PCT Day 50 – In The Deep End

Last night I was surprised to discover the NBA draft on television. The Orlando Magic had just made their first pick. I stayed glued to the coverage until it was over, then I slept for 5 and a half straight hours! I haven’t done that since I left home. Maybe watching all that basketball made me feel I WAS home.

In the morning I meet Dealer and Seven in the lobby and we walk together to the bus stop at the Walmart. The Kern Valley Transit Authority runs a bus between Ridgecrest and Lake Isabella through Walker Pass. It costs me $3 to get back on the trail by bus. My thumb will not be necessary today.

For a while it’s just Seven, Dealer, Huck (random hiker) and me on the bus.

After a few stops, the bus is packed with hikers. Some are going to Walker Pass. The others are heading to Lake Isabella where they can get another bus to Bakersfield. Ultimately they are all hoping to find some re-entry point to to PCT. We are all a little giddy. Hikers get nervous at speeds faster than a brisk walk.

PCT bound

We enter the PCT where we left it – at Walker Pass. But this time we head north. The area in which we begin is known as the Owens Peak Wilderness, named for the Peak we will pass later today.

The first thing we do is climb 2400 feet to the saddle just below Owens Peak.

Town days are nice, but leaving town almost always means climbing back up to elevation! The first few hundred feet provide a nice view down Walker Pass toward the southeast.

Soon we flip over to the western side of the ridge where we are treated to a view of Three Pines Canyon.

Sierra Signs

Signs of the High Sierras are starting to appear. These rock formations are very typical of what we will see later.

The loose rocks on the trail.

The scree washes

And then this view is classic Sierra with the white granite on the Eastern side of Owens Peak. By the way, the shot of Owens Peak is taken as I come around Mount Jenkins. There’s a trail that goes to the top of Mount Jenkins. I think my friends Dwayne and Lisa should come out and summit this peak (7921). It’s named after them!

Making up time

Since we did not start hiking until 9am, we cannot possibly have a big-mile day. 17 miles would be a stretch. We settle for something less than that. Dealer’s feet and ankles are hurting. The rocks on the trail really bother her. By 4pm, her pace has slowed. We need to get her off her feet soon.

We had hoped to get to Spanish Needle Creek. But it looks like stopping on the saddle before the creek is the best move. We are a little worried about wind exposure up on the saddle, but we will have to take our chances.

I hear Seven tell Dealer that we are headed up the the saddle. He points to the top with his trekking pole. Dealer says, “Why are you showing me this?” Seven says, “I thought you might like to know where we are going.” Dealer says, “You two might be going up there, but I might not be.” Like I said, we need to get Dealer off her feet.

We are able to pass by Joshua Tree Spring because there is some very good water flowing across the trail before the spring.

As we head up to the saddle, we look down on Cow Canyon. The presence of Joshua Trees is thinning. Within a few miles they will be absent from the trail. I will miss them. They were my only shade through some of the hottest sections of the desert. And I won’t forget how excited Dealer was when we saw them in the morning light on the LA Aqueduct.

The camp spots on the saddle are nice. There is almost no wind. The bugs are few and the sun is setting early behind a big hill above camp. Dealer is feeling better. She lays on her mattress pad on her stomach, her legs bent at the knee, her feet in the air.

Dealer and I try to get to the bottom of Seven’s obsession with getting into Kennedy Meadows early on the third day. His motives are opaque to even himself. He can’t explain it.

We will work on him more tomorrow. Til then, good night.

• June 23, 2023
• Starting marker: 653.3
• Ending marker: 667.7
• Miles hiked today: 14
• Total PCT miles: 637