A return to the PCT

 6/26 day one

Yesterday I met Ryan in Aquadulce where I left my car. (if you did not follow my previous blog posting during my 2023 Pct hike I met him on day two reformed a fast friendship and hike together for 54 days)He had rented a U-Haul truck from Las Vegas, where he flew into from Maine. We drove to Wrightwood where we stayed in a cabin for the night. This morning we had breakfast and made our way down to Cajon pass. In 2023 the trail from Cajon pass to Wrightwood was closed due to a fire. Today we will begin putting feet on that section. Our plan is to hike to Agua Dulce over the next week with a quick detour Saturday to camp Tahquitz where I volunteered as a kid in Boy Scouts. There is a staff reunion on Saturday and I will give a small presentation about my time on Trail before returning to Wrightwood and continuing to AguaDulce Sunday morning.

It is surreal being back with Ryan on the PCT. It’s been two years, but it feels like it was just yesterday.

We started off from the hardware store at the center of town walking with our thumbs out hoping for a ride. A public bus stopped within a couple of minutes and told us she was going to Highway 138 which is about halfway to the I-15 junction where we will start our hike. We jumped and had our first ride. At highway 138. We got out and started walking again. less than two minutes later Charlene pulled over. She was our first hitch.

Ryan and I have really become in touch with how God uses things especially on the trail. About 4 miles down the road Charlene’s car got a flat!  Ryan and I began working on it and got all the lug nuts loose but the jack did not have enough clearance. We used to rock to drive the car up on to try to get some more clearance. The jack was just not getting us where we needed to be, but then a car turned around and pulled up behind us. Kevin is a diesel mechanic is on the way to work on somebody’s car. He jumped out said he used to have an Explorer and knows how little clearance there is. He had a floor jack and an impact wrench and helped us get the car back on the road. God is good.

With the hitch, and the tire change, we got to the trail a little over an hour later than we had hoped, but it was the plan that was supposed to happen. We crossed under the highway via a drainage tunnel and begin our trek back on the PCT.

It’s early on, but the sun is already hot and we are in full exposure so we pulled out the Sun umbrellas. They are ultra lightweight with a silver reflective film on the outside and make a noticeable temperature difference when you’re in its shade. 

We crossed some railroad tracks and continued winding up the canyon. A few minutes later a train came by. It was about a mile long. It had five engines pulling it. An impressive site of power. 

The Plumber’s Mariposa Lili is a beautiful yellow and a purple color set in a green plant 

We are crossing two valleys along a Ridgeline on a narrow knives edge portion of trail between the two. There are beautiful views on both sides.

Just over 5 miles and we come to a water cache. This is the only water on this 20 mile section. We will be filling up about 5 L to take with us.  That is 10 pounds 10 ounces of water weight. Our campsite tonight will be dry so we need water from here to there, water for our dinner and breakfast, water for overnight hydration, and water for tomorrow’s portion of hike.

Not only does the cache have an abundance of water but there’s also a few chairs for us to sit on for a nice break.

Just past the water cache is a trail register that we stopped and signed our names .

It’s a long uphill slog in full sun and exposure. We stopped 3.3 miles from the water cache for a little rest under our shade umbrellas.

We have reached a decision point.  There is a place to make camp tonight at the 10 mile mark, which is halfway to our Wrightwood destination by tomorrow.  The tent site is very small, somewhat sloped in full sun and not very appealing. However, the next spot that sounds much better is four miles away.  We are feeling really good but we know we are tired, dehydrated, and we’ve made good progress for today. We went .1 mile up the Trail and found a nice shady spot and are making dinner planning to rest for an hour and then seeing how we feel. I’m eating sweet pork and rice 800 cal of yummy. 

After about an hour and a half in the rest spot, shade was getting closer to where we decided to put our tent. We are not going any further. We set up the tents. I had a second dinner. We watched an episode of the chosen and headed to bed with a beautiful sunset.

Day one was 10.8 miles with an elevation gain of 2874 feet