Pacific Crest Trail - Spring Break Part I

The first part of the first spring break I have had in five years was supposed to be a 60-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Good thing life doesn't always happen the way you want it to :). On my way down to southern section of the PCT, I decided to stop in Joshua Tree National Park because I have never been there and need to check it off my CA National Park list. About a mile from the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, a semi-truck kicks up a rock that brazes my windshield, creating a nick that won't soon go away. Not a good omen. Despite the damage to my trusty truck, I stop at the Visitor Center to check out my options for the evening. I naively though I might score a frontcountry campsite where I could have a campfire and drink beer to my hearts content. No dice. Luckily, I am carrying enough gear for several folks to go backpacking. I decide to do a quick trail run before heading to the backcountry for the night.

On my way into the park, I really took my time. I had heard from several friends that I wouldn't like Joshua Tree because it wasn't that pretty. Untrue! The landscape is very different from what I am used to, but alarmingly pretty. After taking the obligatory entrance shot photo, I head to the Boy Scout trailhead where I commence to run a 6-mile out and back that borders the Wonderland, the best place to do anything fun in the park. I thoroughly enjoyed the namesake tree of the park on my run. I returned from my run very thirsty, but thankful for my time in the park.

I decide it is worth it for me to drive to Keys View, supposedly the best view in the park. It was pretty cool to see the San Andreas fault from a distance. I also saw Mt. San Jacinto and Mt. Gorgiono's snow capped peaks from a distance. Some day. Amidst the day hikers, I took some time to stare at the PCT off in the distance. I descend from Keys View to drive through the rest of the park. I really debated whether this was worthwhile or not. I am glad I did. I was able to see the difference between the Mojave and the Colorado desert, including the Cholla Cactus Garden and Skull Rock.

I drove all the way through the park, ending at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. Since all the frontcountry camping sites were taken, I knew I needed to camp in the backcountry. I parked at the Cottonwood Spring trailhead and hiked in a mile to a very nice spot where I could see the sunset and enjoy a cold beer or two that I hiked in. It feels so nice to camp outside again after several months of not camping. I can't stop from smiling.

I wake up outside, in my tent, in anticipation of the PCT hike to come.  I quickly take down my camp and hike back to the Cottownwood Spring trailhead. I am so excited to meet Mick, I go directly there, barely stopping to get gas and get food. I had an amazingly pretty drive through Palm Desert and the town of Warner Springs. I get to the trailhead super early, where I organize my gear and get ready to leave Buddy (my truck) for a few days. Mick and I are at different trailheads, but quickly figure out how to meet each other. We leave my truck at Montezuma Valley Rd and head to Pinney Pines. After checking and re-checking all our gear, we are on our way down the trail.

A few miles in, all is as it should be. Mick and I are catching up on a few years gossip. We both feel great and the scenery is spectacular. I heart California. We pass the spot we had intially thought about camping and decide we should push forward, as we are both feeling good. We end up just north of Sunrise Trailhead in a grassy meadow we are both comfortable camping. The moon looks full and the trail very promising as we make camp. A night of Eygptian rat screw and catching up quickly fades into morning.

On day two, we end up hiking 18 miles, not for reasons initially expected. We both wake up super happy to be on the trail. But Mick's blisters set the pace for the day. Her feet are not happy, so we make accomodations to stay on schedule. Sometime in the afternoon, we realize that happiness is not 100% guaranteed. We decide to hike to Scissors Crossing so we are in good condition to hitch back to my truck the next morning. This proves more difficult in reality. The water source at Rodriguez Trail is not what it should be, and the trail north of that is not as easy as it should be. We get slightly lost, but also get found along the PCT. I encounter a cactus that is not very friendly, but Mick helps keep me sane by pulling out the quills. We both finally make it Scissors Crossing and camp between the two roads.

We wake up to hummingbirds twitting about and the road open to whatever we need. We celebrate the beautiful morning by cooking oatmeal and drinking tea. We soon realize a ride would be most helpful and take down camp. After only 30 minutes of standing with our thumb out, we get a ride from a nice woman whose mare is about to give birth to a calf. It's Mick's first experience with hitch hiking. She is nervous and I am glad it works out so easily. We hitch back to my truck and drive back to Mick's car. I am not ready to be done hiking just yet. I have her drop me 6 miles up the road so I can get a few more miles in. I am happy and so fortunate to be able to spend part of my spring break on this magical trail. Now, it's time to go back to Malibu, re-group and get ready for Spring Break Part Two - Kings Canyon National Park.

Sandstone Peak & The Grotto

I have been trying to see a little bit of California every weekend, and this weekend was no exception. I had made plans with my friend Molly, who lives in LA, and some of the folks I work with to hike up Sandstone Peak, the tallest peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. We had a 6-mile loop planned to Sandstone, with a 3.5 mile hike to the Grotto if we were still feeling frisky after the first hike. We woke up on Saturday morning to 65 degrees and sunny. Couldn't ask for better weather. By the time we reached the trailhead, it was already 70 degrees. We met Molly around 9 am and began the gradual loop that would wind us along the Mishe Mokwa Trail, passed Echo Cliffs, and with a nice view of Balanced Rock. There were plenty of opportunities for photo ops, the scenery just kept getting better.

The trail contoured along Boney Mountain on the western edge of Carlisle Canyon and then dipped down to Split Rock. After Split Rock, we began to climb up again and found ourselves at Inspiration Point. We had great views of the ocean from here, including Catalina Island and two of the Channel Islands. To the left is a pic of my crew enjoying the view out to the ocean. From Inspiration Point, we had a short steep section up to Sandstone Peak. Sandstone Peak, or Mt. Allen (as it was labeled in honor of the Mr. Allen that originally donated this land to the boy scouts) sits at 3,111 feet and offers views in all directions. We could see the house that we can see from our camp that used to belong to the famous Jack Nicklaus. Pretty cool. We could also see snow-capped Mt. Baldy, which is on the PCT, and I want to hike up badly!

After enjoying some lunch at the top, we made our way back down to trailhead number 1. Molly decided to skip out on the second hike because she had homework (lame!) but the rest of us decided to go for it. The Grotto hike trailhead was right down the road from Sandstone Peak. After parking, we began the downhill hike, crossing over Arroyo Sequit, down to the canyon floor. We passed a grassy ridge that made me pine for the grassy balds of the Appalachian Mountains. Almost to the canyon floor, we saw this big jumble of rocks that led the way to the cool water of the Grotto (think Mahoosuc Notch for all you AT hikers out there). We climbed and scrambled down and were rewarded with nature's playground of rocks and hiding spots, quite different from our first hike.

After watching some guy almost fall into the water, we began the climb back up out of the canyon. I was happy that I had correctly figured out where the Grotto was from Sandstone Peak. For those of you that hike with me on a regular basis, you know I am often "slightly off" my calculations. Maybe this is a sign of improvement. Being that it was 80 degrees out and we had put in almost 10 miles of hiking, the obvious next plan was frozen yogurt. A very curvy/windy 13 miles later, we had our fro yo and the end of our hiking excursion. Matt had so much fun, he couldn't keep his eyes open on the return trip!