Saturday, May 3, 2008

East Fork of Mission Creek to Highway 38, near Big Bear City. 21 miles, 250 miles total.



Caught up with Joker and Julian. We decided to walk out to Highway 38 and find a ride to a Hostel at Big Bear Lake. Eric came and picked us up. I'll take a few zero days here and re-supply with food. There are several other hikers staying at the Hostel, so it's going to be a fun time!

I'll be taking a zero day tomorrow to do some wash, catch up on the blog, and go shopping. I'll be needing about 5 days worth of food when I leave here. We are planning on about a 24 mile hike (without packs) tomorrow near Big Bear. Then I'll be back on the trail again.

This is a great Hostel!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Wildlife Conservatory to East Fork of Mission Creek. 10 miles, 229 miles total.

I really enjoyed my stay at the Wildlife Conservatory. This is a "must do" stop as far as I'm concerned.

I was glad that I had my new sandals, as I used them to cross Whitewater Creek. It was cold and swift, about 6' wide or so. I also got some more water here.

Later in the day, I made it to the East Fork of Mission Creek (at mile 226) at noon. I took a little soak in the cool creek. I didn't need more water yet, and as it turned out, the trail follows this creek a long ways.

It was an extremely good day for me ... maybe my best day yet on the trail. The slope climbed slightly, but there were plenty of trees along the creek to keep it cool. The flowers were everywhere, and I didn't see another hiker until very late in the day. By the time I stopped for the day, I had crossed the creek 18 times.

I camped next to the creek, and sound of the bubbling water made it very easy to fall asleep. I'm starting to get low of food, so my next re-supply stop will be in Big Bear City.

I'm having an issue with my pack, as my right shoulder blade hurts once in a while. I'm not sure if it is the pack or if it might be due to using the treking poles. I plan to get rid of some of the items in my pack at Big Bear City, so that should help some. I did get rid of a few things at Whitewater Creek, and with my food supply low, my pack is actually lighter than it was a few days ago.

In several places along the trail, the entire hillside was covered in dark purple flowers. I'm not sure the photo will do it justice. (I wish that I could up-load some of my photos here, but this computer does not have a USB jack.)

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Power Lines near I-10 to Old Trout Farm (Wildlife Conservatory). 11 miles, 219 miles total.



I got up early and made a dash for the freeway undercrossing. It wasn't too difficult to find the trail markers once the sun was up. I was about 100 yards off the trail where I made my camp for the night.

After crossing under I-10, I was going to try to go to Cabazon or Banning. I knew that I had not made any postings to this blog, and people were starting to get worried about where I might be. Most of the time, my cell phone doesn't work, either, and I try to keep it turned off during the day to save on the battery.

Not too long later, I met a young couple from Belgium. They call themselves the Belgium Waffles. I stopped to eat breakfast at the Mesa Wind Farm Gate, and a little later went to the wind farm office to get some water. The workers there were very nice, and they had a large stash of bottled water that they make available for hikers. It was nice to get such a warm welcome from them.

These are the wind mills at Mesa Wind Farm.



My next stop was the old trout farm, now called the Wildlife Conservatory, at Whitewater Creek. This was a great place to camp. An older couple there gave me some of their strawberry shortcake, and the place had trees and a nice bathroom. The only thing that would have made this even better than it already was would be showers!

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Black Mountain to Power Lines near I-10. 18 miles, 208 miles total.

There was a lot of snow on Fuller Ridge, and most people were advising to skip this section. Seven left the cabin early to hike back up Devil's Slide. I was able to catch a ride to Black Mountain from Joan (Sleuth's friend), so I did. I learner later in the day that the trail up Devil's Slide was closed by the forest service due to a fire, so it was a good thing that I opted to go to Black Mountain. I hope Seven (another hiker that stayed at the cabin) made it. I'm sure I'll see him again down the trail.

Joan had her two daughters with her when she arrived at the cabin, so we dropped them at school on the way to the trail. They had a lot of questions to ask about hiking on the trail, and we had a great exchange.



I hiked Southbound on the trail about 2 miles, and crossed 28 snow fields. I was glad that I decided to skip this section. I didn't have too much trouble following the trail, but where I turned around and started hiking North, it looked like the snow was getting heavier.



From Black Mountain, the trail drops steeply towards I-10. I hiked past dark, and really wanted to at least get to the freeway. It was very windy in this section, and there was a lot of sand blowing in the wind. I considered stopping at Snow Canyon Road ... several other hikers had stopped there for the night, but I kept going.

I lost the trail at the overhead power lines, and finally had to make camp. The wind was so strong that I couldn't put up my tent, but I layed out my tent and was able to crawl inside. The sand blew in the tent anyway. It wasn't cold, but the sound of the wind kept me up most of the night.

Tuesday April 29, 2008

Tahquitz Creek to Saddle Junction. 2 miles, 178 miles total.

Right after I got up, I did a little exploring without my pack, to see if I could find the trail in the daylight. Turns out I was less than 50 yards from the small creek, but I didn't hear it in the night at all. I was able to get all the water I'd need for the day. I was also very close to the trail. It was just too hard to notice in the dark.



After walking about 2 miles, I lost the trail again. It's easy to lose the trail in the snow. Three other hikers were also having trouble finding the trail. We decided to all stay together for safety, and we bush-wacked about 1/2 mile or so. Soon, we found the trail again, so it was very easy from that point on to make it to Saddle Junction. From there, we took the Devil's Slide Trail down to Idyllwild.

On the trail, a very nice hiker named Sleuth. She was staying at a cabin in Idyllwild, and was inviting other hikers to stay there, too. It was a great place, not too far from Humber Park. It was a long hike to the store, but I actually got a ride in both directions, so it didn't matter too much that it was a long ways away.

This is a photo of Seven (Sean) from Phoenix. He was also staying in the same cabin. We've hiked together before, and will likely see each other again down the trail.



I was also able to wash some clothes there and take a warm shower, which I was really needing. We even made a fire in the wood stove. What a great evening!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Lion Peak to Tahquitz Creek. 16 miles, 176 miles total.






I'm still outside of the town of Idyllwild. There was a lot of snow, so I took it really slow. At one point late in the evening, I wasn't 100% certain that I was still on the trail, so I stopped for the night. I was also low on water, but I knew that I was near a creek so I can get water in the morning.

I did see a few other hikers today ... one going Southbound. That helped to stay on the trail a little.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Paradise Cafe to Lion Peak. 9 miles, 160 miles total.

This is a photo of Martha from Adventure 16 ... the angel that helped me to lighten my back by at least 20 pounds! She's planning on hiking the PCT in 2009. Way to go, Martha!



I said good-bye to LA, and then we got an early start back to the Paradise Cafe near Idyllwild. I was so glad to be back on the trail.

I turned in early tonight. It will be cool and it might be windy. I'm camped on a ridge, but I'm under some low trees. I'll try to get an early start in the morning. It's good to be hiking in the early morning when it's not so hot and dry.



I've heard that there are patches of snow near Apache Junction, on the way to Idyllwild. I'll need to go into town there to re-supply with food. I'm doing better with water, and I find that it's good to carry about 4 liters of water.