On the 52nd day of my PCT Desert Section thru hike, I hiked from Saddle Junction near Idyllwild to the Deer Springs Trail and onward to the beautiful Fuller Ridge Trail, eventually camping on the long grade down to Snow Creek, high above the windmills of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.
From PCT mile 179.5 to 195.4 Total:16.0 miles 12/16
Once again, I woke up early, in the dark. I purposely wanted to do this, and set my alarm, but I woke up even earlier. I knew that I wouldn’t get back to sleep so I sat up and started my day. Cooking oatmeal, getting dressed, and packing up my gear. It was cold out there, about thirty degrees, but I was used to this by now. I left my goretex hard shell on over my hiking clothes, plus my warm fuzzy hat and gloves. I was planning on hiking a bit more than my standard fifteen miles today to make up for yesterday’s thirteen miler. This was doable, I felt. I would only be climbing about two thousand feet and descending roughly four thousand, which didn’t sound too bad at all. Very doable.
I put on the heavy backpack and turned my headlamp up a level. I needed to see! And then I started hiking, uphill in the dark. I had a solid thousand feet to climb in the first two miles, then a thousand down in the next two miles. This is typical PCT behavior, so there is no point in complaining about it. The PCT seemingly loves to do this to thru hikers, again and again and again. And we keep coming back for more abuse! Similar to the Stockholm Syndrome, we learn to love the punishment. Maybe it’s the reward of beautiful views. All I needed now was for the sun to rise so I could get some! Nope. Just some color in the east, and a headlamp illuminating the rocky trail.
The daylight grew brighter as I neared Strawberry Junction. There is a large Trail Camp there, complete with outhouse. It was cold but not windy, or I might have taken my break inside there! Not necessary, thank goodness. I was hoping for some sunshine, as my nose and fingers were cold, but there wasn’t much chance of that. So I sat on a log and ate a bit of snack, and sucked down some water, even though I hadn’t been sweating.
Soon I would be hiking north, on the Deer Springs Trail, in the sun-shadow of Marion Mountain. I had another thousand feet of climbing to do. I would be reaching the 9000 foot mark. Again. I put on my backpack and started hiking. Not surprisingly, this side of the mountain had plenty of residual snow. It was rock hard and slippery with ice, thanks to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Maybe it would get slushy sometime later today, but by then I would long, long gone. I hiked carefully, like I did yesterday in Tahquitz Valley, trying my best to step in the partly melted footsteps left by recent hikers during warm afternoons.
Two miles later, I arrived at Deer Springs, the trail’s namesake. There was water here (from the spring) and it was frozen solid. Icy air was flowing down the mountain within this V-shaped canyon, and I didn’t stay long. I noticed that there was a NO CAMPING sign posted near the old Deer Springs Campground. Sad but true. The CCC (California Conservation Corps) spent several Summers camped here while they did some major trail upgrades on the PCT in this area. Good job! Too bad the rest of us can’t camp there now because they trashed the campground.
I reached the top of the day’s climb. The Fuller Ridge Trail headed left, and the Deer Springs Trail continued uphill to the summit of San Jacinto Peak. The trail was worn heavily in that direction, as many dayhikers follow that route. The PCT hikers are otherwise. Many thru hikers take a quick slackpack up to the top from this spot. The view from there is incredible. At 10,834 feet elevation, it is one of the few places where you can look two miles down to the valley floor, almost directly downhill to Palm Springs. Vicki and I have hiked the Fuller Ridge Trail many times, going back as far as August 2011. I consider it to be one of the prettiest trails on the mountain.
So I began the next nine miles of my day, having hiked seven already. But this time it was mostly downhill. My proposed campsite was about 4500 feet lower than this point! All that work yesterday, climbing 5000 feet, to be expended in one long rush of hiking. Oh yeah!
Just ahead of me were the two likely water sources of the day. If I didn’t collect some now I would be very sorry by tomorrow morning. This is tasty water, so I was ready. What I wasn’t ready for was the sheer quantity of ice! The first creek had the biggest flow, and also the largest amount of ice. It was a solidified, lava-like blob that had flowed and grown with time until it covered the trail, and even the steps leading down to the water. I saw bubbles flowing slowly under the thin sections of ice. It was very beautiful, like Nature’s Own Ice Sculpture. But I didn’t see any safe places to collect water from. The only air-exposed water was accessible by walking on the ice itself. No, thanks! I was worried enough about negotiating the frozen-over stone steps, the new ones made by the CCC. Meanwhile, there was also a draft of uber-icy air coming down the valley from above. I couldn’t stay here long. I got out my hiking stick and carefully made my way up the steps, placing my shoes only on exposed edges that were made of stone.
After surviving the frozen steps, I hurried on, a quarter mile or so to the other source, the North Fork San Jacinto Creek. It usually had less flow, and it was true now. It also had less ice, and wasn’t very dangerous. I took off my backpack on the far side, put away my stick, and got out all of my water containers. I stepped up carefully, and filled them at a tiny water streamlet. Meanwhile, this valley also had icy air downdraft issues. Katabatic Winds, they are called. Very soon, my hands and fingers were absolutely frozen. I stuffed the water into my backpack and hustled myself out of there. I would worry about purifying it later, when the sun was shining and I was warm.
The trail was cruisey for next next couple of miles, with good views to the west, down toward the town of Pine Cove. And almost no snow! After that, the best part of the trail arrived, when it followed along the narrow, steep section of Fuller Ridge, switching from the east to west sides. The views changed dramatically with each shift, and the trail itself went up and down, sometimes steeply, on the large granite boulders and outcroppings. I was really enjoying myself. I love this trail.
The views down toward Palm Springs were impressive. I knew that I would be down there by tomorrow, 7000 feet below me right now. That’s a lot of downhill, and it can be bad for older knees. That’s why I was breaking up the descent into two days, doing the first third today.
When the trail neared Castle Rocks, it swung around to the west, staying on the northern slope of Fuller Ridge. This area was heavily forested, but also very steep. The sun doesn’t shine on the ground very often there, and in the Spring it is one of the deadliest sections of the PCT in Southern California, due to icy conditions. People have seriously injured themselves here, even when using Microspikes and ice axes. One hiker disappeared. After this morning’s icy snow, I really wasn’t looking forward to this section, as I had no Microspikes, let alone an ice axe. But when I arrived it was entirely snow-free! Hooray! Apparently the rain and snow from the recent storm came in from the southwest, and this side was in the rain shadow. I almost whooped with joy as I blasted down the switchbacks and cruised along through the wonderful tall pine trees. Life was good, indeed.
Once I arrived at the Fuller Ridge Trailhead, at Black Mountain Road, I felt like I was home free. I already hiked eleven miles, and only had five more to go, with a two thousand foot descent. Easy peasy. It was still early afternoon, and the sun was warm. I decided to stop at a picnic table and take a major break. I needed to purify my water, eat some lunch, take off my boots to let the socks air out, and finally remove my outer goretex layer. I felt like a normal hiker again, not some ice-crazed mountaineer.
Of course, this was technically a parking lot at the end of a road, but the road was also eight miles long, and the lack of vehicles on a Saturday afternoon could only mean that the gate was locked for Winter down below near Idyllwild. So, in reality, I was still out in the middle of nowhere. And I probably wouldn’t see any humans until tomorrow, unless you count the tiny cars driving by, far below on the desert floor. I was on my own, but that’s mostly the way it’s been all fifty two days of this hike.
Once lunch was over, my feet were dry, and I finished a chapter in my book, it was time to move on. The trail continued downhill, crossing Black Mountain Road one more time.
The PCT continued in its usual wiggly way, but it tended northeast, heading downhill, following a long ridgeline. The views were great up here, and the day wasn’t windy, for which I was thankful. There were hundreds of windmills in the valley below me, and there is a reason for that. I was lucky that they weren’t even spinning at all. Camping up here on this ridge was known to be treacherous due to wind exposure, and hiding your tent in the lee of a bush was the only way to survive. But not today. As I hiked, the sun lowered behind me into the west, and the air got cooler. I didn’t care, but I sure wanted to get to my camping spot. The Far Out app showed a couple of them along here, and had general descriptions for each. But descriptions aren’t the real thing.
I stopped at a likely spot, making this a sixteen mile day. That was good enough for me. The sun was shining on the campsite when I arrived, but by the time I finished putting up the tent, it was already in the shadow of the ridge. I put my stuff inside and put my goretex layers back on. I inflated my air mattress and fluffed up the down sleeping bag. I was hoping for a warmer night, since I was down at 5700 feet elevation, but only time would tell. Then I cooked up some hot ramen and relaxed in the tent.
I had great views of both San Jacinto Peak and San Gorgonio Mountain from the tent. This was excellent! I checked my phone and I also had strong cell signal. I called Vicki and we spoke for a while. It was good to hear a voice after three days of utter loneliness. It wouldn’t be long before I was back at my car, then home again. It couldn’t happen fast enough for me. But first I had the minor detail of all those miles to hike. Oh well. That was a problem for another day. All in all, I decided that today had been a lot of fun, even the night hiking, which I usually don’t do as a photographer. But this time it had been worth it. And then I went to sleep, a Happy Camper once again.
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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