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May 29, 2015
Day: 5 Daily Miles: 44.5 Total Miles: 230.75 Hours Hiking: 16.5
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| Sunrise from Fuller Ridge at the start of the descent from Mt. San Jacinto. |
May 29, I made it 44.5 miles to Halfmile 2015 mark 231 miles, right next to Mission Creek. Those coordinates are 0530234E 3771747N UTM. WHOA, yesterday was....It felt like a long day...I mean it was, but...when you look back at the trail to see that you have come off of a mountain, across a big flat area, and then gone up into some other hills, which look back on that mountain, you get the sense that you actually traveled some distance, when you can project back to where you started. But I started the morning off a couple tenths of a mile passed the North Fork San Jacinto creek, starting way up at like 9,000 ft on San Jacinto. I had a pretty good nights sleep actually. There was a nice flat spot, where I got some pine duff to rest on, with a good view and I slept well. I woke up about 4:50 am, per usual, and got my stuff together and left at about 5:20 am, pretty much on par with the rest of my days, and then started down. It was pretty nice in the morning, cool, Fuller Ridge has ups and downs but with great views of sunrise, down towards LA and even back towards Palm Springs. It was enjoyable, it was pretty good up until you start getting out of the trees and onto the east facing slope, which you stay on for 15 miles....and it's just down. Really, there are so many switchbacks and you just keep going....you...you see where you're headed, but it's way down the mountain, there's no direct path, so there's nothin' else you can do besides turn the corner and do the next switchback, and the next switchback and the next. The worst part about it is the last switchback....it's one of the biggest switchbacks I know of, its like a mile long in ONE direction, so you just wrap around the mountain, then you wrap right around back and there you go, you're at the bottom.
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| Fuller Ridge sunrise. |
As I descended, the temperature of course got warmer and the sun got higher and hotter...so I started out with no shirt, because it was really pleasant and it kept me cooler...and then as I slowly got down there, the sun started picking up and I had to put the shirt back on. I started sweating a lot, and then I got down passed a couple people....one guys was like "oh man, this is killing me...its sooo hot, and I have so far to go"..... and then towards the bottom there was a couple, which at first glance looked like they were smart ultralight people...they both had chrome domes [umbrellas], they both had nice tiny packs....and then, when I got closer, I actually startled the woman, even though I was making LOTS of noise and was fairly close to here when I said 'Hello'....they were both wearing minimalist sandals....like, flip flops, like the things you would put in your pack for camp shoes...walking down this...the woman was obviously hurting, she was sllooowwwlly going in her own little world, that's probably why I scared her so much, because she had to pick every foot fall carefully...I, would never, ever dream of doing such things, especially in the desert where everything wants to make you bleed and stab you....and leave things inside your body, like thorns.....So yeah, I got to the drinking fountain, drank a ton of water, then I had about a 4 mile flat sandy hot stretch to get over to Ziggy and the Bear's. I managed to call my parents, who had just gotten back from a vacation and tour in Europe. It was good to catch up. I got to Ziggy and the Bear eventually. I was the only one there. They were actually closing down on the 31st, so in two days they are technically not accepting more people or hikers, unless you call ahead or something...because the bulk of the hikers have actually gone through...It was nice, I arrived, Ziggy game me the spiel, like "go wash your hands and sign in, and ill take care of everything else..." So, I go wash my hands and come back, the register is there with the paper towels to dry my hands and a small, ice cold Gatorade....I think, once the masses have gone by, it feels good to them to help people like they used too, 'Ahhh good, we don't have to take care of, 50 to 100 hiker brats in a day, we just take car of one or two'. I guess the day before there was 9 people, which I found to be a lot, because I haven't passed that many people... They all left very early in the morning upon her urging.
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| The barren switchbacks heading down Mt. San Jacinto. |
I got there, I think around 12:30 pm or so and commenced the normal resupply. It took me about, a little under two hours, like 1:50 minutes to complete it. I got my box, got my phone charging, all my food separated....threw out stuff, repackaged stuff...all the stuff that HAS to happen, that takes time. "I need new batteries...where are the new batteries...the new batteries go in the electronics bag...OK...done ....now what’s next" Slowly, piecemealing whatever you threw into that box into its specific location in your pack. I took care of my feet, I took a shower...which...I actually, literally walked into their shower....which is in a metal building, so in the bright sun, its about 200 degrees in there, so you walk in there and you're like "ohhhhh I'm going to die...." but then you get the cold water on and it feels great, its just kind of odd as wherever the cold water is hitting you, you feel good, but everywhere else is just HOT. I walked into the shower, fully clothed, minus my shoes and my socks, where I proceeded to wash them while they were on me, then took them off and washed myself, doing double duty. Plus, I left them wet, so when I left, I got to be cooled as they evaporated. I wish I could have stayed longer of course, because by the time I left, it was about 2:30 pm, which is just about the most wretched time possible to be walking out into the desert around Palm Springs....(Laughs).....it, was hot....it was very hot....I was very glad I was wet, that lasted a good 2 miles or so, and then from there, doing that one pass, about 6 miles out from their place...its very steep compared to the PCT in general, its just awful, it was in the sun and I finally got to the point where I had to start counting steps up the thing, because I just didn't want to move after doing 20+ miles of downhill earlier...that just.....and the heat boiling you, made it awful... but, like always, I made it to the top, went down the backside...which hurt more because I had done the massive amounts of downhill already...and kept going. That afternoon though, from about the time I left Ziggy and the Bear to a good 6:00 pm, I was just zoned out, hot miserable.....not very much loving life...but I did the ups and downs and FINALLY made it to whitewater creek, where I had to apply some more tape to my feet. I literally jumped into the creek, again with all my clothes, because it was that hot still...(laughs)...which was very nice... So I got a little behind because I did a resupply and took about a half hour at Whitewater Creek, but, all in all, it's worth it. Some days you just can't make the miles and you gotta do what’s right for you and not necessarily what you want to do in regards to your plan...because plans change. Once I left Whitewater Creek, I knew it was an up to a ridge and then down to Mission Creek and from Mission Creek a gradual up until wherever I was going to stop. And it was exactly that. It was hard to go up the hill because I was, passed the point of caring...it was hot, I was tired...at least the sun went behind some clouds so I didn't really have to worry about the sun anymore, even though it was still blazing down on me... (laughs)...
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| Climbing up from Whitewater Creek. |
I made it to the top, came down to the bottom, which hurt again....that Mission Creek downclimb is pretty steep, it feels pretty long after a good 26 miles of down earlier in the day...I finally got down to the creek and I snuck up on this...well I didn't sneak up on the couple, but, when you're out not seeing many people, you don't expect to see another person, especially when it becomes evening time, as most hikers stop around 6 or 7 so they have an hour of sunlight left to get dinner done and then once it's dark they are asleep. So, they weren't expecting to see me...and...as I approached the first crossing of Mission Creek, there is this big cottonwood tree and they were below it, making dinner...And when I get closer, I glance up..."Oh, there's people up there" and I see this mad scrambling from one of them....(laughs!) It was a woman....it was a couple, and the woman had obviously had her shirt off, and was like 'Oh NO, a person' and was freaking out.....so I...they were camping out RIGHT next to the trail, I just rolled by, didn't look up, but said 'Hi', the general 'Hi' and 'Bye' banter, and then left them. Afterwards, for the next half hour, I was thinking about all the things that could have been said...like "Ohh don't worry, I can't see pretty boobs, I can only see ugly ones, so don't worry about it" (giggles) or, yelling 'Thank You!' from way off in the distance, because you know that would be funny for them, because she was obviously embarrassed, wasn't expecting to see me. I mean, I didn't really even see anything, so, way to go on her part I guess, but, that was pretty funny.... I kept going on more, it was getting darker, I knew I wanted to make the miles to get up passed where I had camped before because the next day was going to be hot, and I wanted to get the hell out of that canyon as fast as possible, so I hiked on until about 9:15/20 pm. Eventually, after multiple creek crossings, it was dark, the moon was out thought, which helped a lot...and I finally found a good spot and set up camp and went to bed somewhere around 10:00 pm...and hour later than I had wanted but I had made the miles on a resupply day, so I thought that was good, so I was happy. I had good position for the next...tomorrow, to do the climb up and out and do it in good time before the sun got really hot, because that canyon can become an over. That's about my day!
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| Looking south from Mather Pass, Sierra Nevada Mountains. |
