Snowcreek/PCT

[bluerail]

Went up to about 4500' on the Snowcreek PCT on saturday. Nice trail with good views of San Jacinto. Snow showed up at about 3450' and was spotty until I turned around at about 4500'. Great place to view San Jacinto from.
I did bring a camera

http://bluerail.smugmug.com/gallery/742 ... 5790_ub68A

[lilbitmo]

Great area for a great hike, cool day and nice snow cap peaks to view on the way up.

In all the areas of the PCT below the 14 freeways all the way to Mexican border it was here that I was able to see the most deer, must have been 40 or so - they were all over the place to the East of the trail in the lower canyons and running across the small plateaus between ridgelines.

Nice pict's bluerail - I'm sure there's even more wildlife to see but I was flying down from Fuler Ridge Campground area all the way to 10 Freeway on three hours sleep so I was moving fast. I only wish I had binoculars with me (and more time) to sit and try to view more of the wildlife.

That area is so nice.

Good work.

[Rick Kent]

Thanks Blue! You got some good photos of the upper chutes. At full resolution you can make out every last tree. Looks like the north side is in good shape.

-Rick

[halhiker]

When I was there a few weeks ago I wasn't sure the best place to park. I used to park all the way in the village and walk the old trail up past the Indian shelter but it looks like residents are a little less welcoming now considering all the No Trespassing signs.

I can attest to there being a lot of wildlife in this area. I don't believe I have ever hiked up Snow Creek and not seen a rattlesnake. One time, a friend of mine put his hand right on one. Thankfully, it was early and cool and the snake was sluggish. My buddy still almost had a heart attack.

Great pictures, BTW.

[bluerail]

Rick, Yep it was easy to see what draws you guys to that part of the mountain. I couldn't quit looking up at the top of the mountain and those chutes. What an absolute trip that would have to be in the winter. After reading the different reports like yours and Cheating Death On SJ, it was amazing to look up there and imagine climbing it in the snow .

Hal, I parked out on the main road, if you look at the picture of the houses and Snowcreek road you can see a few vehicles parked on the east side of the road, mines one of them, one of the other ones was a little toyota pickup that belong to some guy who had apparently been climbing up there for a couple of days. Said he'd been climbing SJ for 16 years.

One of my kids (now a teen) has a Ball phython that has gotten really big over the years, and my son is past that stage in his life (now it's girls), anybody want a snake ? Seriously. I hate them. It's a real good tool to help younger kids see how snakes behave and they love to watch it eat a couple rats. I think your kids are about the perfect age Hal. He's real healthy.

- Steve

[zippetydude]

One of my kids (now a teen) has a Ball phython that has gotten really big over the years, and my son is past that stage in his life (now it's girls)

He'll get in less trouble with snakes. Seriously.



Nice job on the hike - you covered some miles out there. The PCT goes on and on and on . . .

About the wildlife - there's a beautiful little valley about 10 miles up, and I don't think I've ever been there without seeing deer. Unfortunately, that's also true about the snakes. They creep me out when the trail gets overgrown and I'm heading back down on a warm spring morning . . . those little rattlers are hard to spot, and I usually spot them at the last second . . . it gives me the chills the rest of the way down.

z

[halhiker]

We already have a pet rat and a dog. No snakes, thank you.

Besides, my thirteen year old is already into girls big time.

And on that Snow Creek section of the Pacific Crest Trail, I HATE those longggggg switchbacks. Hate 'em, I say!

[bluerail]

lilbitmo, so it sounds like you've done the pct down to the border ? I was curious about time and water and when you did it, if you've done other sections do you have favorites?

Z, I'm already starting to worry about the snakes, this will be the first season in 15 years that I'm not going to be going through the desert in sixth gear with no worry of snakes. Now there gonna be able to catch me. I am nervous.

[lilbitmo]

Yes, I started at the border in Dec of 2004 doing 20 mile sections at a time. The guy who talked me into it did sections with me for about a year, we were getting out there about every other weekend - drive two cars down the night before, park at north end (Car camp) of section we were going to do the next morning, then get up head down to the southern end, hike north, pick up the other car and go get the one at the southern end and go home.

This went on all the way until Onyx Peak below Big Bear just East of Coon Creek/Head waters of Santa Ana river. He stopped going at that point (around Feb of 2006) and I had a friend that was in some deep trouble living with the wife and I (Long Story) in late 2006 so I decided to take the dog and pickup where I left off and over the 2006-2007 winter I was able to cover from Onyx Peak all the way to Mill Creek Crossing in the San Gabriels. This friend would drop me at the east end and pick me up at the west end of hikes I planned out, some 18 miles, some 24 depending on the snow level and difficulty. Lucy my dog and I would start at 5:15 to 5:30 AM and go as fast as we could handle.

The sections I liked the most were all of the area north of Hemet lake all the way to the Snow Creek, all of the sections between Onyx summit and Lake Silverwood, and everything north and west of Lyttle Creek - there's a great deal of history out there that I learned from reading the books about the trail and some stuff you just come across on the trail - Like the flyers for the old Gold Mines above Big Bear - I had no idea about Holcum Valley and that surrounding area.

The West side of San Jacinto/Fuler Ridge with great views, difficult to do in the winter but well worth it in early spring or late fall.

It's hard to go wrong with all the choices on the PCT - one other very special place is just north of Mount Laguna in San Diego county, that section by Garnet Mountain that gives you at 3,000 foot drop off to the Anza Borego Desert is quite amazing when the winter has been wet as the spring brings blooms in the desert that are amazing.

Enjoy. Lilbitmo

[Cy Kaicener]

Here are two interesting links about Trail Journals and Trail Conditions
http://www.pcta.org/planning/after_trip ... _hiker.asp
http://www.pcta.org/planning/during_trip/current.asp

Here are just two of the websites from trail journals
http://www.neighborandchickety.blogspot.com
http://cindigo.com