Week 8: The ( unintended ) Last Leg

May 20 - June 3: Hanging out with Friends

I returned home because my Oncologist wanted to see me. I figure the Doctor who treated you for cancer is the one appointment you don't skip. My appointment on the 23rd went well. The Doctor said I am still slightly anemic, but improving. Yes, I know I could have returned to California right after my appointment, but I promised my boss I would stick around for 2 weeks. The last week of May and the first week of June are one of our busiest periods. I did go to REI to get a new pair of trekking poles (the ones I bought in Big Bear didn't work out) and a new sleeping pad to replace my old leaky one.

June 4 - 6: I return to California

My good friend Karen picked me up about 20 minutes early and drove me to Detroit Metro airport. She got me there with plenty of time to spare.

I was through Security by 10:20 and my flight wasn't scheduled until 12:35. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, so to make up for my early arrival, my flight was delayed for an hour. What is it with these flights out of Metro ? In April, they couldn't transmit the flight orders electronically, so we had to return to the gate to get them. Then this flight was delayed because the plane was almost an hour late arriving from New York.

At any rate, we finally departed at about 1:30. The flight was smooth. Upon arrival in LA, I scrambled to make my connections ( a bus to the train station ).  I missed the 4:30 bus to LA Union Station, so it was 5:30 before I was on a Metrolink train to the Vincent Grade station near Acton, California. Valentina met me at the station and gave me a ride to Wrightwood.

Silly me ! I forgot to make reservations ! So by the time I got there, there were no vacancies at any of the motels. Fortunately, I was able to stay at a Hiker Hostel 3 miles East of town called "Bud Pharm". If it sounds like a place that grows "weed", it used to. But, hey, it was a place to stay... I spent the next two days adjusting to the heat ( there were temps in the upper 90's ) and elevation. I shared a room with Mowgli. He is a hiker who used to live in Wrightwood. Unfortunately, almost all his gear, money, and ID were stolen when he camped just south of town. He is the second chef I have met on trail. He is trying to get a chef job at one of the National Parks ( he has worked as a chef in some of them ).

Mowgli cooking dinner for hungry hikers

June 7: On the Trail Again

Take every statement of "It's easy to get a hitch at ....." with a couple grains of salt. I was told that getting a hitch into Wrightwood was "easy". Yeah, right, and I'm the King of Scotland. I had hiked almost halfway to town, before I got a "hitch". From a bus driver, whose route is a "flagstop" route (you flag her down along the road). At any rate, I got a ride into town. Thank goodness, because the highway was hot, and the walk was all uphill.

So I get into town about 7. Would you believe there wasn't an open restaurant ? So I ended up buying breakfast from the grocery store.

Oh well. Could be worse. As I was eating my breakfast, a fellow hiker arrived. When I asked him how his hike was going, he said it was going well "except when he had to come to town", his exact words. He said he hated the towns. Said they took advantage of the hikers and treated us like dirt. The worst sin, in his eyes was they didn't have his favorite flavor of whatever food he liked and the food was expensive. Wow ! Talk about entitled ! Personally, I had a good to great experience in every town I visited ( Lake Morena, Mount Laguna, Julian, Idyllwild, Banning, Big Bear and Wrightwood ), and thought that some towns went very much out of their way to make hikers feel welcome. Are things more expensive in the smaller towns ? DUH !! Of course they are ! Think about it. These are small stores in small communities, receiving small shipments, so of course the per unit cost is going to be higher. 

I didn't feel like arguing with "His Grumpyness" so I started looking for a ride out of town as soon as I finished eating. Jeff and Hal kindly gave me a ride to the Inspiration trailhead (mile 369.3).

I started hiking at 8:30 and hiked the 4.6 miles to Vincent Gap in 2 hours. Highway 2 is more or less closed for 25 miles west of Vincent Gap due to a landslide.

One interesting thing is that the Forest Service has auctioned Concession rights to the Grassy Hollow Campground ( about 2 miles west of Inspiration Point ), Vincent Gap, and a few other places to a private company. I am not sure if the company now owns these properties ( I hope not ) or is just running them. Some people with Forest Service Permits are NOT happy. My right knee started to bug be on the descent to Vincent Gap.

A young Rattlesnake. It rattled when I was 10 feet away.

"Grape Soda Lupine" some say it smells like Grape Soda

I ate lunch and rested until 11:26. From Vincent Gap it is all uphill. It took me 3.5 hours to climb 2.9 miles to my campsite. I obviously was NOT adjusted to the elevation.

Looking down on the empty Highway 2

I stopped at a campsite (mile 376.9) 1 mile below the spur trail to Mount Baden - Powell at 3:00. I had wanted to hike further, but I was so tired I stopped and set up camp. I did put KT tape on both knees to give them support.

June 8: Up and Over Baden - Powell

I don't know why, but I didn't sleep well last night. I would sleep for an hour - 90 minutes at a time. I had hoped to make it to the summit of Baden - Powell before sunrise, but it was almost sunrise before I was packed. I did have to deal with a few patches of snow, but nothing serious. I made it to the spur trail junction at 6:00 and stopped to take photos of Wally Waldron. a Limber Pine, estimated to be 1,500 years old, named for a local Scout Master.

I made it to the summit about 6:15. I dropped my pack, ate breakfast, took photos, and talked with a pair of dayhikers. 

Instead of returning along the spur trail, I hiked west along a ridge and took a secondary trail back to the PCT. At 11, I stopped and talked with a couple on a multiday hike. they are interested in hiking the PCT, so we had a good chat. After our chat, I hiked on to Little Jimmy Spring where I got 4L of water. I probably didn't need to filter it, but after Mission Creek, I filter everything. I stopped at nearby Little Jimmy Camp (mile 383.9) for lunch. As could be expected for a Saturday, it was busy. Lots of weekend campers. I met a large ( 15 people ) group of Korean Americans who were going up Baden - Powell.

Poodle Dog Bush.

Close up of Poodle Dog Bug ( " PDB " in hiker slang ). Don't touch this ! It's like Poison Ivy on steroids and there is no treatment for it. The good news is it doesn't have an oil like Poison Ivy.

After lunch, I hiked to Islip Saddle ( mile 386.1 ), where the PCT crosses Highway 2. I decided to hike along the Highway instead of doing the long hard climb up towards Mt Williamson. Normally, Highway 2 is too busy to hike on, but with the landslide, there isn't a lot of traffic. I was able to hike roughly 4.1 miles to the Eagle Roost Day Area in 41 minutes.

The Highway tunnel is a cool place to get out of the heat.

Selfie taken in the middle of the highway.

No traffic here.

As I rested at the Day Use Area, I was joined by " Arrow " from Indianapolis.

One reason for hiking along the road is there is a stretch of trail west of the Day Use Area that is closed to protect an species of Endangered Frog. Arrow and I continued our Road Hike to the entrance to the Burkhart Campground, where there is a trail that connects to the PCT outside the Endangered Species Area. I stopped to camp at mile 394.1 around 6 PM, but Arrow kept going.

June 9: OW ! THAT HURTS !

I was up and hiking a bit after 6, which is a little late for me. In 40 minutes I made it to Cooper Canyon Camp at mile 395.2. Instead of following the trail, I decided to hike the "road" out of the canyon. Hiking the road, shaved a mile off the hike. Much to my surprise, I "caught up" with Arrow at Glenwood Camp ( mile 400.6 ). Last night, he said he was going an extra 4 miles. Not that it mattered, he quickly outpaced me.

At mile 402, I met a Volunteer Trail Maintenance crew who were cutting up some of the bigger logs that were blocking the trail. Thanks Guys !!

My knee started to hurt, in spite of the KT tape. At first it was just a dull ache on the outer front edge of my right knee when I walked downhill.By 10AM, it was a serious pain on the gentlest of slopes and sometimes even on level ground. I finally made it to Three Points Trailhead at mile 403 at 11AM. I decided I was done for the day. When I got there the Trail Crew was having lunch. One of them said he would give me a ride to Acton when they were done. I rested in the shade and tried ( without luck ) to get a hitch. At 4 PM, the trail crew returned and Nathan gave me a ride to Acton. 

Nathan: Trail Angel x 2. He clears blowdowns off the trail
and gives hikers rides to town. Thanks Nathan !

The Hiker Hangout behind 49ers Saloon in Acton.

DINNER ! Someone once complained about all the food shots on my Facebook page.
You have no idea how hungry a through hiker can get....

June 10 - 12: Resting my Knee

On the 10th, I had a Videocall with Dr. Morgan Brosnihan, the PCT's resident traveling Physiotherapist. Doctor Morgan looked at my shoes and watched how I walk. She thinks that rest, some exercises and a slight change in how I walk should enable me to resume my hike. Evidently when I walk my feet are like this \  / instead of this |  | , and that might be causing issues with my knee. My right shoulder is also painful at times. It's interesting that my shoulder is fine when I have my pack on and hurts (sometimes) when I don't.....

On the 12th,  A Trail Angel gave another hiker and I a ride to the REI in Burbank, about 40 miles one way. I was wanting to exchange my trekking poles ( the ones I bought in Michigan kept coming apart ) and the other hiker needed to get a few things. She only charged the two of us $50 for an 80 mile round trip drive. Thanks Kristen ! When we got back, we were joined by Chica and Sunsets, two hiker celebrities who own a Hiker Hostel on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee. Sunsets has a shin injury that is bugging him, so they decided to rest in Acton.

Sunsets and Chica

June 13: Let's try this again...

Kristen gave me and two other hikers a ride to the RV Resort near the trailhead. For those of you who read my 2022 blog, this is the place where Alyssa Kroeker and I rested for a day and a half in '22. After having a snack, I started hiking at 9:30. Kinda sounds like a repeat of '22, doesn't it ?

The PCT "Golden Spike" Monument commemorating the completion
of the PCT in 1993

Notice how it says the trail is "only" 2638 miles long.
Things have changed, and continue to change.

Well the good news is I didn't suffer from Heat Exhaustion, even though it was a little warm.

Looking down to the Antelope Valley Highway after a long hard climb.

I made it to the tunnel under the Antelope Valley Highway about Noon, and ate my lunch in the cool tunnel as I rested.

Thank God I don't have to climb up to the highway...

I was joined by " Red Berry " and we chatted for a bit before resuming our hike. Red Berry was given her trail name because she spent several days resting and recovering at the Red Berry section of the Mount Laguna campground. She stsayed there so long, she was the unofficial mayor.

Next stop: Vasquez Rocks State Park. If the rocks look a little familiar, it's because many TV shows and movies were filmed here ( Star Trek: Season 1, Episode 18 " Arena " (Kirk fights a Gorn ) is probably the one most people will remember ). 

I'm the King of the World ! OK, maybe I'm only
the temporary king of this rock...

 

Beware of Gorn and talking Apes....

Vasquez Rocks panoramic

The park is named for a 19th century bandit who used the rocks as a hideout. How did they catch him ? He was turned in by another bandit. Why did the other bandit turn him in ? Because Vasquez was having an affair with the bandits wife. To quote an old song " The renegade who had it made was tripped for a bounty."
Moral of the story: Crime might pay ( at least for a while ), but messing with a bandits wife never does.

Later that afternoon, we made it to the town of Agua Dulce and stopped for the night at Serenity's Oasis, a hiker hostel north of "downtown".

Farmer John has turned the Oasis ( he actually started it in '22 ), into a pretty nice place for hikers. He has some resupply options, a shower, laundry facilities, and charging stations for hikers. Not bad for $30.

June 14: Oh S*** ! Not Again !

I was packed and hiking about 6:30. I know, another late start. Oh well. At first, things were going pretty well. I made pretty good time for the first 7 miles or so. About 11, I reached a spring where I got some water, and more than a few bites from biting flies, before I sprayed myself with LOTS of Deep Woods Off. For some reason, the Permetherin ( a semi permanent bug repellent ) didn't keep the flies away. Oh well. I filled up my water, and ate lunch, before resuming my hike.

Uh Oh. As I started hiking down the slope from the spring, I started getting a familiar twinge in my right knee. Not bad, but there was something wrong with my knee.

The Bouquet Reservoir. Built in 1928 after a dam on a different
reservoir failed, killing almost 500 people

 

By the time I had hiked the 2.5 miles to Bouquet Canyon Road, it was starting to get a little painful. When I reached the road, I decided to end my hike right there. There was something wrong with my knee, and I figured hiking further would only make it worse.

I don't think it's a Rattlesnake, but I gave it the right of way anyway...

As I tried to thumb a ride, a fellow hiker crossed the road. When I told him I was leaving because of my knee, he told me that he would probably leave the trail ( soon ? ) because he had a problem with his heel. I wondered why he didn't go into town and rest, instead of hiking on. I hope he's OK. After having 9 cars whiz past me, Mike stopped and gave me a ride into Palmdale. Perfect !

I can catch a train from Palmdale to L.A. Union Station in the morning.

June 15 - 16: Goin' Home

On the 15th I caught a Metrolink Trail to LA and a bus to the airport. On the 16th, I flew home. Karen met me at the airport and drove me home. Thanks Karen !!

Notes Since leaving the trail

Chica and Sunsets left the trail on the 17th. Sunsets' shin was taking too long to heal. Karina ( from week 2 ) left the trail a while ago (lets be honest, through hiking isn't for everyone, and you don't know until you go) and is visiting family in Georgia and doing some sightseeing. Last I heard, Shalena is still on trail, hiking somewhere near the Sierra.
I saw a Doctor last week and he said that I have Tendonitis in both my right knee and right shoulder. To be honest, both joints have been acting up for a while now. My right knee started bothering me on Day 2 ( April 5th ), and my shoulder has been bugging me for months. I plan to take it easy for the rest of the year. No hiking with a heavy pack for me. I will spend next year preparing for a PCT return ( from the beginning. Again, UGH) in 2026. I plan on doing a pair of hikes next summer.