In week three we experienced our biggest high and lowest low on trail so far: getting lost in Mission Creek and summiting San Jacinto respectively. Both ventures involved snow, blowdowns and washouts making for challenging hiking and ultimately causing us to lose the trail multiple times.
Day 15
I wrote this entry from the comfort of an actual bed; a coffee in hand, snuggled under the covers. Neither of us slept as well as we had anticipated the night before. We kept waking confused by our settings; mistaking the light from charging devices for another camper. Despite not sleeping, it was such a luxury to huddle down in three layers of blankets and two plump pillows.
We spent a lot of the evening before trying to hatch a plan for San Jacinto Mountain. A storm was rolling in, meaning we had to get out of high elevation in three days time, otherwise we were going to have a pretty uncomfortable night where the limits of our sleeping bags were going to be tested.
We opted to rejoin the trail via Devil’s Slide, a path which people normally descend. The trail would take us from Idyllwild to Saddle Junction. This meant we’d be missing 30 miles of official PCT. This filled me with conflict, but ultimately meant that we’d get down and out of the storm safely and, for novice mountaineers, this seemed wise.
As soon as the shops opened we purchased micro spikes and did a large shop at the grocery store for our resupply. With two new resupply box’s packed up, labelled and shipped, we checked out of our hotel only to sit out on the terrace eating a pint of ice cream each. There is good cause for this indulgence: we needed the sturdy, lightweight containers for overnight oats.
Delicious and practical!
At last we were on our way, heading up the hill, thumb out attempting to hitch to the trail head. After ten minutes, a kind local called Zara pulled over and drove us to our destination. The trail was lined with towering fir trees and white stone, the path littered with pine needles and cones the size of a foot. The tranquil smell of pine and damp ground was comforting, and it was hard to believe we were in the section of the PCT known as the desert.
Our view back down Devil’s Slide as we reconnected with the PCT
We continued along switch backs gaining elevation quickly and soon we reconnected with the PCT. Continuing on, we observed snow on the peaks of the surrounding mountains, and then walked through areas of snow on the trail itself. A few miles in we made camp between two white boulders with patches of snow above and below us. At the lookout we made dinner while watching the familiar pink glow of the sunset occupy the sky.
Settling in for a chilly night
Day 16
Dan and I have never summited a mountain before, that is until today. We decided to up the ante with the goal of making summit for sunrise. We set an alarm for 3am and were packed anyway and out of camp within an hour. In the dark we could see the twinkling lights of Palm Springs below.
Through the light from our head torches we navigated a trail which disappeared and reappeared with the snow. As we climbed, we could see the beginnings of dawn on the horizon: the race was on. The smell of pine was thick in the air and birdsong filled our ears. As the world became light we navigated the last section to the summit: a boulder climb with no obvious path to take.
Racing the sun to summit!
We spent a few minutes on the rocks staring at the sun continuing it’s ascent over the mountains before finding shelter further down so I could feel my fingers again.
We made coffee and had breakfast looking down on the other side of the valley.
We descended, both feeling elated after this mornings success. The trail continued to deliver with a vision of beauty; deep forest greens, clear blue sky, white and black granite rocks and patches of white snow printed with brown pine needles and cones. Large squirrels with big bushy tails and cute little chipmunks darted in and out of the path, too quick to capture with a camera.
It was the first day of hiking where we were, for the most part, alone. It was a little unnerving to see so few hikers, especially none that we knew. Having said that, the solitude gave us the illusion that the trail was ours and ours alone, and there’s something rather privileged about that.
Questionable structural integrity of the trees
We stopped at a view point to have lunch. A wave of tiredness had overtaken me and I found the jaggered rock comfortable enough to have a quick power nap on. It had been a rough descent this morning and the altitude was getting to me a little. The snow had also made the trail harder to navigate. In the afternoon the snow softened causing us to slide and lose our footing. The path was even harder to locate, now obscured by not only snow but trees that had been blown over and now barricaded the trail.
As we continued our downward climb we began seeing signs of the transition from forest back to desert. Manzanita trees, orange flecked sand, and lizards took place of the high desert forest.
At camp we made dinner and opted for an early night. While both happy, we felt exhausted by the physical efforts of today.
Day 17
I have a bad habit of not seeing snakes in the path until I’m mid stride. We saw four snakes this morning. The first three were juvenile rattlers, which it turns out are more dangerous than their elders as they are yet able to regulate their venom. The fourth snake was a Striped Racer. This one was too quick for me to step over, darting into the bushes as I rounded the corner. Long and slim, black bodied with a yellow racing stripe down its side.
One of the juvenile rattles I startled.
I blame the beautiful views on this decent for my lack of concentration on the path in front. It really was a beautiful walk. San Jacinto mountain served as a back drop, standing tall overlooking the valley we descended. It’s snow-capped peak looked almost incomprehensible considering the intense heat we were experiencing at not even 10am. The path was lined with boulders and purple and yellow flowers. Sage and California lilacs filled the air with a scent that should be bottled and sold as perfume.
At the bottom of the descent we got an Uber to Palm Springs. Half way down the trail we had got signal and found that some of our original trail family were zeroing herea. This propelled us down the mountain at record breaking speed. An hour later we were reunited with Drizzle and Chapstick, drinking Prosecco out of plastic cups sat at the poolside with pizza on its way.
Pizza Hut has never tasted so good! This would become our little trail family for the next few weeks. From back to front: Drizzle, Chapstick/Daddy Sweet-rolls, Dan and I
Day 18
Motel 6 lived up to its reputation. The walls were paper thin and at 3am we got to enjoy waking to the drunken antics of next door coming home from their night out. We also found handcuffs in the pool and a questionable stain in the bathroom. But all was well because we had coffee and leftover pizza for breakfast.
We headed back to Drizzle and Chapstick’s room, picking up Road-Rash on the way. Heavyweight had also rejoined the group after some antics of his own. We headed to a popular bar in downtown Palm Springs standing out in our hiker attire against the cat eyed sunglasses and kitten heels of the brunch goers. I ordered coffee and we sat by the fountain waiting for a ride.
Spot the hikers
The others would be returning to trail, meanwhile Dan and I would continue on to Banning to pick up our resupply box which was due to arrive the next day. We said goodbye knowing we would catch up with them before long. The plan was to stay at Nitsy’s, a trail angel who offers beds to hikers. Nitsy’s back garden has been transformed into a hybrid of garden and hostel. Three partially open rooms has been created from timber. Sweet smelling jasmine and curtains substituting for walls to give some privacy. In our room an actual double bed with blankets pilled high took centre stage.
We did washing, enjoyed a soda and some food from the communal cooking area before sitting down and resting. There were two others there and we discussed the storm and the upcoming difficult section of trail: Mission Creek. Nitsy lent us pyjamas for the night and I changed into them just as the storm began hitting. Heavy rain came down noisily bouncing off the tin roof. Nitsy served spaghetti which we helped ourselves to before finishing with some ice cream.
It was a very relaxing day and we are thankful for this refuge. One hiker who had just came down from the trail said he had faced snow, rain and the onslaught of wind on his decent, confirming that we made the right decision to avoid altitude as the storm hit.
Day 19
It rained throughout the night. Droplets noisily fell on the tin roof, the sound accompanied by the odd, out of sync rooster and the horn of the freight train. I was grateful for the sturdy shelter after the flimsy cover of the tent.
Nitsy kindly made us breakfast and we helped ourselves to coffee. As our package hadn’t arrived yet we joined another hiker on a trip to Walmart where we brought new adaptors which were half the size and weight of our old ones. On returning to Nitsy’s we found our box had been delivered and we set about packing up and readying to return to trail.
Our first stop was the Whitewater Preserve. A pretty camping site off the PCT with green ponds and yellow flowering cactus in the garden beds. Here, despite being broad daylight, we saw a bat flying around before hanging upside down by the ranger station.
Setting out to start our weary adventure along Mission Creek
The trail was beautiful and easy going today. We walked by the river bed before successfully completing our first river crossing, then ascending over a ridge and into the next valley. This section of the PCT has been known to cause navigational challenges, as back in 2023, a hurricane washed away large chunks of the trail. Manoeuvring along the river bed is slow going and if you were to ascend from trail too early you could get trapped on a ridge. Therefore, we took our time on this section, checking regularly we were heading in the right direction on Far Out.
We pitched our tent on a sandy ridge on the river bed and cooked dinner for the night. This was the first time we were camping alone with no one around us. Just us and the wild.
Day 20
I slept better in our tent than the two nights I had just spent in actual beds. A big claim from someone who doesn’t like camping. We broke camp early and set off up the notorious Mission Creek. The going was slow with no path to follow and with uneven terrain of rocks, stones, water and sand. Each step required immense concentration and by midday we were shattered.
Unbeknownst to us we had missed the turning onto the PCT having travelled on the left side of the river bed, not seeing the signs. We continued on for almost 3 miles gaining about 3000 feet of elevation. The river bed became smaller full of felled trees, large stones boulders and waterfalls. We climbed up and over all of the above, still oblivious we were going the wrong way. It was during a sketchy waterfall climb when I almost fell, physically pulling my body over a log suspended above a waterfall did we question whether we had gone astray.
Doesn’t do the carnage justice!
No navigational tool was helpful in this situation seeing as the path had been obliterated. We decided the best bet was to scramble back down again, retracing our steps to the last cairn which was embarrassingly far away. We did see a bobcat though, trotting through the river bed with its cropped tail.
The cairns don’t exactly standout…
Once on the correct path we crashed to the floor to have a large lunch before beginning the actual trail ascent. I felt broken climbing up after all the intense climbing we had done earlier today, which turned out to be an utter waste of energy. Even on this path there were steep sections where the trail had been washed out and blown over, which we had to once again climb over.
We arrived at camp feeling downtrodden, as if part of us had been left on Mission Creek basin. We were back in a pine forest again, not that we could really tell, we were just both so obsessed with eating as much food as possible to fully take in our surroundings. I guess that hiker hunger had started to hit!
Day 21
We had another night of full sleep, that was two on the trot! It was a cold one though and I woke with ice on my sleeping bag from where the condensation froze.
I felt so much better today energy-wise. I had two portions of oats instead of one and I was beginning to think that may be the best way forward. Hiking when hungry is not sustainable. Not for me anyway.
We stopped for a break at the top of a pass and admired yet more views of San Jacinto Mountain while we drank coffee. This would be our last sighting of our first mountain summit. Up here on the ledge we got signal and realised that half of the group would be in Big Bear that afternoon. The race was on and we booked a lodge and raced down the hill to meet them. We made good progress passing through pine woods with patches of snow on the ground. The chill from this morning lifted with the increased effort of pace as the morning sun continued it ascent.
So glad to be following a sign-posted trail again!
I was walking a little quicker than Dan and after a while thought it best to wait for him. I stopped under a tree and enjoyed a 15 minute break. Dan is never normally more than 10 minutes behind me. I checked Far Out to discover I wasn’t on trail at all. I retraced my steps and found the trail. Dan was somewhere ahead of me I was sure. I knew we were cutting down one of the side roads to hitch into town but I wasn’t sure which one. Dan thought I was ahead, would he just continue walking until he found me? I had no signal, and we hadn’t prepared for this.
I began half running, half power walking up the trail which isn’t an easy feat with a backpack on. I kept powering through the pain in my shins and feet, my poor fatiguing muscles; this came as a shock to them as I suddenly sprung into action. I passed a hiker we knew and asked “have you see Dan?”. He replied “Yes but he overtook me some time ago”. Nothing for it but to keep going.
I arrived 3 miles later at the crossing in just over 30 minutes (I know this because I played the All Too Well 10 minute version three times!) and arrived just as Dan got there himself. Gasping I explained the situation to a very confused Dan.
We headed the mile down the road and took an easy hitch in to Big Bear Lake via the post office to pick up our resupply. The kind local who had stopped for us recommended a Mexican restaurant in town and dropped us off at our accommodation. Once showered, the town chores began starting with the contents of our bags being tipped out and sorted. This was followed by laundry at the laundromat across the road.
While waiting for our clothes we walked to town and enjoyed a grilled cheese and a latte from The Copper Q. We met a couple in the laundromat, Celia and Jensen, who would end up joining us for dinner at El Jacalito as recommended. Heavyweight, Laststrap and Ranger joined us and we washed down large meals with equally large margaritas.
A post-meal Ben and Jerry’s was a no brainer and Drizzle and I sat happily at the Karaoke bar eating ice cream while everyone else drank beers. Laststrap outshone us all singing a particularly spectacular rendition of My Heart Will Go On. We got back to the lodge, sorted out our resupply box, flushed filters and washed up our utensils. To end the evening Heavyweight came back to our cabin to crash in the spare bed. Finally we were able to repay him for Julian.
True hiker trash now!
It’s been a great week on trail. Admittedly we’ve had quite a few town stops, but it’s been worth the time and financial expense. There’s a completeness to being reunited with part of the trail family and the plan is to hike next week together.
