Hiking the PCT in Consecutive Pieces With Two Daughters

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mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2011 - 11:33pm PT

We're leaving early tomorrow for eight more days of family hiking, camping and backpacking. The plan is to hike seven out of eight days, totaling 101 more miles on the PCT (to Kennedy Meadows campground, which is around 40 miles south of Mount Whitney).

We'll get to where we get to; I just know this is going to be a lot of fun.

apogee

climber

Jun 10, 2011 - 11:37pm PT

So you are hiking the section through Walker Pass to Kennedy Meadows? Good timing- water should be reasonably plentiful, and temps have been relatively mild this year. Should see lots of thru-hikers, too- or at least the tail-end of the pack. Have a great time, and remember that a TR is mandatory.

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 10, 2011 - 11:42pm PT

Wow, apogee, you know the trail well. Yes, that's exactly where we'll be.

Temps are predicted to be just about perfect for hiking at our elevations (and there are no reports of winds coming, at least not yet).

And we've got lots of extra, fresh supplies to share with through-hikers, which we do expect to see.

apogee

climber

Jun 10, 2011 - 11:55pm PT

When I hiked the PCT (mid/late-80's), the section through the Tehachapis hadn't been completed- there were land ownership issues with the Tejon Ranch that had to be worked out. The PCT dropped down through the Antelope Valley, and for (what seemed like) a thousand miles, you walked along the California Aqueduct. Flat as a board, and boring as hell- every mile (exactly) there was a access hole where you could drop a water bottle on a string down into the aqueduct water- it was horribly chlorinated as it made the trip from the East Side to LA.

At the north end of Antelope Valley, the temporary PCT climbed up into the Scodie Mountains (sp?) through Jawbone Canyon, the mecca of the ORV crowd. That was one of the most miserable sections of the Trail, hiking with a huge pack, hotter than hell, thirsty as dust, with 3 wheelers ripping by you left and right. Travelling through those desert mountains, water was desperately scarce- lots of cattle and sh#t-filled 'springs'. Yellow Jacket Springs & Tunnel Springs, in particular, had disgustingly fetid water- it smelled worse than my socks!

Once past Walker Pass, you really start to feel like the mountains are nigh- hiking through Kennedy Meadows was like hiking through the gates to Nirvana. You knew that, from that point forward, pine trees would escort you all the way to Canada. Ahhhhh......

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 11, 2011 - 01:46am PT

Apogee: we did that section (south of Highway 58) partly in December, 2010, and especially, last March and April. I hate to say it, but little has changed from your description (yet, a serious re-route is coming because of a recent land deal between the State of California and the Tejon Ranch).

And by "little has changed" I mean right down to weird hiking around the "ranch" borders, hiking the aqueduct, and all the abuse by (irresponsible) dirt bike riders. We actually saw three riders in April tearing holy hell out of the side of a canyon (huge plumes of dirt). The girls were appalled.

The trail is now, at least complete, though. It has a discernible path (well signed) the whole way.

Here's the Mudn'Crud trip report I did in December (it talks about the same Tejon Ranch issues you describe):

http://www.mudncrud.com/forums/index.php?topic=1400.0

And this is the Mudn'Crud trip report that shows all the miles on the aqueduct and through the Tehachapis (which, I suspect, we did in cooler weather than you did since we were earlier in the year):

http://www.mudncrud.com/forums/index.php?topic=1479.0

apogee

climber

Jun 11, 2011 - 02:39am PT

"...but it does my heart good to see that I'm not raising two pansies"

That's the understatement of the year. Your girls are solid iron, with hearts of gold. Pretty hard to come by those kinds of people these days, without a dad like you.

Well done. Hike on!

guido

Trad climber

Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific

Jun 11, 2011 - 07:50pm PT

Wow-great adventure and lucky lucky daughters. What a wonderful inspiration for all. You have to be a proud dad.

Bad Climber

climber

Jun 11, 2011 - 10:56pm PT

Nicely done. So cool that you're taking your kids out--and that they GET it! My wife and I have hiked that section through to Walker Pass. The next year we did Walker Pass to Whitney. Excellent!

BAd

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 19, 2011 - 11:18am PT

We finished our week on the trail late yesterday. It was a fabulous week of great weather, great people, and wonderful wilderness. And laughter. It seems that, as a family, we laughed more than usual this week.

It all went as planned; 101 miles in seven days of hiking. We've now reached Kennedy Meadows (the one in the southern Sierra), and thus the southern Sierra Nevada.

I'm cross-posting below the first three days trip reports from Mudn'Crud. The rest of the reports will follow once I get them prepared.

Oh, and a quick pre-script: for all the fathers out there, happy Father's Day!!

Warning: these are long reports (but they are mostly photos):

June 11, 2011:

We started this trip Saturday, June 11. It was a smooth and practiced start, up at 6:00, drive down the Central Valley and over Tehachapi, and then out Jawbone Canyon Road. We arrived at 2:30 and quickly got ready to start the intended 13.4 mile hike. But first, Katie needed a bit more fuel:

We got going at 2:45; late, but still with plenty of daylight. Here's a photo of us starting past the same place, same sign as where we ended two weeks ago:

Just as we started we ran into a through-hiker heading the same way. The camaraderie between PCT hikers is very strong, possibly even stronger than between climbers. Our new friend, Greg (trail name "Malto" after the 600 plus calories of maltodextrin he was consuming, in addition to his regular food, every day) seemed happy for company. Although he was averaging 30 miles per day, and we offered repeatedly to let him pass, he was quite pleased with the pace Tricia was setting. We hiked together for our entire hike (which was half of his day's hike!):

Hiking doesn't get much easier than this, perfect temperatures, forested trails and, for 90% of the entire hike, slight downhill :

Soon we were six miles along, crossing Piute Mountain Road where we'd fed through-hikers last trip:

Katie signed us in to a trail register:

Then we met Vicki about a mile further, very near where she'd set up camp. We said hellos, made an introduction and had some trail snacks. Vicki and I reviewed the map for the end of the day pickup point:

Soon we were off. Mostly downhill, we were now heading out of the forest and back to the desert; just in the distance after we met Vicki, we lost over 1500 feet of elevation. The flora was changing:

We finished (obviously in the late evening) with two miles of real desert, hiking toward the setting sun, and toward Vicki, waiting on Kelso Valley Road (which can narrowly be seen in the center of the photo, rising from left to right, below the sun/shade line, but above the more obvious slash also rising from left to right):

Then, back to camp at Landers Meadow Primitive Campground (this photo was taken the next morning, since when we got there it was essentially dark):

A very good day. Now, however, we were in the desert. We knew the next day's hike wouldn't be so cool.

June 12, 2011

Since we didn't get to bed Saturday night until after 10:00, we slept in some on Sunday. Then we packed camp to move north. A reconnaissance of meeting and pickup points afterward meant we didn't hit the trail until 11:00.

In desert now, the trail dropped in elevation to Butterbredt Canyon Road, the lowest point we'll see on the PCT for at least 800 more miles. Then gentle uphill under Mayan Peak to meet Vicki for lunch at six miles:

Here's Vicki after the drop-off:

Obviously the girls are desert hiking veterans now:

On this stretch we encountered one hapless young man hiking the opposite direction. He looked worn out. He carried nothing but an empty one-gallon water bottle. He was headed to the road (where "trail angels" periodically replenish a bottled water cache). He'd literally abandoned his tent and camp to go desperately in search of water. We later came across his gear, still set up, right next to the trail (we didn't offer him water since we needed all we had, and he needed to go only another mile and a half to the cache).

Vicki drove out Dove Spring Road to meet us for lunch. She hiked out a mile to meet us:

We took an hour for lunch. The truck provided enough shade. Another nine miles followed, still through desert. Abandoned mines and nice views were the themes. One long, uphill, sunny stretch was pretty darned hot:

Soon we rounded Wyley's Knob and got a view of Bird Spring Pass where Vicki would be waiting:

Note in the last photo, just a glimpse, behind a Joshua Tree: there's a pile of water bottles. As I said, PCT hikers are a close community. Included in the mix are trail angels. They are usually people who've done all or some of the trail and who live near it. They undertake (voluntarily, and at their own cost) to help hikers by leaving water caches at roads, by doing trail maintenance, by posting current conditions. Whatever they can to help (kinda like the people doing rebolting at Pinnacles).

In this case the water cache at Bird Spring Pass included over 75 one gallon water bottles. And of these, only 14 were full:

We then headed down about two miles west on Bird Spring Road to make a peaceful "bandit" camp among pinyon pines in the desert:

Up next: an early start, a gruesome uphill slog, and the most miles yet of any day we've spent on the PCT.

June 13, 2011

Last night we camped just west of Bird Spring Pass. It's 20.6 miles from there to Walker Pass on Highway 178, with two reliable water sources along the way. So we decided on a day hike, starting early (with a teenager that means, in this case, hiking by 8:30 A.M.). Just as we got out of the car, two through-hikers came up from the south. We talked and visited extensively. Eventually the girls and I got going while Vic continued to talk with two more PCT friends (we'd see them and other through-hikers several more times each):

The day started with a huge climb up Skinner Peak. Switchbacks led to switchbacks. And then we encountered switchbacks. But we had a great views, and a gentle breeze kept the heat manageable:

Looking back at where we started from most of the way up the climb:

We then followed the pacific crest for several miles, moving gradually up and down. Our views north now began to include relative "close-ups" of the Sierra Nevada:

Many miles led to a nearly flat plateau that had once been badly burned. This had little cover, and was downright hot:

But finally we arrived at a seasonal trickle/stream that provided great (and, by this point 14 miles into the hike, needed) refreshment:

The next seven miles included only a little uphill. But the heat of the day, combined with the relentless pounding of step after step were starting to take their toll. Our first glimpse of Highway 178 was very encouraging:

The last three miles seemed like ten. Finally we could see tents in the Walker Pass Trailhead Campground. Still we pounded on, feet screaming at us now (and not nice words either). Finally, we came around a corner, and there, there was the ultimate trail angel: Vicki had come up to check on us:

As we arrived in camp, signs pointed to one campsite where there was offered a certain PCT "trail magic." As we walked by on the way to our site, we saw two trail angels completely rigged out, set up for days, intending to help. See, Walker Pass is a big milestone for through-hikers. These angels were there to be, well, angels. They had available vast quantities of fresh water. They had extra clothes and repair tools and parts. Big garbage bags into which hikers could dump parts of their loads (the campground has no water and no garbage service). And they especially had fresh food; barbecue, salad, soda, and ice cold beer. All there for passing hikers, no questions asked. All free, and all for the love of the trail and those who hike it:

And with that, we finished our longest one-day hike ever. We stayed there that night and Dad (that is, me) cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast the next morning:

We spent the rest of that day checking out areas farther north: camping spots, the trail, and drop-off and pick-up points. Then, with a 28.3 mile section coming (too far for one day - we'd need to bivy), we drove to Ridgecrest for a rest/preparation day.

10b4me

Ice climber

Happy Boulders

Jun 19, 2011 - 03:02pm PT

keep up the reports. they are really cool

John Moosie

climber

Beautiful California

Jun 19, 2011 - 03:29pm PT

What a great way to do the early part of the trail. Thanks for sharing this.

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 19, 2011 - 10:59pm PT

Thanks for the comments.

Here's the next day:

June 15

The next part of our hike took us 28.3 miles north from Highway 178/Walker Pass to Canebreak Road, a dirt road on the edge of Chimney Peak Wilderness. We did this in two days, with light packs and an open bivy. Although we went back and forth a few times from desert to Sierra Nevada during these miles, we finally, truly made the transition by the time we finished.

The first day was rough though. Katie had had a G.I. issue during the last of our hike to Walker Pass and during the (next) rest day. Plus the temperatures had spiked some; Ridgecrest, where we spent the rest day was at 101 degrees by the time we left town just after noon.

But we stuck with the plan: Leave the pass in the early afternoon, endure the miserable heat in the early hike, and then burn up the miles in the afternoon and evening cool to arrive at camp right at dark.

And the first miles truly were miserably hot. Starting out was hot:

Resting in the shade was not quite as hot:

How often do you see a nine year old girl with beads of sweat on her chin?

But as we hiked we got progressively higher and a little cooler. We passed the five mile mark at the memorial to Jim Jenkins, and moved around to the east side of Mount Jenkins:

(That's Owens Peak's southeast side in the background of the last photo). We rested liberally at this point; it was still warm and Katie was less than 100% still:

By the time we made it to the Owens/Jenkins saddle (just over halfway through our intended 16.6 miles), it was 6:00 P.M. But we were starting to hit our stride (and I knew Katie was feeling better because she was talking freely again, this time about what electives and college prep classes she was considering for her upcoming junior year):

We practically ran the next miles of downhill to and past Joshua Tree Spring. We faced one more long uphill trudge then before the last two miles, downhill cruise to where we wanted to camp in Spanish Needle Canyon. But before the last uphill we took a break in the last rays of the sun (now Katie's appetite was coming back - she could eagerly eat an apple):

Right in here we hit mile 662.5, a very significant number. Multiplied by four it is 2,650, which is the total length of the PCT. Here are the girls making a crude "1/4th" sign with their hands:

And then, up and over the last saddle. I offered up the chance of sleeping there, but the girls vetoed it. On we'd go in spite of the now set sun. They wanted the chance to clean off the trail dust in the running stream and, especially, they wanted a shorter hike tomorrow:

Soon there was only one more mile to go. But the sun was truly gone now. Tricia needed a headlamp. Then Katie and I needed them. On we tramped. Then, we hiked around a corner, and, what's that? It sounds like the trickle of water. It is the trickle of water! Camp at last.

It took 10 minutes to wash off the dirt and set up camp. Then dinner: we used a patented back country food preparation method first taught me by my good friend David Harden: don't. Instead of a stove or anything fancy we brought deli sandwiches, which are fine for a few hours unrefrigerated (no mayo or other spreads though).

And, then, off to sleep we went.

Next up: a wonderful finishing hike during which we truly started to feel like we were in the Sierra Nevada.

Dirka

Trad climber

Jun 20, 2011 - 01:03am PT

kick ass!

apogee

climber

Jun 20, 2011 - 01:09am PT

Thanks for the great TR! You do realize, though, that you've established the expectation for a TR each time you complete a new section....

That section is a tough one (even with Trail Angels & BBQ!)- hot and dry for almost any through-hiker- it tests one's resolve about as much as the first section to Idyllwild, when the resolve is about as soft as the ankles and feet.

When we hiked that section back in the 80's, at one point we noticed a single, narrow tire track in the dirt- we followed it for a while, then down a spur trail to a 'spring' (Yellow Jacket, if I remember)- the really stinky one I mentioned earlier- we filled our water bottles with the mess, then headed back to the trail following the tire track. It lead to the vehicle of Ruby Jenkins- Jim Jenkin's mother- she was out measuring trail miles and landmarks with a mileage counter (thus the wheel track). She had several gallons of clean water in her rig which she graced us with- we gratefully emptied our bottles of that skanky stuff from the spring. Though the Trail Angels weren't in force back then, Ruby was the first in our minds!

johnboy

Trad climber

Can't get here from there

Jun 20, 2011 - 01:52am PT

Superb, enjoying every mile of it.

I'll be with ya all the way. Keep on keeping on.

John Moosie

climber

Beautiful California

Jun 20, 2011 - 02:09am PT

I don't know why other people getting out there makes me happy, but it sure does. Maybe its just knowing that others value the same things that I do. Whatever it is, thanks for sharing your trip with us. I love to see the youngsters getting out there and the parents teaching them how. Good stuff.

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 20, 2011 - 11:00am PT

Hey, apogee, I take it that when you did the PCT it was as a through-hike? Did you start out alone or with other(s)? And did you finish the same way? We noticed some tendency for through-hikers to join up to hike with company (at least for a while).

And because of our location and the time of year, we ran into more through hikers this trip than we have in all other trips we've done combined. We're going to make a trip or two to Sonora Pass (45 minutes from home) in a few weeks to see whether we can catch a few of the many we met and be "trail angels" ourselves.

So, here's the next installment (with two more to come after this; we hiked seven days total):

June 16, 2011

We awoke early the next morning (due to Katie having a bad dream) which was provident, it allowed us to get an early start on another big climb via switchbacks:

It was kinda chilly when we started hiking, so we wore all the clothes we had with us. This caused a problem in that Tricia's clothing was so totally camouflaged. We actually lost her for a short time because we couldn't see her:

:) :) :)

Once we topped out on this morning's climb we followed a ridge to a saddle that was the actual pacific crest. This is the last time in 40 miles that the trail is on the actual crest:

A question came up about lunch: When is the right time? The answer, we decided, is when the view and the log are both perfect:

We started getting views north that looked like the Sierra (this one into Lamont Meadow, right near where Vicki would pick us up at the end of this second day):

More miles led into lower/drier country (again), but not desert:

We encountered a calm, quiet friend:

Before we started the two days I gave some thought to how things would likely go. I told Vicki that we'd probably be at the pickup point between 12:30 and 1:00 P.M. We finished 11.9 miles at 12:20 P.M. the second day (and if you think that was anything other than a lucky guess, well I could sell you some swampland, etc.):

The early start got us back to camp early. We enjoyed relaxing and a bunch of family laughing and fun:

We capped off the day with a nice sunset right over our camp:

And then dinner and to bed; to be ready for another (light) hiking day.

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 20, 2011 - 10:15pm PT

And the last installment:

June 17, 2011:

Friday's hike was our second to last. The next distance between roads was 7.9 miles, so we decided on a short day. We started, of course, where we'd finished the day before:

Just under six miles of hiking lead gradually uphill in hot but getting cooler temperatures:

Just before the high point for the day (8,020 feet) we started seeing the devastating results of the Manter fire from the year 2000. Apparently this burned a good portion of the Chimney Peak Wilderness and fully 75% of Domelands Wilderness (that's not a naturally bald hill in the next photo, much of the burn took everything down to bare soil):

Past the highpoint of the day we started getting very exciting views: relative closeups of the Sierra itself. Here's (I think) Mount Langley, the south-most 14,000 foot peak in California (if it's not Langley, it may be Olancha Peak, but it looks too big for that; I'm not used to seeing Langley from the south):

And the snow-covered Great Western Divide:

And then downhill for a few short miles (still through the fire) in the heat, to Vicki and the end of the day:

There followed another fabulous afternoon and evening in camp, hanging out, reading and playing around:

Next: our last day on the trail takes us down to the Kern Plateau, the South Fork Kern River, and, no doubt about it, fully and finally, into the Sierra Nevada.

June 18, 2011:

OK, finally, the last day of seven. After this, those of you still with this can stop reading these damn, interminable trip reports (at least for a while).

First the humor. Tricia is a fairly bright little girl. She also owns a purple pair of rubber/plastic shoes that she wears in camp a lot. These shoes are of a popular type called "Crocs."

This year the fad/trend among PCT through-hikers is to use a brand of gaiters called "Dirty Girl" gaiters. They're made by a small (one woman?) company and they come in screaming bright colors. The girls both thought these were totally cool. Of course, on the PCT gaiters are helpful to keep rocks and dirt out of the shoes and off the legs (as opposed to keeping snow off, which is what I've always heard of them for).

One day this trip, when the girls were doing well, I told them that, as soon as we got within range of the internet, I'd order for them each any pair of Dirty Girl gaiters they wanted. This thrilled them. Two minutes later Tricia was even more thrilled when she realized: "Daddy, that means I'm going to have both gaiters and Crocs."

Where the hell does she come up with this stuff?

So our last day was really fine. From what I could see of where we'd be hiking, I started getting excited the day before. We continued down the canyon we had been in all the way to the Kern Plateau, and then up the South Fork Kern River to and through Kennedy Meadows. The real Sierra Nevada.

The trail can barely be seen here on the left wall of the canyon (yes left); the Kern Plateau can be seen below, as can some of Domelands Wilderness:

This is the same canyon, showing more detail, and one of the prominent domes:

Once down this canyon we could see huge distances up and down the main (South Fork Kern River) canyon. The views were spectacular in spite of the extensive burning:

I was glad to have the old Southern Sierra Domelands climbing guidebook along, just to help identify some of what I was looking at.

We continued north, sometimes along the river, stopping for lunch alongside it:

After several pretty miles, we hiked into Kennedy Meadows. PCT through-hikers consider this the "true" start of the Sierra Nevada. Although geologically this is incorrect, it is easy to see why this is considered such a transitional point:

Soon we saw Vicki parked along the river waiting for us:

We met up with her, but carried on for 2.4 miles more, to the north end of Kennedy Meadows Campground, a natural starting point for a next trip:

Thus we finished 101 more miles on the PCT in seven days hiking. We're past one quarter of the way; we've walked every step of 702 miles from the Mexican border. Oh, and we're still having fun.

And that may or may not be it for a while. The next logical portion to hike will require just under 50 continuous miles to Horseshoe Meadow (and past there it's 200 miles, plus or minus, to Tuolumne Meadows, with no pickup point). We may backpack this in July of this year, on our way to a family vacation at Disneyland. Or, we may wait and hike to Horseshoe Meadow in June 2012, using it as a training hike for the big, many, many day trip we'll do into the core of the Sierra in July or August of next year.