Days 9 - 13. The honeymoon is over. Miles 151 to 266.

The climb into Mount San Jacinto State Park was spectacular, ascending to a ridge line and weaving along the spine of the ridge from one side to the other. Views down to Palm Springs and the desert plains on one side reminded you of the dry environment and I was pleased I’d collected 5l of water - which involved a steep scramble down to a spring - early that day.

Feeling good I decided to continue another 1200’ to camp at the 175 mile mark. Those last couple of miles were slow, numerous trees had blown down across the trail and either clambering over or around them meant I didn’t get to my planned camping spot until the sun was about to set. A few others were already camped in the area but inside their tents as the wind had started to pick up. I found a sheltered spot and settled down for the night after one last look down to the lights of Palm Springs below.

Having climbed over 7000’ and covered 25 miles I was looking forward to sleeping however the wind continued to pick up and noise from the trees and the buffeting of my tent meant I had little rest and arose early. I quickly packed up and chatting to others camped in the area I realized my tent was one of the few to weather the storm. Continuing the climb to Mount San Jacinto involved more blow downs (trees blown down blocking the trail) and travel over patches of snow - fairly easy given it was old well traveled snow but I did use micro spikes for part of the descent more out of caution than necessity.
A cliche I know but I couldn’t help putting my headphones in and listening to pg’s ‘San Jacinto’, the 1983 live version of course (linked below). I could never have imagined when I saw this live at Manchester Apollo all those years ago I would not only one day be here but how well the song had endured.

From San Jacinto the trail drops nearly 10,000’ in around 20 miles. As the wind continued to howl the snow gave way to clear trail and I descended quickly to try and find a camping spot lower down out of the wind. No such luck however as the wind seemed just as strong at 5,000’. I found a reasonably sheltered spot getting a better nights sleep despite the wind.
There was a stark contrast looking back up the trail to the green mountains and below to the valley floor which was sand colored desert seemingly covered in wind turbines - an indication that the severe winds I’d experienced were probably the norm.

A more difficult second 100 miles: wind, elevation and the need to carry a lot of water.

The long descent gave way to a gradual climb out of the valley, through a wind farm and into dry rolling hillside. And perhaps one of my most surprised moments on the trail - there slap bang in the middle of the trail was a tortoise! I hadn’t even realized they were wild in this part of the world. Living for 50 to 80 years and reaching up to 5kg in weight the desert tortoise spends 95% of it’s life in burrows so I was very lucky to see one.

A long day was rewarded with a beautiful camping spot by Mission Creek - a creek flowing in the high desert fed from a spring 13 miles higher up the valley.
The next day following the creek to it’s source was interesting, the trail had been washed away, the ground was rocky and around the creek overgrown making for slow progress.

Climbing 1200’ above the source of Mission Creek led to a ridge line trail headed towards the town of Big Bear Lake. Able to check the weather forecast after regaining cell signal it was difficult to believe that the blue sky and warm temperatures were to give way to below freezing temperatures and overnight snow.
I could feel the temperature drop as I made camp in a well protected spot and settled in for the night with my water filter in my sleeping bag so it wouldn’t freeze and be ruined. The wind blew (again) and the snow fell overnight. My tent again performed amazingly well - single walled and weighing only 600g it seemed capable of handling anything the elements threw at it.

Hiking through the fresh, dry snow was beautiful as the trail led me to the trail head above Big Bear Lake and my first zero (day of zero hiking). I’d actually planned a double zero to rest up, eat town food and resupply for my next section.

I feel like I’m making good progress, enjoying almost every minute and holding up well. A double zero will allow me to recharge and refuel. While I have no specific end date in mind I’m very conscious of the drought in CA and OR and the upcoming fire season which last year meant many hikers had to end their hike early. With a steady pace I can hopefully avoid Forest Fires (another 80’s song reference, have to keep up the Lloyd Cole comments!).

Random reptile and flower photos below to illustrate the life the desert holds.