So we hope to gradually work back up our miles, not wanting to start on 20 mile days like before Warner Springs. Funnily enough it was easier to do lower miles than we thought. After 13.5 miles on the first day we were exhausted (yet on the very first day we easily did 20 miles, not sure how that works). Shuffled around avoiding dead trees to fix a suitable campsite and were asleep by 7pm. The next day we meet up with Scrub and Pippin, then we're joined by a guy selling 'medicinal' marijuana to fund his PCT hike. We respectfully decline (would you want to come across a bear or mountain on while not on complete control of your faculties?) and move on. We go below the tree line and start getting back into those desert conditions as we head closer to Cajon Pass. A nice shaded spot next to an ice cold river for lunch, where we meet Skip(who carries a supermarket's variety of food) and Siesta. Scrub does an amazing impersonation of Hacksaw, we make 19.5 miles that day, camping next to Deep Creek.
The next day we make our way along the edge of Deep Creek Canyon, with some wonderfully steep drops and very little room to place your feet at times. I run out of water about an hour before the source so tI get a little dehydrated but Rebecca (or should I say Concrete Babe at this stage, my trail name is Captain 'Murica at this stage) kindly shares some of her water. Making it to Deep Creek we find it packed with people as it's a bank holiday weekend. So we water up, eat some food and chill in the shade for a bit with Skip and Pippin, briefly dip our feet in the water and head out. We only make about 15 miles that day, and foolishly camp near the river after the Mojave spillway. People like driving their ATVs up that river at night. And in the morning we find the water source not very appealing, mud flavoured with swirls of gasoline. We have a filter but even then... Fortunately some kindly holiday makers give us some ice cold water from their cooler box (we also find a large water cache a couple of miles on. A lot of people seemed to get lost at that point as the trail becomes very vague, I'd just like to thank Brock and Jordan for waving us towards the correct path.
We started pretty late in the day and we were keen to get some night hiking in. I'm glad we made that choice, because one thing I can say about the desert section is that hiking at night makes for a generally better experience. You can get a little disorientated but as Rebecca said, spotting the PCT signs was like cats eyes in the dark using head torches, kind of like in Brownies looking for ... Things. I'm not sure, all I remember is she said she got a badge for crossing the road. She can now safely navigate roads and assist others in doing so, and boy did she assist me in Europe on the roads. I don't think I'd been instructed on road navigation like that since I was about 5 years old. But night hiking was fun, it helped that we came across two caches with fresh fruit in them. Like treasure! It was the most fruit I'd had in a week, an orange, banana and three nectarines. Rebecca saw a bat perched on a rock, there were quite a few fluttering about. I kinda felt like a fruit bat, but grounded, and with a better developed frontal lobe... Hopefully rabies free too. Cresting a ridge we came into view of Silverwood Lake, it was pretty. There were night fishermen doted about the waters, their lights bobbing about, I could almost imagine they were lanterns. At about ten thirty the moon rose over one of the hills and lit up a corridor along the Lake's surface, a police boat flashed blue and warned the fishermen to be good. We tried to take a photo but the camera just couldn't handle how awesome it was.
We camped down at the next level spot, it's about 11:30pm and a Park Ranger cruises past slowly. We're only about 13 miles from the McDonalds in Cajon Pass, after about 5 hours sleep we emerge and with a determined set to our faces (but of course stopping for a polite and pleasant conversation with Rocket Llama) we march off to our destination, determined by our shrunken bellies. The night before we'd thrown our meal out in disgust (it was basically plain rice, we ate the jerky) and eaten the rest of our breakfasts instead. The day was hot, again, come on Southern California mix it up a little. We meet Cream Tea at the next water source, Rebecca's pleased to meet another Brit and converses on familiar things. Tea, scones, Shakespeare, all that. But we can't hang about too long, McDonalds is calling. It must be fed almost as much as we needed to be fed. It needed us like we needed cheeseburgers. We make it to a spectacular view of the pass, but all our eyes can see is the motorway that we know runs past McDonalds. I think we're two miles away, but Cream Tea corrects me, we're still four miles off! The speed of that descent to Cajon Pass needed to have a Guiness World Record representative present.
McDonalds. We ordered two large meals and eight cheeseburgers, almost 3000 calories each. Unlimited refills. We spent almost three hours there. We couldn't hike on, The Best Western had discounts for PCT hikers, so we booked a room, king sized bed, cheap laundry, close to Del Taco. An Oasis in the desert. We somehow find room for Burritos later and watch Antz, then an odd film about birdwatchers with a surprising number of big name actors. The next morning we demolish the all you can eat breakfast taking a cheese horn and breakfast claw for later. With that, some trail mix from the hiker box and a half pound burrito packed away we head for Wrightwood. Only 27 odd miles, but over 5000 feet elevation change. Uphill. We see our first Poodle Dog Bush, and as we were told it stinks of marijuana. I'd say if you smoke it you'd probably die, as just touching it can land you in hospital. Hung out with Brock and Jordan at the next cache, which had comfy chairs and a cool breeze. Met Safari who was trying to make Wrightwood in one day, he showed us a video of the angriest rattlesnake I'd ever seen trying to bite him just a few miles back along the trail. Glad we missed that.
After a very uncomfortable uphill hike we camp on a ridge overlooking Barstow and San Bernardino, both cities joined by the red and yellow lit motorway that cuts through Cajon Pass. It was a nice view that night and the next morning. It was only seven miles to Wrightwood the next day, down the Acorn Trail through a nice suburb and straight to ice cream. Here we are now, in a cabin with Pippin and Rocket Llama about to post our bounce box to Tehachapi then off eighty five miles to Agua Dulce. Happy trails.
