Day: June 14, 2016

Whispy clouds in the next valley.

I purposely slept in late so I could catch breakfast at the coffee shop and wait to here from Aaron to see if he found my shades or not.  If he found them, I would stick around until he got in, otherwise I’d head out.  I chatted with my host a few minutes then headed to town for vittles.  It was a five block walk to The Grind.  Town was mostly dead, there were only two others in the shop and no other shops were open.

I ordered an oatmeal and bagel along with my coffee.  All three were great.  I realized after I ate that I was still hungry.  I should not have skipped dinner.  I ordered a breakfast sandwich and honey bun as well.  They were also good, but I saved half the sandwich to pack out for lunch.

The Grind had many photo albums of hikers they had taken pictures of over the years.  I thumbed through them while waiting and saw some interesting faces.  I was hoping to see a hiker that I had met on the AT, but no such luck.  I noticed one guy in a red vest showed up in multiple year albums, sometimes solo, sometimes with another hiker.  He was a red headed white guy with dreadlocks – he stood out.  [Post hike: I DID end up meeting this guy later at Kennedy Meadows – and mentioned seeing him in the photo albums.]

I headed back and packed up and went back to the hardware store to hitch.   I tried to make eye contact with every driver that passed by to increase my odds of getting one to stop.

Most of the cars passing by were Sunday-going-to-church-I’m-too-dressed-up-to-pick-up-vagrants drivers with their families, so I was worried it might be a hard hitch out of town.

This one also took 30-45 minutes and the guy who picked me up also turned around to come get me.  He also wanted to talk about the trail.

Ponderosa pines leading up to Mt Baden Powell – named after the founder of the Boy Scouts.

The trail out from town was more of the same as yesterday – ponderosa pines.  About five miles in we hit the approach to mount Baden Powel, named after the founder of The Boy Scouts.  My host had told me there were 40 switchbacks during our chat this morning, so I started counting them right from the trail head.  Part way up another hiker said there were 42.  I was determined to see who was right.  I counted the segments all the way to the peak and came up with 41, so I think my host was right – there are 40 switchbacks up that bugger.

Still a long way from Canada.

The trail was crowded, too.  There were perhaps 40 cars in the parking area.  I passed at least 50 people on the way up, and was passed by no one.  I’m starting to get my legs.  I also got a text from Aaron while on top – he could not find my sunglasses, booo.

The view from Mt Baden Powell.

The view up at the top was nice, but not spectacular.  I had heard there are great views of Los Angeles, but the entire coastline was undercast, so all I saw were the tops of clouds and the mountains 5-10 miles away..

Sunset from Mt Wilson.

About a half an hour after getting up there, Peter from Poland showed up.  He is now officially Peter pan.  We hiked most of the afternoon together and are both camped on Mt Wilson, but on different sides.  It is very cold and windy up here.  I was cold while making dinner but the bag is keeping me toasty.  We shall see how cold I am in the morning, though.

Cajon pass is now blanketed in fog.

6-11-2016

In the morning I waffled back and forth on whether to backtrack 7 miles to try to look for my glasses or not.  In the end I decided it was wisest to not try to do that and to rely on Aaron and Stiff to look for them as they came up behind me.  After all, I did have a backup pair and I can use my regular glasses most of the time unless it’s really bright out.

I played leapfrog with Tule most of the morning and we were both surprised to find another water cache not on the water report that was well stocked.

Using the Guthook app that shows way more campsites than the official data book and has up to date postings on statuses as well as pictures.  It has been the most reliable thing to use so far.  It’s the best $25 I have spent on the entire trip.

The terrain at the beginning to f the morning was more desert but the last five miles turned to ponderosa pines again and it was a nice hike into town.  I did not seem to have much energy most of the morning and I think it’s because all of the extra running back looking for my glasses from the night before and not getting enough to eat.  I ate a full dinner but I guess I needed more.

It took at least 30 or 40 minutes to get a hitch into town.  Another hiker I had passed that morning showed up and we hitched together.  Turns out he is also from Florida and also hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2008.  Small world.  His name is Achilles.  The guy who picked us up was interested in doing the PCT some day so he picked our brains all the way into town.  He had actually passed us, then turned around to come back to get us.  And he wasn’t even going all the way to wrightwood.

Once in town I went straight for the hardware store to pick up my resupply packages.  That a small section of the store dedicated to PCT hikers and had a two page flier with trail angels names and numbers.  I took a photo and headed straight to lunch.  Tule texted me where he was eating and Achilles and I joined him.  After lunch (burger, fries, salad, and a beer) we started calling trail angels to see who had room.  I found one on my second call and she had room for two.  Tule already had one so Achilles and I took it.  She had a pop-up camper for us to use.  It was perfect.

Achilles showered and went to town, while I did laundry and repacked from the supply boxes.  One of the things I had Karen send me was a book on PCT planning that didn’t arrive until the day after I left.  She said it was big and wouldn’t fit so I had her take out a days worth of food to fit it in.  She was right, it was big… And heavy.  Being Saturday, I couldn’t mail it back or anything so I started reading it.  It has some useful info and I took photos of about a dozen key pages.  I still have not finished planning all of Oregon and Washington so it will still come in useful.  The other thing I wanted it for was town maps.  I looked through all the towns I have already been through and came to the decision that the Guthooks app is just as good, so I did not photograph any of those pages.

By the time I had my shower and laundry was done it was close to 9 and I wasn’t hungry, so I did not go out to dinner, I just ate a few cookies and went to bed.  It felt really good to be clean and in clean clothes.  I slept well and didn’t even use earplugs.