Wrightwood is Just Alright With Me

From Vince:

It's been another great 100 miles (I'm at trail mile 363 now)! From high in the San Bernandino Wilderness, I descended to an uncomfortably hot and smoggy Cajon Pass. There was a McDonalds half a mile away - it's been years since I've been there (as it should be), but wow, big mac and ice cream was great! I got there around noon with a group of hikers, and we all hung out for 5 hours, beating the heat of the day. This was probably the first place where there was absolutely no one who knew about the PCT (other than 1 or 2 employees), so I looked like a very dirty and smelly homeless guy. Definitely felt uncomfortable as people often stared with looks of disgust, but at the same time it was a good experience to know what it may feel like to be homeless.

From Cajon Pass, the trail climbed 5,000 feet into the San Gabriels. After leaving McDonalds, I hiked until dark but couldn't find a place to camp, so I just tossed down my sleeping pad and slept in the middle of the trail. The next morning I woke up at 4:30 entirely above the clouds, with just a few peaks rising above the clouds as far as I could see. I had 17 miles to go to where I could hitchhike into my next resupply location (Wrightwood), and I was craving pizza and beer so badly, that I didn't take a break and hiked all 17 miles (with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain) by noon. I ordered a large pizza so I would have leftovers for dinner, but ended up eating the entire thing in one sitting. And the Stone Brewery IPA was as good as it gets! I'm spending another night in town to give my feet a much deserved rest, but am getting really antsy about getting back out on the trail.

It's amazing how friendly people are in these small resupply towns. There are hiker specials everywhere. I got a free cup of coffee just for letting the local coffee shop take my picture to hang on their "OUR PCT FRIENDS" wall. Most stores have a "hiker notebook" where you can write messages and see when other hikers you've met passed through. Everywhere I've eaten I've had multiple people come up to eagerly ask about the trail. And if you see another hiker, they are instantly your new best friend. It's a really really tight-knit group, and I've met some absolutely amazing people. The first conversation pieces are always about your gear and how many blisters you have. I often spend a day or two hiking with a group of people, break away for a little while, then find some others to hike with. While being a solo hiker, I've spent less than half the nights by myself. I've hiked with many from the 20-something crowd, hung out a few nights with a really cool 50 year old Baptist Preacher, and have recently been spending time with a 60+ year old couple. Hitchhiking has also been great. I've found rides pretty quick, and have never had to wait for more than half an hour. Yesterday I found a ride from a couple in a minivan with 3 small children (I'd be pretty hesitant to pick up a dirty scruffy guy with my young kids in the car), and a few weeks ago a 75 year old woman breathing with the help of an oxygen tank picked me up. Many people demand that they drive you around town before dropping you off so that you know where everything is. Very cool!

Another update from Vince:

So I'm officially 10% of the way to Canada. I just took a night off in Big Bear City - stayed at the Nature Inn, which has a hiker special. For $50, you get your own room WITH A HOT TUB! Talk about living large. The food I've been eating on the trail is definitely getting old, so it's great to come to town for a day and binge. In less than 24 hours, I've had: a huge bacon cheeseburger, and ice cream sundae, 6 tacos with rice and beans, a breakfast special of pancakes, bacon, and eggs, and just had an enormous carmel apple sundae (specialty item at the local bakery/restaurant).

The last section of trail was spectacular, but with a ridiculous amount of elevation change. I started hiking at around 3,000', then climbed into the San Jancintos (like a small version of the Sierras, complete with snow) and summited Mt. San Jacinto at 10,800'. The following day I dropped all the way down to about 1,000' (in one day - crazy), and hiked across San Gorgonia pass (near Palm Springs), where the temp was 110 during the day (and didn't drop below 90 one night). Despite drinking as much water as possible, I got really dehydrated, and had by far my hardest day on the trail. The heat, and lack of water, is really taking its toll - many hikers have quit alltogether over this section. Luckily, my spirits remain high. I then climbed to 9,000' in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. After so much hot weather hiking, it was great to hike amoung huge pine trees and need to put on long underwear at night! Coming up, I drop back down into some low-elevation and hot weather, but have some trail-side backcountry hot springs coming up . . . so I'm really excited to hitch back to the trail here in a few minutes.
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Some pictures he sent back - the photobucket page will be edited by him (hopefully in about a week) to include the best of the bunch he sent back - I'll let you know when it's ready.

From a flowering desert:

To a mountain view:


Vince's new pets/friends:

Running Wild in Idyllwild

A message written by Dr. Pacific himself:

It's been a wonderful trip so far, though definitely becoming exhausting. I passed the 100 mile mark a little while ago, which felt great. I've mostly been hiking through high mountain desert - it's been in the 90s everyday by about 9 am, and that's at 5,000'. But, the temps drop quickly at night, and I often have to put on my down jacket when I get up in the morning. The scenery is amazing - the cacti are all flowering, and there are tons of lizards. Unfortunately, tons of rattlesnakes too. I've come up unexpectedly upon two and had them lunge at me, one getting very close. Talk about scary. I've seen many more, but they have all sounded their alarm before I got too close. I'll take camping in grizzly bear country any day over rattlesnake country!

I've very quickly adapted to the "sunrise-to-sunset" schedule, and I'm up by 5 or 5:30 in the morning. A few weeks ago, I couldn't have imagined being up this early, but I'm digging it now. I try to find a spot in the shade (VERY hard to do sometimes) for 3-4 hours during the hot afternoon, then hike until its dark out, and often for an hour or two with a headlight. All the desert hiking makes me realize just how precious water is (and makes me happy I am a hydrologist!). I often carry 4-5 liters of water, but have had to carry over 8 a few times. That's over 16 pounds of water!

My body has, as expected, taken quite a beating. During the first week I was popping blisters 3 times a day with a safety pin, though not uncommon among other hikers. My waist has also been bleeding with abrasions from my pack. The other day, at the 150 mile mark, I was limping very badly, so I've been hanging out in the very hiker-friendly town of Idyllwild for the last few days. I bought a new pair of shoes and a new pack, so hopefully it will get better when I start hiking again tomorrow. Is it worth all the pain, 20 miles days, and long waterless stretches??? ABSOLUTELY!

I'm really excited about the upcoming section - which heads up into the subalpine San Jacintos, and is one of the steepest on the entire PCT (and of course I'll be carrying 7+ days of food). I'll climb up to about 10,000' in elevation (there's apparently still a lot of snow up there - hikers needed crampons and an ice axe a few weeks ago to get through - then quickly drop down to about 1,000 feet and reenter the scorching hot desert. After seeing so many cacti (and rattlesnakes), I can't wait to hike in the pines for a little while!

Pictures soon to come, so check back soon.

Warner Springs!

Vince made it to his first post office in Warner Springs - ...and there was much rejoicing! :)
Where is Warner Springs?? well... look at the map below, but he's 110 mi in and has another ~70 mi til his next mail drop/resupply in Idyllwild.

Desert boy

Hm, well... we heard from Vince yesterday afternoon. He's well into the desert (hitched into the town of Julian, CA with another hiker and had just enjoyed a burger before he called) - and about 30 miles from his first post office/the end of the first leg in Warner Springs (mile 110 of the PCT). The desert has been quite hot - 95 by 8:30am some days and so he's hiked some early mornings and late nights to avoid the sun.

He's definitely "experiencing" the desert and hiking long days as his feet are covered in popped blisters and his shoulders and waist are showing wear and tear. He's been alright on water (relatively speaking...) - ran out at one point, but was able to find a source ~2 mi off trail and loaded up on it again at the next source 10 mi down the trail. He's also met up with some rattler snakes, but luckily no bad stories there. And alas, he says his spirits remain high. He said the scenery is amazing and changes from scorching desert to high mountain desert with wildflowers to pine forest. I will post pictures when he sends them (might not be for a while - his next post office is Idyllwild in another 100 miles).

I hope you are all well and thanks for reading.

More pictures

Here's a link to a photobucket page I set up with more photos from the trip -- I'll keep it to a couple per post here, but if you want to see more, go to http://photobucket.com/vince_pct Thanks!

And he's off!

Update: We got to San Diego on Friday afternoon after a long two days of driving from Bozeman. We ended up staying an extra day in town and taking Toby to a dog beach in Del Mar (and Vince finished his packing) on Saturday. Then on Sunday morning we drove to the Mexican border at Campo. Vince began his trek through the desert Sunday morning, for which Toby and I followed for a short while before we said goodbye. So, he's off and hiking through desert land. He plans to get to Warner Springs, CA on Friday, which means 20 mi/day from Sunday - Friday. He's off to a good start with at least 40 miles under his belt as of this morning (heard from him via voicemail). More to come as I hear it...