January 20, 2020
- Route: Mile 20 (Lake Morena) to Mile 42.1 (near Mt.Laguna)
- Daily Distance: 22.1 miles
- Cumulative distance: 42.1 miles
I was up early this morning listening to the relative silence around me. This was my first sleeping in my tent since I ended my AT thru-hike last September. And I’ve got to admit I missed this life. Not because of its comfort (sleeping on the ground and being smelly isn’t at the apex of my list), but for it’s simplicity. Living outside is like being on vacation from real life.
After returning to the Lake Morena malt shop last night to purchase a gallon of water devoid of E. coli, I had more than enough to make dinner and to fill my water bottles for the day. And so, just after 7 am, I was back on the trail carrying 3 liters of water and ready to start day 2 of my PCT section hike.
MULTI-USE TRAIL
The morning took me took me through more of the Cleveland National Forest, which seemed even more beautiful in the early hours of the day. About a half out from the campground, I passed two ladies out for a sunrise walk, and they wished me good luck on my hike.
As I approached mile 24, the trail passed underneath Highway 94, and there was a wide stream of shallow water in the riverbed. This was Cottonwood Creek, a seasonal water source in the desert. The PCT followed the creek for another mile, where I needed to ford it again, but this crossing it wasn’t as straightforward or simple. The entire area was flooded from some heavy rain last in the week. After searching 50 yards in either direction, but I was lucky enough to find some flat boards. Someone else already fashioned together to form a makeshift bridge across the creek so I could keep my feet dry. Score!
After the creek, there were some hoof prints and obvious traces that horses and riders had been through the area recently. I knew the PCT was a multi-use trail, but I don’t think I really expected to see any equestrians out here with me. Little did I know at mile 26, I’d pass Boulder Oaks Campground – which has horse corrals and places for riders to camp.
I saw several horses, covered with blankets in their paddocks, as I strolled through the campground. They seemed to be enjoying their breakfast from buckets handing off the piped corral walls. The riders were just getting up and moving, so I expect I will be ahead of them the entire day (assuming they are heading north too).
HOLIDAY WEEKEND
Less than a mile past the campground, I approached Interstate 8, the main highway we’d driven up yesterday to get from San Diego to the southern terminus. I remembered having a few bars of cell service when we pulled off the interstate. So, as the trail climbed up the peak just beyond the road, I pulled out my phone and turned it off airplane mode so I could seen a quick ‘proof of life’ text to Keith and let him know the trip was going well. Who knows, this might be the only cell signal I get all day.
The rest of the morning went quickly. I crossed paths with quite a few groups of day hikers and was honestly surprised to see so many high school and college-age kids out on trail, given that it was a Monday morning. I worked my way up the trail listening to the water rushing in the Kitchen Creek several hundred feet below me. I could just make out the small groups of kids hanging out near the water, and their voices seemed to carry forever making me think they were much closer to me.
Another group of day hikers with a dog approached as I neared Kitchen Road, and they seemed to be heading down to the creek too. When we passed, I stopped to say hello and they mentioned that today was MLK Day. Now it makes sense why I’m seeing so many people out here. I’d completely forgotten about the holiday weekend. Doh!
BAD WEATHER AFOOT
The elevation profile for the day’s hike had me beginning at 3,000 feet and slowly ascending to nearly 6,000 feet at my proposed destination of Mt. Laguna. So, not only would it be uphill most of the afternoon, but the weather looked like it was turning nasty. When I got cell service early this morning, I’d checked the forecast, and the news wasn’t good. Tonight’s low temperature at Mt. Laguna was expected to drop down to 29 degrees, with a 30-40% chance of freezing rain or snow.
Well, at least I’d had the forethought to pack my heavy sleeping bag for this trip. Now I just need to remember to put my water filter and external battery inside my bag overnight. I don’t want any of those items potentially freezing when the cold weather moves. A frozen water filter would be catastrophic, and the lower temperatures really seem to zap the charge off my battery.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I was 100% prepared for the potential for rain on this trip though. I was still using my Nemo Hornet 2P tent from the AT. Back when I was in Pennsylvania, I somehow got a number of small pinprick holes in the rainfly and in the head of the tent. It seemed every time I set it up, I’d find another new tiny hole in the nylon during that stretch of trail.
Luckily, I carried a small roll of tenacious tape on my thru-hike, so I’d tried to immediately patch the inside and outside of every hole when I found it. But, I hadn’t been nearly as vigilant at inspecting my tent’s condition since I finished my hike. I’d simply washed it and packed it away. I sure hope there weren’t any new pinpricks or tears, because I definitely didn’t remember to bring my repair tape for this short trip (it’s probably sitting in the same duffel bag with the chapstick I forgot!!)
Well, there wasn’t much I could do about it now. I’d just have to wait and see.
UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE
As I passed mile 32, there were some obvious signs announcing that I was entering an area with unexploded military ordinance, and warning me not to wander off trail. Look, you don’t have to tell me twice. But, it’s probably a little unnerving for most PCT hikers to see signs like these though.
As an Army veteran, I’m pretty familiar with walking through old impact areas and training sites. You never know what you might find when you’re out there. No matter how well the military tries to clean up every scrap of ordinance that was fired in an area, there’s always a chance something burrowed down into the ground. If so, it probably won’t make its way back to the surface for years or decades. These explosives can become unstable over time, and even picking them up gently can cause some ordinance to unexpectedly detonate.
While I was hungry and ready to take my lunch break 12 miles into the day, those UEX signs let me know this was definitely not the place to stop. So I held off for another hour, where there was a nice grove of trees to sit under instead. My lunch would taste much better without the anxiety over where I chose to sit or place my feet.
Finding Water
While eating my lunch, some rain sprinkles started and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. I pulled out my water and realized I only drank about a liter over the past 16 miles. I was definitely needed to up my consumption. When it’s cooler like this, I have the same problem as most hikers. I don’t remember to drink enough fluids.
I scrolled through my Guthook app and could see there would be a few options to get water up ahead along Canyon Creek. There were several entries that told hikers not to attempt to get water too soon because you’d have to scramble down steep embankments through lots of brambles. And it promised there would be several easier options ahead.
As I packed up from lunch I tried to gulp down as much water as possible, so I’d have empty bottles to fill when I got to Canyon Creek. I heard the water off to my left long before I saw it. True to the prediction, I’d eventually see that the water was difficult to access and I just kept walking past each prospective collection point. I eventually saw a place where it the creek flowing really well and didn’t seem too far off trail. I just needed to scramble down a boulder or two and I’d be there.
After gathering and filtering my water, I now had a heavy pack again with all that water weight. And, of course, as luck would have it, I soon discovered I hadn’t need to scramble down the rock to get my water. The trail passed right over a stream about 1/3 of a mile up from where I’d lowered myself down to the creek. Just my luck!
MT. LAGUNA
The trail continued to climb from Canyon Creek, and before too long I could see small fields of snow beside the PCT. As I got closer to Mt. Laguna’s summit, there was more slush and ice on trail, and the skies darkened while the temperatures continued to drop. I eventually saw the sign announcing the spur trail to the small town of Mt. Laguna, but kept my head down. I knew nothing would be open this time of year – and certainly not on a federal holiday – so I just kept walking and looking for somewhere to camp.
I finally got to the point on PCT where the water spigot from Burnt Rancheria Campground sits. It was right beside the trail, but the faucet was still turned off for the winter. This wasn’t wholly unexpected. I knew that water faucet doesn’t tend to start running again until April because they worry the pipes might freeze in winter. That’s one of the reasons I was so diligent about stocking up on water back at Canyon Creek.
I decided to continue on down the trail because I’d read there were toilets and running (non-potable) water at the picnic area on Mt. Laguna at mile 42.6. Sure enough, there bathrooms were open, and I quickly availed myself of them and washed my hands before setting out to find a somewhere to tent for the evening. It was nearly 4 pm and it wouldn’t be light much longer.
FINDING SOMEWHERE TO SLEEP
As I made my way back from the bathroom, I saw several signs along the PCT indicating the picnic was a day-use only area and camping wasn’t permitted. I walked another half mile or so hoping to find a flat spot, but the trail seemed incredibly sloped the further I walked. Rather that risking a long walk into unknown areas near dark, I decided to backtrack. I was already fatigued from a 22+ mile day, There wasn’t much point in venturing any further.
I’d seen several signs for the Big Laguna Trail (BLT) system a quarter mile back before the bathroom, and assumed there would be something along that trail that I might use to set up my tent. I traipsed around the woods and along the BLT for about 20 minutes, until I finally thought I’d found something good. As I tried to set up my tent though, I realized the site was too narrow and definitely little too sloped to be comfortable. So, I packed my tent back up and decided to try for something better.
A little further down the BLT, I finally thought I’d secured a flat spot in a clearing of trees. But as I made my way to it, the ground was super moist and mucky. That spot was only going to get worse if it rained or snowed tonight. So, with some reluctance, I made my way back down to the Burnt Rancheria Campground. I didn’t like backtracking nearly a mile to find somewhere to pitch my tent, but I couldn’t find any better choices. What else was there to do?
In the end, the Burnt Rancheria campground turned out to be a great option. It’s actually a public campground run by the US Forest Service with reservable campsites that normally cost $26 per night. The campground was closed for the season, and wouldn’t re-open until March. So, for now, it was completely uninhabited.
As I looked around, I noticed there were some trash dumpsters where I could dispose of my trash and the campground’s vault toilets that were still open! I wasn’t sure whether walk-in camping for hiker was permitted this time of year, so I decided to compromise. The forest surrounding the campground was completely flat and groomed. So, I set my tent up in beside the spur trail leading to the campground, instead of in a developed campsite.
This minor concession put me out of the wind that was now picking up, and it provided me with a good flat spot with lots of soft pine duff to cushion my tent. And, since the campground’s bathroom was still unlocked, I had a potential backup to temporarily shelter myself from the elements if the rain came in torrents and my tent started leaking badly.
By the time I finally set everything up, it was nearly dark and the temperature was dropping quickly. I hastily cooked my dinner in my tent’s vestibule, and decided to call it an early night. Day 2 of this adventure was an long one.
Daily Summary
Highlights
- Seeing all the horses at Boulder Oaks Campground
- Appreciating the immense biodiversity of the Cleveland National Forest at each elevation
- Seeing a little snow on trail
Challenges
- Worrying whether my tent will survive the impending bad weather tonight
- Remembering to drink enough water while it’s cool and overcast
- Wandering around for nearly an hour trying to finding a good place to camp near Mt. Laguna