Week 6: The Mission Creek Death March
Day 29 ( May 2 ): The Journey Resumes
Before dropping us off at the trail, Nitsy took Spoons, Forks and I to Dollar General. Good thing, because I forgot to buy some things at Walmart the night before.
 |
| Spoons, Nitsy, and Forks |
We started hiking at 9:30 with Spoons in the lead.
She sets a good pace, and we covered the 4 miles to Mesa Wind Farm in 1 hour, 45 minutes, and I wasn't even tired. Nice work Spoons !
The kind folks at the Wind Farm let hot, tired, thirsty hikers rest for a bit, use the bathroom, and even get a cold drink in a cool building before going back on trail.
We rested for about 15 - 30 minutes before resuming the hike. The leg from Mesa Wind Farm to the Whitewater River Valley was steeper, but we still made good time.
 |
| Looking back towards the Mesa Wind Farm and I - 10 |
 |
| Up ahead is the steep climb to the top of the ridge. |
 |
| The reason why the PCT is 2,655 miles long, when a straight line from the Mexican border to the Canadian border is only 1,300 miles. |
 |
| That wide, white band used to be a river. Until it got buried by a rockslide. |
 |
| The part of the river that isn't buried flows really fast. Cross with caution. |
Whitewater Preserve was originally a fish hatchery but is now a nature preserve trying to preserve the endangered Red Legged Frog.
Bird watchers would love this place. When I came through in '22, I spent a few hours with a group of birdwatchers. No birders, this year, but I figure I saw 3 species of Hummingbirds (based on size) and maybe 6 or 7 other species of birds in 5 minutes, without even trying.
Day 30 ( May 3 ): The Death March Begins
I woke up at 4AM, used the bathroom (for some reason there was a funky "open sewer" like smell near the bathrooms at Whitewater Preserve), and went back to sleep. I didn't want to cross the fast flowing, Whitewater River in the dark.
I woke up at 5:30, packed, and was heading out by 6:45.
I crossed the river in my watershoes that I use for Kayaking. If I had been smart, I would have saved a little time and stayed in my regular shoes.
 |
| An Americore crew planning the days work building a new trail to the Preserve. |
 |
| New steps leading down to the river. |
 | |
| A portion of the new trail being built to replace the one destroyed by Hurricane Hillary in 2023 |
My morning goal was a place marked as Red Dome in the FarOut Ap, which was said to be a good water source.
 |
| Disco packing up. |
For a while, I hiked with "Disco" (she got her name because she accidently put her headlamp into strobe mode) and "Doubletake", who got her name because she started the trail twice.
 |
| An eroded section of the debris field covering the river. This is NOT manmade. |
When we reached the river, Disco and Doubletake stopped for a long break. I kept going.
 |
| Hikers cooling off in the river. |
Doubletake briefly passed me as I rested coming out of the Whitewater watershed. I passed her as we descended to Mission Creek. To be blunt, the PCT does NOT exist along Mission Creek. Oh sure there are short stretches here or there where you might find a bit of trail, but for the most part, the trail does not exist for almost 10 miles. It is a "Choose your path" adventure along the creekbed.
 |
| Pick a trail. Any trail... |
To make matters even more "intetesting", there have been reports of people getting sick with Norovirus or something similar. Lovely. Just Marvelous.
Due to the trail conditions (or lack thereof), I was only able to hike one mile per hour.
 |
| Turning on the "Hiker Air Conditioner" |
I like to say my average hiking pace is 1.5 miles per hour, 3 on a gentle downhill with a tailwind.
After trudging (Yes, that is the accurate verb for what I was doing) along the bed of Mission Creek (and crossing and recrossing it several times) for several hours, I reached a good, "unofficial" campsite at mile 230.6 around 5 PM and set up camp.
Day 31 (May 4): Mission (Creek) Complete
I woke up at 05:45 and to be honest, I was tempted to be lazy and sleep in a little longer.
Within a few minutes though, I was up and getting ready for the day ahead.
Some of the comments in FarOut, seemed to indicate that once I was back on the actual trail about 4 miles ahead, I should be able to cruise along. Where have I heard that before....
Yeah, one bad piece of info after another. It was closer to 6 miles before I was on the actual trail.
 |
| "Sprouts" from Ontario |
Grrr. To make matters worse, there were two areas of the trail that were completely washed out and another that had some large blowdowns that I had to work around.
 |
| A combination washout / blowdown. Lots of fun. NOT ! |
At any rate, it was 4PM when I reached Mission Spring Camp. After checking my options in FarOut, I decided to camp at Mission Spring Camp. The Garmin Forecast calls for strong (60mph +) winds and a chance of heavy rain. Yikes ! Time to find a place to hunker down. I was the first hiker to arrive, so I got the spot with the most protection from the wind. By 7PM, there were 11 more tents nearby.
Here's hoping tomorrows hike is better.
Day 32 ( May 5 ): Almost out of the Woods
The wind was strong through the night. I could hear it roaring through the treetops, but down at groundlevel, it barely rattled my tent. Thank goodness it didn't rain overnight.
It was cold when I woke up a bit after 5AM. Because my hands get very cold, very fast, it takes me forever to get packed on a cold morning.
Having to warm your hands every 30 seconds or so, tends to slow you down a bit... I will confess, I was so discouraged with my pace yesterday, and the condition of the trail, that I was seriously considering packing it in. Dogoneit ! I signed up for a through hike not a bushwacking exercise ! What was even more disgusting, there was a guy who had hiked from Whitewater Preserve to Mission Spring Camp in one day ! Talk about felling old, slow and inferior !
At any rate, I was finally packed and moving around 7. As I started to hike, I noticed that two things:
So, I decided to hike the road. Good decision. The road wasn't in the greatest shape (I wouldn't drive it in anything other than a high clearance, 4 wheel drive vehicle or a tank), but it was better than the trail.
The morning was very cool, cloudy, misty and windy. I could actually see the mist blowing across the forest.
By the time I reached Coon Creek Cabin, 6 miles down the trail (and on the other side of the mountains), the wind had died down and the sun had come out.
Coon Creek Cabin is a Forest Service Cabin that people can rent that has a modern pit toilet. Supposedly (according to a posted sign) you can rent the cabin for $137 a night. I'm sorry ? How about you pay me $137 to spend a night there ? There is no glass in the windows, there's a hole in a part of the floor, and there's a lot of trash. I took a quick look in the Pit Toilet and quickly closed the door. There were at least 3 large bags of trash on the floor and who knows what else in there.
I was soon joined by Tenacity (she has hiked the AT and plans to hike the Continental Divide Trail ) and Mac, who is from Quebec. After a quick lunch break, I resumed my hike. I was in a fairly good mood. I had made it out of Mission Creek. I was making good time (at least for me) and the weather was good.
My goal was Arrastre Camp at mile 256.2. There had been reports of people getting sick there, but I figured if I stayed away from everyone, didn't use the picnic tables and didn't take water from the nearby stream I should be OK. Famous, not so last words....
I left Coon Creek Cabin (why it's called Coon Creek Cabin is beyond me. There is no creek anywhere nearby, I never saw any signs of a raccoon, and frankly, I'd rather sleep in my tent than the cabin) at a moderate pace. I wasn't in much of a hurry. I figured that I could easily cover the remaining 9.5 miles to Arrastre Camp in the 7.5 hours of daylight I had left.
 |
| This is NOT the proper way to hang your food bag. Just sayin. |
Especially as it was more downhill than uphill. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a water cache at a road crossing halfway to camp. Nice !! I made fairly good time and arrived at Arrastre Camp a bit before 5 and set up camp at least 100 feet from everyone else, cooked my dinner, and called it a day.
Day 33 (May 6): Happy Birthday to Me! NOT!
Another cold morning, another long time getting packed. I really should have taken more water from the water cache. I have a barely 1L to get me 10 miles (the recommended useage is 1L per 5 miles hiked). Not good. Good thing it's cold (I don't get as thirsty).
At any rate, I was on the trail by 7. I passed 4 tents on my way out of camp, giving a friendly wave to a guy who was packing his tent.
I crossed a stream 4 or 5 times, but didn't draw any water from it. The stream had an odd "decaying plants" smell that I didn't trust. Fortunately, I had a couple of pouches of Applesauce in my hipsack that I could use as "liquid" and food at the same time.
At 8:30, I got lost.... Again. I was following what looked like a fairly well used trail.... Until it dead ended in an empty field.
 |
| No trail here... |
GRRRR !!! More Backtracking !!
 |
| I went under this deadfall.Twice... |
I retraced my steps back to the last road I had crossed, looked more carefully and found the correct path (a fellow hiker going the right way certainly helped😆).
I had met Roopali at Nitsy's house in Banning. Evidently, the day before, she had missed a marker (trust me as brightly colored as they aren't it's very easy to do), and wound up in a private campground. It would sure be nice if the PCTA marked the trail better. Especially the areas that go through or near private property...
As we hiked along, we talked about that one thing that is near and dear to every hiker: FOOD. When you spend 4 to 6 days a week eating trail mix, dehydrated meals, dried fruit (when you can get it) and whatever else you can cobble together, food starts to weigh heavily on your mind, especially as you get closer to town. Seeing as today is my birthday, I want Steak.
 |
| Roopali and Disco making tracks for Big Bear |
We were soon joined by Disco and Doubletake. While the 3 ladies stopped for a break and planning session, I hiked on. I made it to Highway 18 to Big Bear a bit before Noon. Cool ! Lunchtime !
 |
| I know it's hard to read. It says 10%. I have hiked one tenth of the PCT. |
Even better, within minutes of my arrival, a car pulled up and two hikers got out. They were returning to the trail. They had met Mark, the driver, purely by accident. It turns out, Mark knows the parents of a hiker they had hiked with and he had managed to call the other hikers parents so they could chat. Mark says he is living vicariously through us. No Mark. By helping us, you are a part of us, and this hiker is glad to have you as one of our own.
 |
| Mark the Trail Angel |
Mark dropped me off in the center of town at a shopping center. No, I wasn't afraid or scared or even worried, because I know something about Big Bear that you don't. For a small city (it's actually two adjoining towns: Big Bear Lake and Big Bear City) with a population of 12,000, Big Bear has something most big cities don't: FREE public transit. Yep, you heard me. Free public transit. So getting around wasn't going to be a problem. Now for lunch.
Well. Look there. A Pizza place. Not my first choice, but what the heck. I can always have steak later. So I went in and ordered a sub and salad lunch combo. Not bad. Now to get to my motel. I found a room for only $62 ! I know, you're thinking "Roy, what's the big deal ? $62 is ok, but nothing to write home about." Trust me, out here, a GOOD room (and it is a good room) for $62 is a huge deal. Let me put it this way, in '22 a bunk at a hostel in Bend, Oregon was $75. For a bunk ! In a shared room !
So, I went to the motel (Bear Creek Resort if you're interested), checked in and went to my room to relax for a bit. Within an hour, my stomach started feeling quessy. Within two hours I was making regular, fast trips to the bathroom. Thank God the toilet in this room is only 10 feet from my bed. There were some really close calls.
 |
| One of my smaller "accidents" |
I ended up making a mess a few times. Hey, when your body decides to go #2 and #3 at the same time, unless you are the worlds greatest contortionist you WILL make a mess.
So much for my steak dinner. So much for getting much, if any sleep. I don't know how it did it, but somehow, Norovirus (at least I think it is Norovirus) got me. Life is like that sometimes. You think you've done everything right, and life smacks you upside the head anyway.
NOTE: Evidently, someone hiked through Mission Creek in the last few days and noticied a lot of red algae. Very interesting. The San Bernadino County Health Department is investigating.
Also Note: There has been a large outbreak of NoroVirus (or something similar) in Wrightwood about 100 miles up the trail.
Day 34 (May 7): The Total Zero
I had planned on taking a Zero anyway, but I was hoping to at least do a few things ! The good news is my stomach settled down about 10AM.
About Noon, I ordered a Quarter Pounder meal from McDonalds. Yeah, I know it's not the healthiest food out there, but it's food. Good news is it didn't back up.
Day 35 ( May 8 ): Another Zero
Today I actually left my room. I walked down the street and had breakfast. I then did some shopping ( I need new Trekking Poles, Head Lamp and resupply ).
 |
| Decontaminating my water system. |
Then I had dinner at a Mexican restuarant and did laundry.
 |
| A Coyote in Big Bear City |
I will admit, the more I keep hearing about multiple outbreaks of Noro-like illnesses along the trail, the more I think I might go home early. Well it's late ( 2 AM on May 9th ) so I think I will sleep on it.
Comments
Post a Comment