On the 38th day of my PCT Desert Section trek I totally cheated by hiking on the closed-to-traffic Angeles Crest Highway, from Vincent Gap to Little Jimmy Campground, rather than climb Mount Baden-Powell.
From PCT mile 371.6 to 383.9 Total: 12.8 miles 10/18
When I woke up that morning in the Jackson Flat Group Campground, I wasn’t entirely certain that I was going to cheat. I only decided to “sleep on it” and when I woke up I still wasn’t sure. I decided to put it off until the Moment of Truth, down at Vincent Gap. I ate breakfast in the early light of dawn and packed up my gear. I also filled my water jugs to the top using the nearby faucet. Then it was time to hike!
I checked the map, and it made more sense to begin the day by cheating, by hiking on the old dirt road to the west of the camp. The PCT wandered up and over a ridge to the north, and I already section-hiked that back in 2019 with Vicki, when it was coated with Rime Ice after an overnight storm. There was no possible way that it could be that beautiful today, in Autumn. Besides, if I was going to make that big climb up Baden-Powell, then it was better to get there immediately, while the air was cool. Justifications. I’m really good at creating them!
When I arrived at Vincent Gap and the main highway, the sun was just arriving. The slope up Baden-Powell was about 2500 feet of climbing, with 42 switchbacks (if I recall correctly), and it faced east, so it promised to be a hot climb no matter what. There were a few cars in the parking lot, as this hike is strenuous enough to be a great day-hike if you are fit enough to attempt it. I once climbed it with a much heavier backpack (using old-school gear) thirty years ago in the nineties when my sons were in the Boy Scouts. It was tough, I’ll give you that.
Well, I got down to the gap and stared at the locked gate on the ACH. The highway had been closed all year long, thanks to the heavy snows and late-season rains during the wild weather year of 2023. Back in the Spring, when I was thinking about hiking it (before I quit due to plantar fasciitis issues) many of the thru hikers in the PCT Class of 2023 were taking the road rather than climb up Baden-Powell, as it was extremely icy and dangerous. I met one girl who boldly climbed it and then had to self-arrest using her ice axe when she slipped on the far side of the peak. Scary! My plan back then was to skip the peak, as I knew nothing about self-arrest, even though I owned an ice axe. Vicki insisted on the highway bypass, as I was 65 years old and she didn’t want to lose me after 39 years of marriage. So selfish of her! But that was OK, as I didn’t want to lose me, either!
So there I was, staring at the gate, then glancing over to the trailhead, and back. Which would it be? I really wanted to climb the mountain, but part of me already knew that I wasn’t going to do it. Maybe sleeping on it worked. What I really wanted was to have climbed the mountain. Past tense. I didn’t want to climb it now. Sad but true. And that’s how my cheating day was born. I rationalized it by saying that I was hiking the highway in the Spirit of the Class of 2023, and also that this was really the only chance I would ever have to hike via the road, as it is usually buzzing with high speed motorcycles, souped-up cars, and slowpoke gigantic RV’s. ACH, here I come!
To tell the truth, cheating or not, I really enjoyed this hike! The road was in the shade for most of the morning, and the uphill grade was perfectly smooth and consistent all the way. Truly a pleasure to hike. Every fifteen or twenty minutes, a big CalTrans truck would drive by. It was obvious that they were still working on the Spring washouts. Every Winter, the ACH has rockslides and washouts, and every Spring they fix them. But the work was taking much longer in 2023. It probably wouldn’t be opening at all this year, as the first snow would be arriving soon enough.
Meanwhile, there were great views to the north, out over the Mojave Desert, and I could see the windfarm I crossed on the way to Tehachapi Pass back in April.
The big climb of the morning ended at Dawson Saddle, the highest point on the Angeles Crest Highway. There was a CalTrans garage there, as this was the middle of the zone that needed daily plowing for the rocks that were constantly falling. The San Gabriel range is noted for its chossy, loose granite, and it was always coming apart. Vicki and I parked here when we summitted Baden-Powell back in 2015, and climbed up the old trail toward the PCT. That was a fun hike, and probably the easiest route to the top of B-P.
After the saddle, the highway descended at the same gentle grade. More trucks drove by, including a semi-truck carrying a bunch of very long steel beams. I wondered what was happening up ahead, and whether I would see it. I also gained an entirely new view after the saddle. Mounts Islip and Williamson were across the way, as was Windy Gap, the saddle that was very close to my destination at Little Jimmy Campground. The last time I was there was back in 2013 with Vicki, when we bagged a number of peaks along the PCT, including Mount Islip. That was a fun trip, but Vicki ran out of gas and we never made it to Baden-Powell. (That’s why we did the 2015 trip.) Yes, as a San Diego resident, I’ve hiked and camped all over the SoCal mountains, for many years, which was also why I opted for the highway this time. Been there, done that, time for something new.
It wasn’t until I neared Windy Gap that I found out what the road closure was all about. The semi with the girders was there, and workers were unloading the beams. It looked like they were shoring up beneath the road where it washed out. Only one lane was useable, and there was some big equipment working. When they saw me they paused and let me hike on through. Thanks!
As I walked past the curve, I saw the extremely steep ravine that led up the hill toward Windy Gap. I thought I remembered a Use Trail that led down that ravine, and I was hoping to use it today, to climb up the slope to rejoin the PCT, but it wasn’t going to happen. Not without a lot of sweat and suffering, at any rate. That’s when I opted for Plan B, which was to hike up the forest road that the rangers use to service the Little Jimmy campground. That’s the route that Vicki and I used in 2013. It wasn’t great, as I would have to hike further downhill on the highway before climbing it all over again on the forest road, then backtrack south on the PCT to the campground. Oh well. It is what it is, I guess. Quite often, a longer trail is faster and easier than a short but difficult bushwhack.
As I continued downhill on the ACH toward Islip Saddle, I came across an even worse washout. This time, they were bringing in truckloads of soil in big dump trucks, using it to fill in what washed away during the big Spring melt. There was even less roadway remaining on this one, and they were working below the grade, shoring it up as best as they could. The ACH is a tough road to maintain. But it sure is beautiful.
I made it to the forest road and began the 350 foot climb to rejoin the PCT. After all the cheating I did on the highway, this was my penance. I must’ve deserved to do some extra climbing, and extra hiking. When I compared tracks later on, the mileage for my cheater route and the proper PCT route were within a half mile of each other. But I climbed significantly less by taking the highway. I don’t regret it either, to tell the truth. I had fun. But the steep climb up that water-damaged forest road was at least some punishment for cheating, so I didn’t get off Scot Free.
The cheater hike was faster, for sure. It was noon when I arrived on the PCT again, and I only had a mile or so of nearly-flat trail to reach the campground. Parts of this area burned recently, during the Bobcat Fire, but I was pleased to see that the Little Jimmy Campground was left untouched. On normal years, this is a very popular spot with backpackers of all sorts. It gets crazy busy on weekends. But today? There was no one there at all. Astounding.
The first order of business after reaching the campground was getting water. I put down my pack in a likely camping spot and got out my collapsible gallon water jug. Then I headed for Little Jimmy Spring. This spring is one of the mainstays of the PCT in this region. It is perennial in every way. It runs all year round, and continued flowing even during the worst drought year in SoCal, back in the Summer of 2015. This is one of those water sources that I don’t bother purifying. It’s always cold and clean and wonderful. I filled up my jug happily, and headed back to camp. This water was going to keep me going all the way through tomorrow’s hike and into the following day. I’d have to carry it that whole way, but it was worth it. I would be sure to top up all of my containers in the morning, just to make certain that I had enough.
I got back to camp and set up my tent in the shade. This place even had bear boxes for food, as it was popular enough that bears had discovered the lazy humans who used it, which caused trouble in the past. I doubted they would bother me today, but I put my food inside anyway. I sat at the table and read for a while. Then I walked down toward the PCT. I met a SOBO hiker who was taking a break. She lost her favorite hat and asked that I look for it on my way north, and gave me her number. She was hiking thirty mile days by this point, and hoped to reach Wrightwood tonight. I wished her well, and off she went. I wondered how many SOBOs I missed while cheating on the road. Thus far, I was only seeing a handful of hikers per day. SOBO is much less popular, but thus far, what with the big snows, I was thinking that 2023 should be declared the Year of the SOBO, as everything worked out perfectly for them.
After that, things got boring at Little Jimmy. I was far from cell signal, and there were no hunters around here. I put away my bright orange poncho for now. There would be more hunters later on, two days from now. I cooked dinner and checked the Far Out Guide for what was up ahead tomorrow. Nothing too exciting, really, just more hiking through the Angeles National Forest. I could get used to that.
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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