This morning, my alarms were going off between 5 AM and 6 AM, but I laid in bed until around 6 AM. I knew I could get packed up pretty quickly and was just hoping to hit the trail by around 7 AM. It seems like I’ll do somewhere between 30–35 miles today. It will be about 30 miles for me to get back on the PCT after doing all of the road walking around the current fire closures. So depending on what time I finish that, I’ll just see how much further I want to go.
I got packed up quickly and then got ready to head out. I filled up 3 1/2 L of water because I couldn’t see any comments on the water cache up ahead, which was 5 miles out from Cajon pass. If that water cache was empty, then I would have to carry water for the 23 miles from Cajon pass to Wrightwood. It’s supposed to be a pretty hot today and a big chunk of those miles are going to be road walking. And I imagine all of those miles are going to be wide open and exposed.
As I walked out of town, I drank the rest of my chocolate milk from yesterday. Then stopped off and grabbed some McDonald’s for breakfast. I got a few sausage egg and cheese Mcgriddles. That way I could eat one right away and pack two out. I’m carrying a little bit less food for this three day stretch because I know I can eat at McDonald’s and then hopefully grab something to eat in Wrightwood later on today.
After that, I continued back to trail and walked out of town. As I was walking out of town, I walked past Tex, a woman who I met on trail the other night. It was so nice to see her again! She had camped a handful of miles before me. And because I did a shorter day yesterday it makes a lot of sense that she’s getting into town today. We took a picture together and then I continued making my way out of town.
Tex was so dang nice! It was really cool to see her again this morning as I walked out of town.
When you leave Cajon pass the trail takes you through a tunnel under the highway. Then yo go into another passage way under a railroad. The trail was all sand and wound up weaving through yet another tunnel later on. Then the trail began climbing and would continue climbing for the next 15 miles pretty much. The elevation gain wasn’t incredibly dramatic. I think over 13–14 miles I went up about 3000 feet. But nonetheless, you were certainly going uphill the entire time.
Walking through the tunnel under the highway by cajon pass.
For some reason, I felt like the time was going by pretty slow this morning. I can never really pinpoint why some days seem to fly by and others seem to drag. Maybe it’s the anticipation of today’s unique alternate routes and road walks. Who really knows. But this was just one of those days where the first couple of hours felt like a handful at least.
A train going right past the trail.
It began heating up for the day pretty much immediately. I could tell I would be drinking a lot of water over the course of the afternoon. I ended up drinking an entire liter within the first hour or so. But luckily about 5 miles into the day I passed that water cache and it had recently been filled. So I topped myself off to 3.5 L once again. That would hopefully be enough to take me the remaining 17 miles to Wrightwood. At this point I would rather have too much water than too little. I feel like I’ve been drinking so much lately.
A glorious water cache! I was so grateful to be able to guzzle a liter and then refill another one.
After I got water, my backpack was nice and heavy and the climbing continued. I decided to listen to a podcast and help the time go by a bit quicker. Eventually my mind was able to shift into gear and those next couple hours did go by a little faster than the first couple. The elevation gain was gradual enough, and I just kind of kept my head down and kept pushing.
Heading through another tunnel!
The trail walked along a very narrow ridge for most of the day. There was massive drop off on the side which could have been risky if you weren’t paying attention. But it was wide enough not to be an issue if you were paying attention. Then by just around noon I had gone 15 miles for the day and came to mile marker 356.2. This is where Forest service Road 3N31 would pick up. Because of the upcoming fire closure, hikers need to take this forest road down to lone pine canyon road. From there hikers should walk lone pine canyon road all the way into Wrightwood if they want to maintain their continuous footpath. But it seems like most hikers have been hitching the road into Wrightwood. Then just walking the closest highway out of town. I’m sure I would have done the same thing back in 2017 on my first thru hike.
The trail was really beautiful today, especially the further I got from town.
The forest service road was rocky and fairly steep, but it wasn’t too bad. Because it was entirely downhill I ate the last of my McDonald’s. And I drank a bunch of water because I knew that I could. I believe it should just be around 8 miles from the start of the forest service road to the town of Wrightwood. Give or take. That’s just what I saw on Google maps when I was looking it up yesterday.
Heading up a narrow and sandy ridge.
A Trail Angel reached out to me yesterday and was giving me some advice on this section. They had told me that lone pine canyon road could be pretty sketchy if visibility was bad. I guess it just has a fairly narrow shoulder and is a fast road. But when I got down to it, I was pleasantly surprised to see what seemed like a great road. It was pretty quiet and the shoulder was probably 2 1/2 feet wide. Considering some of the roads I’ve walked over the years, this was gonna be a real treat. Plus the weather is great today so visibility is perfect.
Highway 2, also known as the Angeles crest highway.
As I began walking that road it began climbing up. And as soon as I hit the pavement, the temperature began rising toward the highest temps of the day. Luckily, there was a pretty nice breeze in the air. But the road I was walking seemed like it was going to be entirely uphill. Obviously, I could only see so far ahead. But everything I could see was a gradual climb. Climbs on roads typically aren’t too bad though. The grade can be nice and easy.
I’m excited that the road walk is going to bring me right into Wrightwood today. At least when I get into town I can grab some cold drinks, refill my bottles, and maybe get something to eat. And from there I only probably have about 8 miles of road walking left of the day. Then maybe another few miles of PCT red line to do. So maybe 12 miles in total. Which won’t be too bad! I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get about 35 miles in today. That would be the best case scenario to set me up for the next few days.
The road walk into Wrightwood wound up actually being pretty nice. After I got off of that dirt road and onto pavement, I think I was only on pavement for maybe 4 miles. The shoulder was very wide to start and the road had a little to no traffic. Eventually, I did get to some sections where the road curved drastically. And the shoulder was fairly narrow. I could understand how that could make people nervous, especially if visibility and weather was bad. But the road still had so little traffic that I didn’t mind at all. And those sections were very brief.
Entering the outskirts of wrightwood!
Then the road brought me right into the outskirts of Wrightwood. And I got to walk through all the residential areas before getting onto the main street off of Highway 2. The houses in Wrightwood are so beautiful! All of the neighborhoods were super cute and I really enjoyed walking around. I saw people out walking their dogs and everyone was super friendly. It was a great last mile or so before I got to the main part of town.
I stayed on back roads for most of the walk so that I didn’t have to get onto the busier highway. But honestly, you could’ve gotten onto Highway 2 at anytime. Because there was a large path next to the road for pedestrians. Once I walked into town, I headed over to the gear shop. In hindsight, I probably should’ve got a canister of fuel. But I didn’t even think about it until I left town. Luckily I’ll probably be in Agua Dulce in a couple days so hopefully I can get fuel there. I wanted to see if the gear shop was still giving away PCT pins. In 2022 they had adorable pins showing the old diamond PCT emblem. Apparently they haven’t gotten more this year though so they’re not doing that yet.
When I was in the gear shop, I saw Christian who I met the other day on trail. He didn’t end up staying in Cajon pass so I knew I was going to see him at some point. Everyone I talked to at Cajon said that they were going to stay in Wrightwood. And at the time I didn’t realize that I had to walk straight through town because of the fire closure. I figured I wouldn’t see a lot of people because they’d all be in town and I would be on the trail. So this road walk actually worked out pretty well.
After going to the gear shop, I went to the grocery store. They have a big outdoor covered seating area specifically for hikers. And there were probably 10 hikers hanging out there. I dropped my pack and then went inside to grab some lunch. I got a soda and a canned coffee drink to have right away. Then I grabbed a couple drinks to fill my water bottles with for the next 8 or so miles of road walk.
Today I had craving for one of those super sugary canned coffees!
Inside the grocery store, there were tons of hikers hanging out. I recognize a couple of them from McDonald’s the other day and chatted to them. It’s actually so amazing that I get to see multiple people more than once. A lot of people made the choice to hitch the road walk into Wrightwood. Which means that they ended up getting up ahead of me. Which is actually amazing because I rarely ever get to see anyone more than once this year! So now I’m seeing multiple people for the second time, which was really nice.
Some of the hikers hanging out by the grocery store.
I wound up getting a container of macaroni salad and a BLT sandwich with some potato salad for lunch. Then went back outside and joined the hoard of hikers. We were hanging out in the shade. After I sat down, a couple people had recognized me and asked my name to confirm who I was. Then a few people further down the table heard and people had lots of questions. Everyone was so nice and it was a blast talking with a bunch of hikers.
That one guy Dreamer was there, who I met a couple days ago and then he stayed in Cajon pass. He beat me to town because he hitched the road walk too. But honestly that’s something I definitely would’ve done back in 2017 or maybe even 2022 on trail. Every thru hike is different and I think it’s ok for your opinions of things like that to ebb and flow. I’m on a mission this year so maintaining a continuous foot path is crucial.
I ended up eating and drinking a bunch, but then packing the BLT out to eat later. I was talking to two hikers outside the grocery store named Nathan and Pipe Bomb. They are two of the only people I’ve met so far who did all of the road walking to maintain their continuous foot path. Which means they’re going to be walking out of town soon! And they planned to get back on the PCT and camp a little bit past the next water source. So there’s a really good chance we might actually wind up hiking together this afternoon and camping together. I don’t think I’ve hiked with and camped with anyone on the entire PCT yet.
I wound up dillydallying a lot at the grocery store and was probably there for almost an hour. But there was plenty of daylight left and I knew I’d make a really good time on the road walk. So I headed out around 3:30 PM and started the 8.8 mile road walk to reconnect to the PCT where the fire closure ends. The first few miles of the road walk are regular highway open to vehicles. Then the last handful of miles is a portion of Highway 2 which is currently closed to vehicles. So at least that part of the day is going to be really quiet and chill.
I love a wild sign like this.
After walking for a half hour or so, Nathan and Pipe Bomb caught up to me. Then we walked together for the rest of the day. It was so fun walking and talking with people. They’re both really funny and we had some super entertaining conversation. They had lots of questions about the calendar year triple crown, and other thru hikes. And I love talking about this stuff so it was a really good time.
Walking right in the middle of highway 2! Because it was closed to vehicles.
It was super hot and exposed on the road, but it definitely could’ve been worse. We just kept it moving. Slowly but surely making our way back to the PCT. Once we got onto the portion of the road was closed that was amazing. It’s so cool to be able to walk right in the middle of the highway without any worries. Then when we were a couple miles out from the trail I ate my BLT. Which was still so ridiculously good. I knew once we reconnected to the PCT there was going to be a couple thousand feet of elevation gain heading up towards Mount Baden Powell. There’s a water source about a mile and a half up the climb. That’ll be the last water source of the day. And I’m only planning on going maybe another mile and a half past there to the next marked tent site. That’ll round me out at a 35 mile day.
I can’t and I won’t.
We wound up getting back to the trailhead where the PCT reconnected around 6 PM. And once we got there a lady came up to me who recognized me. Sometimes it takes me a minute to recognize who someone is. I feel like I’m constantly meeting and talking to a lot of people. But as soon as she mentioned that we had met in Key West, I realized it must’ve been the crunchy family!On my first day on the border to border calendar year triple crown I met the sweetest husband, wife, and daughter who were biking in the keys. They had been following along with my blogs and videos for a while. And they mentioned that they were planning on doing the PCT this year. It’s their young daughter’s first long thru hike.
I got a message from them not too long ago and knew that they were fairly close ahead on the trail. But wasn’t sure when we would run into each other. It’s pretty crazy to think that I met these three people on day one, and now I’m seeing them again on day 129. I think that that is the biggest gap in time of which I’ve seen anyone all year. I did see three other hikers at the start of the PCT who I met at the Florida trail kickoff. So that timetable is pretty similar. But this is wild. I think they’re the only people who I met on day one. Everyone else I was hiking around were friends from other trails.
It was so nice to talk with them and I got to sign their daughter, Gummy Bear’s, pack. I was thinking a lot about how cool it is that this little girl is thru hiking for the first time when she’s so young. I would guess she’s probably somewhere around 10–12 years old. I should’ve asked. I just can’t even imagine the endless possibilities in your future if you started doing adventures like this when you’re so young.
The day ended with lovely pine forest and incredible views of the sunset. What more could one ask for.
At this trailhead there was a pit toilet and trash cans, which was amazing. So I dumped my trash and then got ready to begin the climb up generally towards Mount Baden-Powell. Even though I won’t actually be going all the way up there until tomorrow morning. Nathan and Pipe Bomb weren’t far behind me and told me that they would probably wind up camping where I was going to camp for the night. So I said goodbye to everyone and got moving.
I was pleasantly surprised that the climb was graded really well. The switchbacks were just gradual enough, and I was feeling super strong on the climb. Even though there was a ton of elevation gain to do, it definitely didn’t feel as bad as it was. I put one last podcast on which was about an hour long. That way I knew that by the time it finished, I would be just about there for the night.
When I was halfway up, I did a spur trail to the last water source. I normally don’t like to do side trails to water, but in the PCT desert you don’t always have that luxury. Then I had less than a mile and a half to go to get to camp for the night. I passed by one nice tent site where a few people were set up. And I wondered if I was making a mistake passing it by. I didn’t know if the other site would be full or if this first one would have better views.
When I got to that next site though all of my concerns were washed away. This tent site had some of the most incredible views. There was one other tent set up, but still plenty of room for myself and the two guys. It was a little bit exposed, but I figured the wind wouldn’t be too bad. I got my tent set up around 7:30 PM. Then ate some dinner and hung out. The guys arrived not long after that and they set up right by me. Then we just got to hang out and talk for the rest of the night. What an absolute treat it was today to spent so much time with other hikers! It’s truly such a precious thing to me.
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