PCT to tram this Friday

[Marknhj]

She was tired but otherwise her normal self! Laughed when I told her she'd been today's star online attraction. Apparently the tram guys applauded when she arrived as she was being followed up there too. She uttered those two words we all know too well, "never again...", which probably means she'll be planning her next one within 48 hours

[trcar]

That's a great read. This is a cool bunch of sick people! Keep on hiking.

[Cy Kaicener]

WOW - Congratulations Ellen - That was awesome. I too cant wait for the trip report. Now I can get some sleep too..
This thread now has 71 replies and 1483 views, which shows the terrific interest in this adventure. Sales of SPOT will shoot up now

[calicokat]

Congrats Ellen, what a day

[HikeUp]

***Happy Dance***

[hwstock]

Wow. Nice to see how you folks pull together.

[myotherboots]

Ellen, so happy that you made it! You scare me to death, but are an inspiration as well... You should have enough material for a book soon...

Robin

[skunkboy]

Ellen,

Congrats on your epic hike. Your hike did indeed honor Officer Bonaminio. You are awesome.

[KathyW]

Congrats Ellen - This has been a really nice thread and it's been fun watching the spot track.

[Ellen]

Howdy to my San Jacinto family

Throughout the day, I kept flashing back to Hal's opening sentence on his trip report of this hike last Nov -- "Well, that was fun."

My day started when my alarm went off at 1:45 AM. Pulled off the 111 to look for the trail head. Note to self -- confirm trailhead in the daylight -- you think I would have learned this after last year Parked off the road and at 3:45 AM headed past a desert water agency locked gate, up a dirt road, then off on a "trail." Ran into the Indian shelter Hal referred to. Lost trail, stumbled around for a while and ended up in a ravine with a large pipe, rocks and brush. Looked for route from locked gate again, same result.

Called Z-dude (about 5 AM) from the Indian shelter to ask for directions -- sorry Z! I had on knee high gaiters but already had scratches on my quads. Decided to hike Skyline to summit instead, which is what I did last year when I missed the group hike. As I'm driving back towards 111, dawn is breaking and I see a road I haven't checked. Turn onto the road --taa daa the trailhead -- complete with Bair Witch sign Just call me Ms. Magoo. Call Karin at 6 AM to tell her I'm going, dammit, and should be on the summit of San Jacinto between 5 to 6 PM. I'm starting 2 1/4 hours later than planned, will be chasing daylight and will finish in the dark.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the PCT -- it offers spectacular and ever changing views of the desert. The sunrise turned San Gorgonio a beautiful pinkish-orange (have to get a camera). I was surprised to see several streams still flowing, though I wouldn't want to chance the quality of the water. I knew about the brushy section from both Hal's and Z-dude's trip reports but did not expect it to be so badly overgrown. Skyline is a maintained trail in comparision. I carried REI's ultraight rain pants -- too hot for hiking uphill in the sun.

The other problem was that the trail is terribly eroded and the razor wire brush grows on the uphil side of the trail. If you step down to go around the brush, you may go down further than you intended due to the erosion. Much of this occurs on relatively flat sections as the trail traverses along the side of ridges. Thus, parts of the trail that should have been easy were more energy intensive due to being bush-whacked. One thing was certain, there was no way I going back down this sucker

I kept looking down at the desert to make sure I was gaining elevation. Glad I didn't have an altimeter -- it would have been too discouraging. I finally reached the beginning of the pine trees and cooler air, which provided a great mental boost. It was an interesting and somewhat spooky section -- lots of dark, dead, limbless trees. Don't know if this was caused by a fire or bark beetles About 5 hours in, the switchbacks up the ridge finally ended and I was going through a flater, woody section. Mistakenly thought I was close to seeing Black mountain road. Ha ha. The PCT was playing with me

Eventually came to the road. Pulled Z-dude's e-mail out as he had provided directions to his cache -- not there yet. Kept going and going and going... and found the bleesed cache. I love apricot nectar -- thanks Z-dude Don't know if I drank as much as inhaled. Threw the can in my pack and grabbed a water bottle as I was down to my last pint of Gatorade. Now fortified and hydrated, I headed towards the Fuller Ridge trailhead. When I reached it and looked at my watch, I was even more impressed it only took Hal 6 hours to hike the 18 miles -- I was a good 45 minutes slower. Z-dude had left a message that I was at the bail out point and he would pick me up if needed -- what an amazing friend I didn't get the message until last night because my @#$%^& Verizon cell phone had no reception the entire hike.

I was finally in familiar territory. The temperature dropped significantly as I headed up in the shade towrds Castle Rocks. I love the views of the desert -- reminds me of the section of Skyline before the traverse. Once I reached Castle Rocks the wind picked up signficiantly. I donned a long sleeve shirt and gloves and began the downhill that kicks my butt when I have to come down this trail Then up and down along Fuller Ridge until I reached the stream where the CCC did trail work. It was nearly frozen over I took a short break to wipe off dirt and blood. Finally reached the trail junction with Deer Springs -- Hallelujah! I placed a picture of Officer Ryan Bonaminio's badge under the Fuller Ridge sign and took a picture with my cell phone. I had intended to do this at the summit but knew it would dark when I arrived. The US Flag bandana was lost somewhere along the PCT.

Went up through the "desert section" of Deer Springs -- at least it wasn't hot as it normally is when I'm there Then up and past the springs. There was lots of ice and I tread carefully. The mushy section was still mushy and claimed one of my feet -- ick. It was an absolute gift to reach Little Round Valley -- only another 1 K to go. The wind really picked up as I slogged up the endless switchbacks. A beautiful band of red appeared in the western sky as the sun set. I was now having to pause occasionally to catch my breath and collect myself. I stopped to don more clothing -- pants, fleece, lightweight REI rain jacket, balaclava -- and headlamp right before reaching the flat area at the trail junction. As I expected, the wind was really howling on the plateau below the summit blocks.

Decided I'd saunter up to the summit hut and then assess whether or not to summit. Made the mistake of going cross country and found myself in a completely unfamiliar area. Hmm...Looked around to get my bearings. Hard to do that when it's dark. Started walking around expecting to intersect a trail. Couldn't find a trail. Ah hell, not again Deja vu -- a storm is coming in and I'm alone on top of San Jacinto. Took out my cell phone to see if I had service. Nope Found out later that Hiking Jim (guardian angel and map master) had both called me and texted me to provide route guidance -- I was too far north.

I started to get anxious, then told myself to concentrate on landmarks that I could identify -- the desert lights, the general direction of Jean peak, etc. Started scouting around again and found a trail. Yippee! Followed it uphill and ran into the summit hut This is now the second time that blessed structure has come to my aid Followed that trail down to the main trail. I found that descending San Jacinto in the dark is not fun. There are numerous rocks, tree roots and other obstacles to be negotiated. Within minutes I was overheating. The pants were also constricting my legs. Stopped and removed jacket, pants and balaclava, which I'd only had on for maybe 20 minutes Ah, freedom of motion.

Continued the descent, which was mentally fatiguing. By the time I reached Round Valley, my shoulders, neck, arms and wrists were aching due to the pack and death grip I had on my poles. I checked the time (wanted to be at the tram station well before 9 PM), took off the pack and had a fuel break. Those last two miles seemed to go on forever. By Long Valley, snow flurries were dancing in front of my head lamp. Wished (not for the first time) that I could take an elevator up to tram station As I approached the door, a voice from above said "We've been tracking your progress all day!"

Craig told me that my San Jacinto family had been following the hike and posting on the board. He kindly treated me to a beer and looked after me in general in the tram station. When I asked what I could do in return, he said accompany him on Skyline today I recommended that he dig a hole and just bury me right there The @#$%^& cell phone worked and I assured my family that I was still here.

Just as I was considering a cab, I read my mate Mark's text saying he'd pick me up -- thanks again Mark. Also thanks to Walt and Jean for offering to host this bloody blonde carcass last night. Although I did indeed say "Never Again!" now I'm thinking about what clothing I'm going next fall to wear to protect my skin when I do this bloody hike again

Miles of smiles,
Ellen