PCT Hike highway 74 to Snow Creek Village 5/31-6/5

[whitebark]

I just finished a 60 mile backpack along the Pacific Crest Trail from Highway 74 to Snow Creek Village. It was a hard but fun trip with mostly great weather and impressive scenery. A nice change from the soggy hills of Seattle, where I usually live and hike. Here's a trip report -hopefully I can post some pictures soon:

May 31: Highway 74 PCT trailhead to Live Oak Spring --8 miles

Sunny skies and a pleasantly cool temperature greeted us as we set out hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from the small dirt parking lot off highway 74, elev. 5000'. Since this was not a particularly long or hard day of hiking, we started around noon. I expected this part of the PCT would be perhaps a bit dull, but that was not the case. Wildflowers, groves of pine, and picturesque granite outcrops livened up the otherwise gentle chaparral-covered hills. We met a few dayhikers but mostly the path was lonely.

After a few miles, the trail crossed a rugged little pass through a ridge of granite, then dropped down to a trickling seasonal creek lined by pines, oaks, and small green meadows, where we ate lunch under the shade of a boulder. From here, the PCT steadily climbed up the flanks of the Desert Divide to a 6000' pass near Live Oak Spring. Two PCT through-hikers were resting there, the only ones we saw on our trip.

A one mile, 500' descent on the Live Oak Spring trail, a bit brushy but otherwise o.k., brought us to our night's campsite. The spring was an impressive gusher of excellent clean water coming out a pipe. Nearby was a huge oak tree were I set up my tent. After dinner (a Mountain House entree eaten out of the bag), I explored the little-used trail below the spring for a bit. The trail was still visible, but from a previous trip six year ago, I found this part of the Live Oak Spring trail to be badly decayed. It's probably worse now. The path became almost impossible to follow as it descends the canyon: wonder if anyone uses it anymore? Theoretically, it goes all the way down to Palm Canyon.

The weather became unsettled during the night and strong gusts of wind shook the oak trees.

June 1: Live Oak Spring to Apache Spring -- 12 miles

I expected that this leg of our trip would be the hardest, and thus we set out early. After the 500 foot grunt up Live Oak Spring trail, a nice waker upper, we set out northbound on the PCT and followed it ever upward as the path scaled the heights of the Desert Divide. The weather continued to act up, with a strong, chilly wind raking the ridges. Above, lenticular and cirrus clouds filtered the sun.

The PCT climbed at a steady rate toward Lion Peak and offered increasingly vast views over the surrounding valleys. I was a bit dismayed at the dilapidated state of the trail, which made the day's walking quite a bit harder than it should have been. Seems Washington State is not the only place with a trail maintenance promblem. Slumped tread, blowdowns, and encroaching brush await the swing of a trail crew's Pulaski. At a ridgetop near Lion Peak, I was nearly knocked over by the wind. However, thick chaparral protected much of the trail from the chilly blasts.

The next few miles to Jo Pond Trail were stunningly spectacular as the PCT followed the top of the divide at nearly 7000'. The thin, burned over chaparral growing on the ridge rarely blocked the view. Chuck took the time to make the short climb up Pyramid Peak (he is an incorrigible peak bagger). Later, we paused for lunch on a summit near Jo Pond junction, about 6 miles from Live Oak Spring.

After lunch, we continued on, passing Jo Pond Trail then climbing onto the gentle height of Palm View Peak. Much of the ridge is clothed in an old-growth white fir forest and flower-strewn meadows, giving a pleasant alpine feel. Great (but dry) campsites can be found here. Chuck took a short side trip looking for the very indistinct summit of Palm View Peak to add to his peak list, then we set off down the hill toward Fobes Saddle.

An unusually poor, steep, and eroded section of the PCT dropped us quickly off Palm View Peak. Lower down, there was a big switchback on a hot brushy slope (more typical PCT construction), then another huge switchback in a nice shady forest. As we approached Fobes Saddle, a discouraging 1000 foot descent from Palm View, the wind began to roar-- that saddle is a real wind tunnel and at least today, not a very inviting place to linger. We took a brief look at the two nice chairs set out for PCT hikers at the saddle (no sign of the water cache that is often here), then set out on the long climb up the north slope.

The PCT's ascent to Spitler Peak Saddle is long but well-graded, first up a chapparal-covered ridge, then through an oak forest, and finally among firs and pines on Spitler's steep east slope. The trail picked its way along a rugged rocky crest to the junction with the Spitler Peak Trail, then made a final climb nearly to Apache Peak's summit, which really wore us out after so many miles of rough trail. The sign pointing to Apache Spring was a welcome sight!

We stumbled down the steep side trail to the spring. I was a bit worried about a report of the campsite being "windy" and that the sites might be taken, so I eyed potential camping spots along the trail as we descended -- there were a few poor ones that I noticed. After a seemingly endless descent we reached the campsite, an absolutely spectacular spot on a rock bluff overlooking the Coachella Valley 7000 feet below. There were no campers there at all, and it was not too windy, seemingly. The spring was just a bit further down, a trickle of clear water coming out of a wood box.

After collecting water, we trudged back up to the camp and I started to set up the tent. I just got the first guyline staked down, when a strong gust caught the tent and ripped out the stake, flinging it away somewhere. I never found the expensive titanium stake even after a long search. Then another gust nearly ripped the tent out of my hand, and almost sent it on a long flight down to Palm Springs. I started having second thoughts about this campsite.

Despite the lateness of the day and our tired state, I convinced Chuck to abandon the camp, and we wearily set out up the hill to one of the marginal spots in the forest that I had spotted earlier. In fading light, we quickly set up camp and managed to cook dinner just as the sun set. As nightfall approached, the whole valley below lit up with city lights, quite an impressive sight. Our tent site was small and sloped, but quite cozy. All night the wind roared in the trees, and we agreed that we had made the right move.

We had seen no other hikers the whole day. Nice!

June 2: Apache Spring to Little Tahquitz Valley -- 8 miles

This was a spectacular hiking day in what is certainly the finest mountain scenery in S. California, south of the Sierras. The weather seemed calmer today, which we were thankful for as our next campsite would be over 8000' elevation. We dragged our heavy packs up the rest of the Apache Spring trail and back to the PCT, which traversed around Apache Peak, then did a long descent toward the Zen Center saddle, the path often just a narrow tread cut into a very steep slope or even blasted out of solid rock. We rested a bit at the saddle preparing for the long climb ahead.

The next few miles of trail were simply amazing, and we paused frequently to gape and snap pictures. The ridge beyond the Zen Center is a fortress of granite cliffs and pinnacles, and the PCT cleverly weaves around one obstacle after another in its quest to gain the heights of Red Tahquitz Mountain. If the trail builders could not find away around a cliff, they simply dynamited their way though it, creating a ledge with a sometimes nerve-wracking drop below. Unfortunately, this part of the trail has also been neglected, making things a bit dangerous, the footing on some of the narrow ledges made poor with fallen debris. Scratchy brush and fallen logs messed up much of the trail.

Mile after mile, the PCT worked its way past the massive granite ramparts of Ansell Rock and South Mountain. Below the trail, vast steep canyons dropped away thousands of feet down to the distant desert. The great scale of the terrain reminded me of hiking in the Grand Canyon.

Exciting as the last 6 miles of trail was, we were grateful as we reached the shoulder of Red Tahquitz Mountain later in the day, where the trail finally leveled out as it crossed an 8500' pass into the valley of Tahquitz Creek. Instead of steep dry granite cliffs, we now walked on a soft duff-covered path through a forest of huge Jeffrey Pines, a balm for our tired legs. We were now on the rolling summit plateau of Mt. San Jacinto, and in a completely different alpine climate. Snowbanks lingered near the trail and creeks trickled down the ravines; we enjoyed the sudden abundance of moisture and looked forward to camping by a creek with effortless access to water.

Near Little Tahquitz Meadow, we found a pleasant forest campsite near two creeks, and quickly set up camp. Unlike last night, we had plenty of time to relax. Later in the day I roamed down the creek and visited the meadow, just beginning to green up after a hard winter and spring. The evening was calm and warm. Like yesterday, we had seen no other hikers all day.

June 3: Tahquitz Meadow to Little Round Valley -- 10 miles

Another calm and sunny day. We set out fairly early as today promised to be a long hike. The gentle trail led us down past Little Tahquitz Meadow to the big meadow below, where a stream meandered through a field of green, newly sprouted grass, quite a charming scene. Then it was a gradual climb through meadows and a forest of huge pines to Saddle Junction, where we at last saw some other hikers, who were resting up on a hike to the summit of San Jacinto.

Back on the official PCT, we commenced climbing once again, this time on a thankfully well graded trail that gained 1000 feet to reach the junction with the Wellman Divide trail at 9000'. Good views here down toward Idyllwild and the massive granite dome of Lily Rock and Tahquitz Mountain. Then the PCT unfortunately dumped all of the hard won elevation as it descended to Strawberry Junction. But at least the views were tremendous as the trail traversed a vast granite slope dropping down from 10,300' Jean Peak. Part way along the traversing descent was Strawberry Cienaga, a steeply-sloped meadow fed by spring-fed streamlets.

We lunched on a rock outcrop not far from the "cienaga", then continued on to Strawbery Junction, where the Pacific Crest Trail began the long climb toward Little Round Valley. The grade of the trail was rather gentle and the forest cool and shady, but we were feeling a bit tired and our pace was slow. We were now below the highest part of the range, and we crossed numerous creeks fed by the abundant snow above. Would 9800' Little Round Valley, where we planned to camp, be free of snow?

Big snowbanks appeared near Marion Mountain trail junction at nearly 9000', some blocking the trail. But mostly the trail was free of snow. We crossed two forks of the San Jacinto River, brimming with snowmelt. Then we reached the Little Round Valley Trail, and started grinding out the final 800' ascent to our campsite, which went very slowly in our tired condition. The west-facing trail was free of most snow, but enough big drifts remained that we were glad we had not attempted our backpack trip any earlier this season.

The final approach to Little Round Valley was dramatic. The trail climbed up a rocky notch with a waterfall tumbling down it. Then suddenly the terrain gentled and we entered a hidden valley tucked in a High Sierra landscape of granite peaks. At this elevation, the forest consisted of lodgepole pine, adding to the Sierran flavor. We found most of the valley to be covered with heavy drifts of snow 3 or 4 feet deep, but campsites on the low rock ridge to the north were free of snow. We selected a nice spot and settled in. No one else was around...or so we thought at first.

As I was setting up the tent, I was suddenly surprised to see a day hiker coming up the slope north of Little Round Valley. I thought at first he was some nearby camper, but was surprised when he quickly approached me and said "can you help me"? It turned out that he was a lost day hiker who had come up from Humber Park, ascended San Jacinto, then had gone down the wrong side of the mountain! In the snows of Little Round Valley, he became totally lost, unable to find any trail. He had no map or clue where he was. And he was not alone. Soon I met his two companions, a lady (wife?) and daughter.

With three hours of daylight left, and little stamina remaining, they clearly had a problem. I pointed out the quickest way back to Humber Park was back over the top of San Jacinto, which did not appeal to them very much. So I suggested that they hike out the all-downhill route to Idyllwild via Strawberry Junction, then make some phone calls. I pointed out where the trail was and sent them on their merry way...I hope they did o.k.

With that squared away, we settled into camp and explored the nearby meadow, which had melted out and was greening up a bit. The port-a-john had three feet of snow blocking the door..I hope the weekend campers bring shovels to unblock it! The massive drifts of snow surrounding the meadow will take a month to melt.

When the sun set, it became very chilly and we quickly ducked into the warmth of our tent for a rather early bedtime. Luckily I had brought an IPod, with which I could while away the evening listening to my 16 gigabytes of symphonic masterpieces - Kurt Atterberg's Fifth Symphony was on the program this evening.

June 4th: Little Round Valley to Fuller Ridge Basin --9 miles.

We hoped for an easy day after all the previous toil, but as anyone who knows the Fuller Ridge Trail realizes that "downhill" trails can be anything but. Another bright but breezy day greeted us as we descend the Little Round Valley spur trail back to the PCT. It was a bit of a shock when after all our lonely hiking we suddenly encountered a wave of hikers coming up the hill. It was Saturday and the weekend crowd had arrived-- heavily laden backpackers heading for campsites in LRV, and fast and light dayhikers climbing San Jacinto.

Back on the PCT, I though perhaps it would get a bit quieter, but we saw plenty of hikers coming in via Fuller Ridge. But not so much at first. A scenic stretch of the PCT soon took us to a branch of the San Jacinto River, which roared down from the snowy heights above, then tumbled down a waterfall next to the trail. That was by far the largest stream we had seen on our trip.

We lingered a bit in this Yosemite-like setting, then went on to the next stream, where we had to load up on water, for we thought that there would be no streams ahead and wanted to prepare for the possibility of a dry camp. Making things more difficult, we also needed enough water to get down the Snow Creek switchbacks the next day. Used to hiking in the wet Northwest, all this worrying about water was a bit trying.

Loaded up with 6 liters of water each, we continued on. The trail dipped down, then (annoyingly) climbed again to get on top of Fuller Ridge. Neither of us had hiked this part of the PCT before, and were stunned and amazed at the scenery here. The trail weaved along the crest of the rugged ridge, and offered astounding views of the north face of San Jacinto and the desert 7000 feet below. A curse-inducing climb of several hundred feet took us to the summit of the ridge where we lunched at an awesome overlook, while hiker after hiker passed us going toward Little Round Valley. We were glad we were not camping there tonight, not only because of the crowding but because the weather seemed to be acting up again. The wind was getting strong and cold- what would it be like at 9800 feet?

The trail from here finally descended with authority, and we made good time to the trailhead. The old fir forest is marvelous here; must be a wet area, because we were surprised at the number of snowbanks lingering on the steep north slope of Fuller Ridge.

The sight of the big Fuller Ridge trailhead parking lot, with fifteen or so cars was quite a shock after so much wilderness travel.

I had done some research on PCT water sources, and one website mentioned a spring near the parking lot, on the far side of a meadow. I was pretty doubtful when I walked across the meadow, but lo and behold, I indeed found a trickling spring. It had a lot of brown algae growing around it, and the water had a brown tint (tannin from pine needles?), but nothing that my chlorine tablets couldn't handle, I hoped. Unfortunately, Chuck's "First Need" filter blew apart a few days earlier after four years of hard service, so the tablets were all we had. We were able to top off our water bottles here, which eased the water woes a bit.

From here, it was a mere 16 mile descent of 6500 feet to the end of the hike at Snow Creek Village. Studying maps, I had spotted a possible camp at a seasonal creek at 6500', so we pressed on. The PCT descended steeply from the trailhead parking lot down to the Black Mountain Road. I suggested to Chuck that we could call for his friend to pick us up here , but he wanted to go on. We crossed the road and resumed the descent, committed to finish the job.

The Pacific Crest Trail continued its descent, switchbacking down a dry slope with a jaw-dropping view over the Gorgonio Pass. Huge semi-trucks on I-10 looked like tiny moving dots. We were going all they way down there? About three miles from Fuller Ridge Trailhead, the trail leveled out in the basin that I had noticed on the map...time to head over to the creek and see if we could find water and camp. We quickly found a dirt road indicated on the map and followed over to the creek. Bingo! A fine little stream ran by someone's habitual campsite under a big oak tree. The only problem was the nearby road- one never knows what sort of party animals may drive down it on a Saturday night, and tire tracks showed that it was most definitely driven on. One good sign was a general lack of garbage.

All remained peaceful as we set up camp by the creek. At 6500' the air was comfortably mild and the raking wind on Fuller Ridge was just a nice breeze down here. Then it happened. A white SUV came down the road, and it slowed as it passed our camp, as if inspecting us. Then, thankfully, it drove off. The old road dead ended not far below our camp, so I was not surprised when the SUV appeared again going the other way and drove off. Good riddance!

Just when I thought it was gone for good, the SUV came back down the road a while later . WTF! This time it stopped. Oh no, now what, I thought. The driver's side door opened, and out stepped a latina lady. She said something urgent and motioned to us. Groaning I walked over to find out what the problem was. She said in a whiny voice, "I'm lost, How do I get to I-10?"

These mountains are full of idiots! First, the lost hiker in Little Round Valley, now this? I told her to drive back up the hill until she reached I-10, then fled back to the campsite. Memo to myself: never camp next to a road. Luckily, all remained calm after this incident.

June 5: Fuller Ridge Basin to Snow Creek Village - 13 miles

Time to do the infamous Snow Creek Switchbacks. I figured that this day would be long but at least it was all downhill --so I thought. Of course there was the problem of lack of trail maintenance, but I had noticed that some mountain bike tracks headed down the trail. I'm sure biking the trail is quite illegal, but it sure sounded fun. If those idiot bikers could do it, so could we. I was worried about extreme heat, but the day turned out to be breezy and cool.

The trail started heading down with a vengeance just beyond our camp. Pine forest was left behind, and we were back in the desert. At first the trail was in pretty good condition, though the lack of maintenance was all too apparent. But we started getting disturbed by the leisurely grade of the trail. If there was an obstacle ahead, the trail often went uphill to get around it. Soon it became clear that the trail had been laid out by some crazed by-the-book surveyor who was told to hold a 10% average grade no matter what. If one piece of the trail was too steep, he made up for it by adding some ridiculously flat switchback later on.

As we descended, the long switchbacks on crumbling brushy sidehills became increasingly aggravating, and we started swearing aloud at the trail designer when the path once again started climbing for no apparent reason. But the scenery was spectacular, wildflowers abounded, the breeze was cool, and we really were enjoying ourselves. We also enjoyed watching the amazing lenticular clouds that started building up on Gorgonio, no doubt blasting some poor climber with wind and sleet. Turned out this was caused by a unusual June storm that hit northern California hard.

Down and down the trail went, much of it in sad disrepair. Our mountain biker friends must have had a lot of fun crashing through the brush and wrangling their bikes over fallen logs and rocks. We were surprised to cross a small running creek at least three times. There was no question that I had packed way too much water, but better safe than sorry.

At about 3500' the trail made a switchback on a cliff with a view of the tremendous north face of San Jacinto, a real stunner of a spot. From here on, the trail seem to be in better shape, though it was still descending at that ridiculous 10% grade. After crossing the little creek one last time, the trail made a gigantic 4 mile switchback on the slope above Snow Creek Village. The final descent seemed to take forever, but at last the valley floor rose up to meet us, and we arrived at the paved water department road and the wonderful drinking fountain provided for PCT hikers. Elevation here only 1700', nice and toasty.

We walked down the road to Snow Creek Village, losing another 500 feet, then waited under the shade of a tree for our friend to pick us up. While we waited, we had a fun chat with the new owners of a historic stone house, which served as a stage coach stop at Snow Creek for travelers on a former trail. Soon Jon arrived in his pickup truck, handed me a most welcome beer, and off we went.

Limited cell phone pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72558696@N ... 915536216/

It may be a long time before I get the full set from Chuck's camera.

[Andy]

Whitebark, that's one heck of a TR my friend...fantastic! I'm jealous that you were able to spend that much time on the mountain. Glad you had a good trip and would love to see some pics.

[Hikin_Jim]

Wow! Heck of a write up. You should be a travel writer.

Got photos?

HJ

[lilbitmo]

whitebark,

Just as Andy said that's a nice section of trail, great report and like him I'm jealous. That is my favorite part of the southern section of the PCT, thanks for that TR and hope to see the pictures soon. Quite the change from Seattle, but there's some real treasures up there as well.

[whitebark]

Hi guys, glad you enjoyed my trip report. Chuck took most of the pictures, and it may be a long wait before I get a hold of them, but I managed a few on my phone camera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72558696@N ... 915536216/

Be sure to check out a similar and very active hiking site for the Northwest:

http://www.nwhikers.net/

[Ulysses]

Whitebark. Great trip report. Appreciate all the details. I hiked the PCT from Strawberry Junction to Fuller Ridge TH and back on 6/4 and 6/5. On Saturday I met a couple dayhikers who mentioned that they had just passed "a couple guys hiking from hwy 74 to I-10" so I must have been just behind you. Sorry we didn't meet. I would have enjoyed the company. On Sunday I met a couple who were doing the section from Warner Springs to Wrightwood. You are accurate in your assessment of the the beauty of the section approaching Red Tahquitz. Also the north fork of the San Jacinto is pretty amazing right now.

[ps_native]

awesome report! we bumped into a group of mountain bikers coming down the PCT from fuller ridge on saturday...must have been the tracks you saw.
awfully nice guys though, they asked us if we were ok and if we needed anything.

[Sally]

Outstanding TR, whitebark! I enjoyed remembering all the sections I have done, and the descriptions of the parts I haven't done make me want to go out and hike them. I wish I could get the time to string them all together into one hike like you did! What an undertaking!

Do you ever think of hiking the whole PCT in sections? (Or through-hiking it for that matter?)

[bluerail]

I'm with Jim...write a book. That was a great tr.

[Ellen]

Howdy WhiteBark

What a great write up, thanks so much BTW, HJ gave you a heck of a compliment, as he writes excellent TRs as well.

Wow! Heck of a write up. You should be a travel writer. HJ

I'm looking forward to hiking the PCT from Snow Creek to the tram this fall. It needs to be cool so I can wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt to protect myself against the killer brush on the middle section of the where the PCT climbs up to the forest and eventually meets the Fuller Ridge trailhead.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen