PCT Day 18 – San Gorgonio

I went to bed deliriously tired last night. I tried to write, but it was all gibberish. I finally just gave up and went to sleep.

I woke at 2:30 and felt good enough to write. By 3:30 I had the post done. I went back to sleep until the alarm went off at 5. I need to get more sleep!

My foot has returned to normal. That disgusting thing I had on the end of my leg last night looks human again.

I put on a dry pair of socks. My other ones are still wet so I secure them to my pack to let them dry as I hike.

The plan

We have enough water to hike to Mission Spring where we will top off our water containers and head for the next available water at a cache 12 miles from there. After the cache we will carry our water one more mile and camp.

Up to Mission Springs

Last night we slept at an elevation of 6154. Not bad. The cool air is better for sleeping. By the end of the day, our altitude will be over 8700 feet.

The morning trail is so cheerful. The folded hills warm as soon as the sun touches them.

One of the games I like to play in the morning is to see if I can see my shadow on the opposite ridge. This morning we both can! Keith is the shadow on the left that looks like a scarecrow. I am on the right looking like the Virgin Mary.

In 2015, this area was burned by what was called the Lake fire. It will take years for these canyons to recover. The problem of blowdowns across the trail is largely caused dead burned trees that are finally falling.

We get to Mission Spring by 8:30. We have gone 4.5 miles and climbed 2000 feet. At Mission Spring we fill our water containers. I take 4 liters. Keith takes close to 6!

San Bernardino National Forest

We are now in the San Bernardino National Forest. This park is dominated by the majestic San Gorgonio mountain. At 11,400 feet it is one of the tallest in Southern California.

I have been eyeballing this rainstorm on the opposite ridge. It’s been raining over there for about two hours, and it looks like it’s coming our way. Getting caught in storms on ridges at high altitude is no fun. It usually means hail, too. I pick up the pace to get ahead of it. It feels like we are right on the edge of it.

As the weather closes in, we find my Japanese friends sitting on the saddle having lunch. We join them. I learn that both quit their jobs to do this hike. Yo was in property management. Yume was a dental hygienist.

We don’t get too much farther with the conversation when it starts getting really cold. The wind picks up, and rain starts blowing around. Yo and Yume take off up the trail. Keith and I choke down our tuna wraps, skip the second wrap and put on our rain gear. Then we get out of there.

After about an hour, the rain subsides. The cool temperatures continue. The rain was a blessing in disguise. The cool temps allow us to drink less. It looks like we will have enough water to get to the cache.

A few hours later, Keith has an interesting conversation with a young hiker who comes up the trail behind us. “What did you think about that hail storm,” he asked? Then he proceeded to tell Keith how he had to seek shelter under a tree because of driving hail. Whew. That could have been us. I’m glad we got out of there when we did.

To camp

We focus on reaching camp four miles away. That means I need to stop looking around so much, and hike more. But I can still look at flowers, right? But, for some reason there are fewer wildflowers in this area, so my attention goes to the interesting trees.

I love ancient Junipers. There are many near the end of our day.

Our campsite has several Junipers. The best one has room for two under it.

• May 22, 2023
• Starting marker: 235.5
• Ending marker: 253.1
• Miles hiked today: 18
• Total PCT miles: 223