On my 49th day on the PCT in 2023 I slackpacked from Silverwood Lake to I-15, using my eBike to get me from my car at the famous McDonalds back to the start of the hike at the western end of the lake.
From PCT mile 328.8 to 341.9 Total: 13.1 miles 12/11
It was seriously cold when I woke up before dawn at the Deep Creek Trailhead, where I stealth-camped in the back of my car. The car’s thermometer said 25 degrees when I started it up! In case you’re wondering, I was a wimp and stayed in my sleeping bag until the car warmed up the interior before putting on my hiking clothes. This was significantly better than Tent Life. And this weather was to be expected in early December. Let’s face it: I was really pushing it, calendar-wise, to finish the Desert Section before the end of 2023! But I didn’t care, provided I completed it.
I drove all the way west, to the side road next to the Interstate 15 Freeway, and decided to park at the McDonalds, rather than further down the hill at the PCT trailhead itself. Why? To save a hundred feet of climbing using my eBike’s battery. I wasn’t sure how well it would do, and there were two large hills to climb in order to reach Silverwood Lake. I intended to pedal-assist as much as possible, but I knew that the battery was going to be providing most of the energy. With a 450 watt electric motor, this bike would easily go twenty miles per hour uphill. This would make short work of the ten mile road route. At the end of the hike I would hike that extra hundred feet on my own power. I’ve done it before.
I put on my goose down jacket, gloves, and helmet, then donned my big daypack and locked up the car. It was time to go! I knew that I was going to be frozen soon, as Wind Chill is significant at eBike speeds, but I would simply have to suffer through it. The first hill climbed up the long grade toward Cajon Pass. At the top there were railroad tracks, and a freight train was arriving just as I did. Train lover that I am, I took some photos and videos. It was also a good time to cool off. My face was frozen but I was sweating under the jacket from the strenuous pedaling. After that, there was a long run, mostly downhill, along Highway 138. Luckily there wasn’t much traffic, early on a Sunday morning, because there were a few sections of road with no shoulder whatsoever. This made bike riding quite dangerous, especially with the sun at a low angle, blinding the drivers coming up behind me. Was I scared? Of course I was scared! But I did it anyway, and managed to survive, so there you have it. The final hill up to the Silverwood Lake overlook was on a much better road as the shoulder was the width of a car, and I had plenty of room to stay safe. I stopped at the top to take a look (and some photos) of Silverwood Lake before heading down the hill to the park’s entrance road.
I hung a right on Cleghorn Road, and made my way toward the Group Campgrounds. The park doesn’t let PCT hikers camp there, sadly, but they can still get water, use the bathrooms, and dump some trash. Then they hike a bit further and camp just beyond the park boundary for free. Maybe the PCTA should cut a deal with the park and lease the group camp for a few months each Spring. Yet another great idea that will never happen. I tilted the bike to get it under a locked gate on a steep side road that led up to a water tank, then used the power of the motor to help me walk it up the hill a short distance. The PCT crosses that road, so I locked the bike a bit higher up the hill, then walked down and started hiking on the trail.
There were a lot of very long and shallow switchbacks for the next mile or two as I climbed up the hill. Views got better, especially back east toward Silverwood Lake. Cleghorn Road continued to the west, but it no longer goes through to I-15 like it used to in the old days, back before Highway 138 was built. Meanwhile, I climbed and climbed in the morning sun. I wasn’t freezing any longer!
I took a short break at the top of Cleghorn Ridge. There was a forest road running along the crest, and there were plenty of tire tracks, so it seemed that off-roaders were up here recently, having fun. I wished I had a jeep to drive on roads like this, but I wasn’t willing to buy one. I would stick with my 4WD Rav4, which might not have the clearance, but it sure had the comfort.
After that, the trail descended to the north, down into Little Horsethief Canyon. Such a great name. Very Wild West. Good thing there were no convenient trees around to string up them slimy skulkin’ horse-thievin’ varmints.
The trail stayed high above the canyon, but angled down slowly as the canyon rose to greet it. They met at the western end. Vicki and I camped here back in 2021 after spending the previous night at Silverwood Lake. Vicki doesn’t hike that far, maybe seven miles a day, while I was hiking fifteens, so I was going twice as fast. I know other PCT hikers that do thirties! In a single day they could crank out what took Vicki and I an extended weekend to do.
After my break, it was time for the final climb of the day. It wasn’t much, and the air was cool, so it was a joy to do it. As I hiked, I remembered the tall green grasses of Spring 2023, when the seed heads were waist height, waving in the breezes. Now, in December, everything was brown and the seeds were probably tucked away in some busy rodent’s stash.
The gradual slope up Little Horsethief Canyon met the sudden headwall of Crowder Creek canyon with a steep drop-off. The views were absolutely stunning from up there. I took a ton of photos and videos, just like I did last time I was here. I took one final look back east, all the way to the Mojave Dam, and after that it was all about the view to the west, down into the Cajon Valley and the distant San Gabriel Mountains. Gorgeous!
The trail climbed a bit higher, because it couldn’t very well descend via an unstable cliff, and then the big downhill blast of the day began. The PCT followed along the top of a long, winding ridge, for a one thousand foot descent over the next three miles. This was one of the best parts of this entire section, in my mind, both for views and for hiking. I took all kinds of photos and videos as I walked along. It was hard not to.
There was a set of power lines down near the bottom of the valley, and I had some more fun with photos. I could see the end of my day coming up, down below where the creek went through the narrows. I knew that my hike was almost over, and this time I wasn’t sad. It was only a thirteen mile day, and I would be back home in a few hours. I hiked onward rapidly. Time to get this section over with!
There was still water flowing in Crowder Creek. It looked trashed down there, probably due to the torrential rains of the remnants of Hurricane Hilary back in late August. And that’s why the PCT tends to remain high on the side of canyon walls, rather than down below. No one wants to rebuild a trail. Of course, along here it was following the old road, which was mostly gone now, thanks to rockslides and washouts over the years. The trail just went around those obstacles. It was very pretty down below in the creekbed, with yellow willow and oak leaves everywhere. And then suddenly I came around a corner and there was the freeway, with all its noise and bluster. My hike was almost done.
This is where almost every PCT hiker turns right and leaves the trail behind. The call of greasy fries and hamburgers is a strong one to people subsisting on dried noodles and peanut butter tortillas. I didn’t care about that, being more of a day hiker at this point, but my car was there, so uphill I hiked along the road. I got to the car, put my backpack in the back, and drove off to the east. I couldn’t go home, not yet. I had to pick up the eBike first. About a half hour later, the bike was on the rack, and I was ready to drive home.
Two hours later, I was heading into San Diego as the sun set in the west. The sky was pretty and I was thrilled. I never really expected to finish this section this year. Hooray for my eBike! It really saved the day.
Now all that was left was the seventy miles of Section B that I flipped past last April due to excessive snow in the high country of the San Jacinto Mountains. Vicki said that she would help me with the car shuttling. All I needed now was a decent weather window to make the attempt. I had a feeling that this would happen, it was just a matter of being patient. But not too patient. I had less than three weeks until New Years, and a snowstorm could arrive at any time. I decided to start packing right away, to be ready for the opportunity when it arose.
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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