I am up at 4:45, so I check out the route for the day on my phone. Acton is too far to reasonably reach today. There are good places to camp in 16 and 20 miles. The 16-mile route looks best. It would be only 8 miles to the highway that leads to Acton after that. My bounce box is at the post office there, and I need to get food for the next section.
Seven and Dealer are waiting for me on the trail at 6am. We discuss goals for the day and agree on the 16-mile plan.
The Route
Yesterday after passing Mill Creek Summit ranger station (and chowing down on that great food) we climbed the ridge that looks out over the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the city of Palmdale. A forest service road called Mount Gleason Road runs very close to the PCT between Mill Creek Summit and our destination North Fork Saddle.
My friend the Pacific Ocean
It has been my good fortune that the Pacific Ocean has been sending cooler-than-average weather to Southern California this Spring. The cool weather will continue today with unusual cloud coverage.
As the sun comes up, you can see clouds developing in the valley to the left of Seven and Dealer as they come toward me on the trail.
The valley is filling up with clouds. Until near the end of the day, we will be walking the ridges above 5000 feet. The clouds are closer to 4500 feet.
In the first 8 miles of trail we climb 800 feet to the Mt. Gleason access trail. Just before we get there, we pass under this incredible series of power lines. Say what you will about power lines in the wilderness, but they are necessary for now, and I happen to be awestruck by the ingenuity of them. What devilry allows people to achieve such feats?
More often than not it seems, older pines, untouched by fire, occupy the tops of these ridges. These pines are near the top of Mount Gleason.
As we turn south toward Mount Gleason, I can see that the valleys to the south are also filled with clouds. I am on a mountainous isthmus surrounded by a sea of clouds to the south and north. The trail is full of surprises and sometimes they are breathtaking.
Diversions
I see some new flowers today, too. These pink fellas don’t seem to be bothered by the intense exposure up here. They seem to thrive on it.
These green ones are interesting. Do they look more like Truffula trees (Lorax) or like Tribbles (Star Trek)?
Lunch is at our last water stop for the day. My stomach is not feeling right, so we find a flat spot on the fire road near the trail and lay down. Amazingly we all doze off for a few minutes. This is especially unusual for Dealer who has been taking sleepless “naps” ever since the start of her hike. At 1 hour and 45 minutes, it’s our longest lunch break so far, but we all felt like it was worth it.
After lunch we head down to camp. Dealer has a moment with a blowdown. Last week it was Keith that got eaten by a blowdown. Today it is Dealer. Watch out, Dealer! Whew, the tree spit her out.
Oh, and there is this.
Floating in
The clouds rise up to meet us as we gently go down in altitude. Seven took a few photos of me as we go down. In the last one, I am in the cloud (and it is chilly there).
North Fork Saddle
North Fork Saddle is a campground on Fire Service Road 3N17. The road to this campground has been closed to the public this year because of damage by the heavy snow and rain in the winter. But there are places to camp, a pit toilet and the promise of water.
When we arrive, Todd, the camp caretaker comes out to greet us. He shows us the water and then brings us each a cold Gatorade and rice Crispín snacks! Todd has lived up here for 25 years! We talk about the trail for a while and then 8 more hikers arrive.
All us hikers gather around the picnic tables and eat our terrible food. Mine is only half bad tonight – dehydrated granola, blueberries and almonds in milk. I am going to get this again if I can find it in town.
Everyone goes to their tents quickly after that because it’s cold and windy. Good things wait for us in town tomorrow, I hope.
- June 5, 2023
- Starting marker: 420.8
- Ending marker: 436.1
- Miles hiked: 15
- PCT miles hiked: 406
Simply beautiful Dave.
Dave, will you switch to hiking boots at KMS?
No, Brock. There’s no place on the PCT that requires boots, unless your feet do better in boots.
Let me rephrase that, Brock. No I will not be changing shoes. My trail runners did well in the Sierras last year, so I will just stay with them. There are good reasons to switch to boots, but I will not.
400! Congrats!
Hi Dave: I apologize for not posting you more often but have finally gotten over whatever upper respiratory ailment that I had. I really like your pictures of the trails, flowers, strawberries, the mountains, clouds, and people you are hiking with along with others you meet on the trail. I can’t bring up any longer the pictures of the shoes you wore out along with the newer ones that arrived by mail. I’m still praying for your continued health and safety. Frank Butler
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