and views the higher I climbed.
After that lovely interlude, I arrived in the zone of desolation, the easternmost extent of the Lake Fire that burned in the summer of 2015. Vicki and I had an overnight permit in the San Gorgonio Wilderness on July 4th weekend that was cancelled due to that fire. Three weeks earlier, while climbing Mount Baden-Powell, we watched with horror from the summit as the huge plumes of smoke rose from our beloved San Gorgonio’s. It was heart wrenching, and we were helpless to stop it. Afterward, during the following year, the SGWA volunteers worked tirelessly to reopen the PCT as their top priority. There were no side trails out of Mission Creek, so in 2016 the PCT thru hikers had to stop at I-10 and hitch rides all the way around the mountain to resume hiking in Big Bear. Because of the association’s efforts, the trail was reopened two years later, in 2017, just in time for thru hiking season. Vicki and I section-hiked (downhill) through here that same year. The forest service opened it with the caveat that there would be no camping allowed within the burned region, on roughly eight miles of trail. They typically wait five years after a burn before reopening an area to the public, but the PCT was given special treatment. Thanks to all who helped!
I took my lunch break at the Mission Springs Campground, and also headed for the spring itself to collect my day’s water supply. After this, there was a dry stretch of trail ahead for about fifteen miles, and I planned to camp after ten. I took a break in the shade at the camp. It was pleasant there because the big pines hadn’t burned, and I knew that there were more shadeless patches of burnt trees up ahead. I checked out my maps on the phone. It turned out that I had already climbed almost 2000 feet that morning, in about five miles, which was a good solid climb. But there were a few more bumps along the way, each climbing over 600 feet or more. In other words, the PCT was up to its usual up-and-down tricks after this point. Oh well. I’d have to carry my now-heavy backpack no matter what.
Just the same, it felt great to be up in the San Gorgonio high country again. Sure, there were burnt trees here and there, but mostly it was a pleasant pine forest. I hiked along happily. And it felt good to go downhill again, even though I knew I would be climbing soon afterward.
The trail swung wide around a high ridge, and the views were superb. I was able to see the “Three Saints” of SoCal from the same spot: San Jacinto (10834 feet), San Gorgonio (11503 feet) and San Antonio (aka Mount Baldy at 10064 feet). The PCT traveled near each of these mountains, and each were within separate ranges. And all of them were still covered in plenty of snow and ice. What a year 2023 was turning out to be!
I also got some cell phone signal, so I texted a couple of photos to friends and family, and called Vicki while I had the chance. She was busy preparing the house for a Memorial Day Weekend party, which I was going to miss. What a shame. I admit that I’m not much of a Party Animal, so it was a relief, to tell the truth.
Eventually, the trail swung around, traversing east along the south side of the range. This was the other view I was waiting for, the one looking back down the long straight valley of Mission Creek. This was the high point I was seeing all day yesterday. Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley were hazy in the distance, and somewhere out there was the Salton Sea, which I had viewed so long ago in the Laguna Mountains. Yes, this section of trail was running right along the Pacific Crest itself, with Mission Creek draining into the desert and the Santa Ana River into the Pacific Ocean. I love it when the trail does this.
The final four miles of trail were quite the anticlimax to those superb views. The trail was rocky and uneven as it wandered through a boring forest, and eventually merged with a stony dirt road. It seemed like the day would never end as I plodded along. Meanwhile, my heel pain increased alarmingly. Every step was a small agony, and soon I was doing my best to hike only on my tip toes. I began to wonder how I would manage this on a twenty mile day. Also, I had already hiked this boring section, so I knew that there was little to be excited about in the near future. The final “also” was that after speaking with Vicki earlier I felt more lonely than ever. Everything combined to make me one seriously unhappy camper.
I stopped for another break at a dirt road next to a parked tractor. I took out my phone and stared at the map for a while. I turned off Airplane Mode and there was plenty of cell signal. I sat and stared for a while. What was I going to do? Should I call off my thru hike completely? This decision had been building for the last two days, and was peaking now with the heel pain. The real question was: Was I even having fun out here? I was hiking this trail to enjoy it, not suffer through it. I knew that I could force myself through the pain if I had to, but did I have to? No, I did not.
I bit the bullet. I called Vicki and asked her for a ride home. She wasn’t exactly happy to hear this, as it was a three and a half hour drive to get here. I told her about my new plan, that the two of us would take a road trip together up to Oregon. In fact, it was actually an old plan. Last year, we decided that we wanted to do this, after the late-Summer wildfires smoked us out on our big Washington road trip. The plan had been to do it in June, before fire season. Then the PCT thru hike idea had taken hold of me like a tidal wave, and this road trip got postponed to some other year. I proposed to resurrect the Oregon Plan. She wasn’t sure what to say, as it seemed so sudden, but at least she agreed to come get me. But not until I swore that I would help her prepare for the big party, of course. But that was OK by me, as long as I could stay off my feet for a while.
After that, there was nothing to do but wait. I told her how to find me on Google Maps (I had my location shared with her while solo hiking), and then I sat down to wait. I had a feeling that it would be after sunset when she arrived. I got out my Kindle and began to read. As the sun got lower, I took out my warm down layers and put them on, as I wasn’t generating any heat just sitting on my butt. Then even my butt fell asleep! I walked up and down the dirt road on my toes, trying to keep the blood flowing. And I checked out her progress on the phone, over and over again, as time dragged on, until she finally arrived.
I gave her a big hug and loaded my backpack into the car. “Goodbye PCT!” I said, sadly, as I got into the driver’s seat. It was my turn to drive. But we couldn’t go home quite yet, as my food cache was sitting under a bush to the northwest. We decided to have some dinner in Hesperia, up north in the Mojave Desert, then headed west to grab the cache. After that, it was only a two hour drive to get back to San Diego, and we headed down the freeway toward home.
My Pacific Crest Trail Thru Hike attempt was over. For now.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
<< Back to Day 33 Onward to Day 35 >> 
hikingtales.com 