Trail Day 23: Tentsite (mile 356.7) to switchbacks (mile 376.1)

19.4 PCT miles

I was a little apprehensive when I got up this morning. Yesterday was not a particularly fun day of hiking, and I still had about 5 more miles to go of constant uphill. I took my time getting up, stretched out, played on my phone for a little bit, and tried to put myself in a good mood.

I quickly learned that yesterday was not the same as today. I must have camped directly on the edge of the burn area, because when I started down the trail I was walking through unburnt pine forests. Yesterday I was trying to walk on scorched earth, sand and soot. Today there were rocks, roots, and pine needles, making even the washed out parts easier to walk on.

I had another treat this morning. It must have been an overcast day for much of the region, because, while I was above the cloud layer, I could see that it was a thick sea of clouds below. This occurred on both sides of the mountain,making for an awesome sight.

The view as I was packing up my tent.

Mt. Baldy in the morning.

I had this sort of view for most of the morning.

So cool!

And, mysterious!

I headed up and up and up, taking many breaks along the way. Eventually, the ridge evened out and I got a good look into the mountain town of Wrightwood below. The town looked to consist several buildings lining highway 2. Wrightwood is a popular town stop for PCT hikers, but I took a lot of zero day recently so I was going to skip it.

A much more enjoyable section of trail.

Eventually I got to Guffy Campground, and finally a water source. Having to carry all that water yesterday was part of the reason I was had such a hard time. My pack was already a much more manageable weight today since I had drank most of the water.

I grabbed one of the picnic tables, ate lunch, and relaxed a bit.  I had some of my water supply from yesterday remaining,  but I wanted to grab another liter from the spring adjacent to the campground, just to be safe. I asked one of the other hikers hanging out at the campground to point me in the right direction.  He warned me that it was a steep hike to the spring.

He wasn't kidding. I could see the shed that was next to the spring and it was way down the hill. I briefly considered holding out until the next water source,  but I knew I might be pushing it if I did. So, I slowly made my way down the steep path, filled my water bottle, then headed back up.

Guffy Spring.

I grabbed my belongings from the picnic table and continued down the trail, still getting great views of the cloud layer, which had not burned off yet.

Hiking at elevation is so pretty.

Cloud layer still going strong.

Soon, I passed some ski lifts. I was walking around the edge of Mountain High Ski Resort. I had to laugh at the signs I saw warning people to stay in the resort boundary. It said if you leave you will die. Not you that you might die, but that you will die.

Mountain High ski lifts.

After Mountain High, I headed down to where the trail crossed highway 2 (the spot for hitching into Wrightwood), and made it to Grass Hollow Visitor Center, my second water source for the day. I took my time here as well because  I knew the end of the today was going to be difficult. My day was going to end with steep switchbacks part of the way up Mt. Baden-Powell.

Only 2277 miles to go.

I rested, filled up on water, then headed on my way. At first I rolled through some pleasant pine forest area, and enjoyed some great mountain views.

Views like this are why you hike the mountains.

Eventually I got near Vincent Gap, where the switchbacks up Mt. Baden-Powell would start. Unfortunately, to get to those switchbacks, the trail makes you sharply lose elevation (about 900 ft in a little over a mile). It was pretty disheartening to lose all that elevation, knowing what was next, as well as hard on the knees.

Looking at Mt. Baden-Powell, right before dropping down to Vincent Gap.

Eventually I got to Vincent Gap, which was right at the edge of the cloud layer, and started heading up the switchbacks. My plan was to head to Lemal Spring. Springs usually have enough room for a tent, so I was banking on that as a stop for the night.

The switchbacks themselves were just as hard as I thought they would be. I started counting down the number I needed to do to reach Lemal Spring and was relieved when I finally saw the sign for the spring.

I started to follow the side path to the spring, but it was narrow and a little washed out. That did not look promising. When I found the spring itself I almost walked right over it. It was just little stream flowing over the narrow trail. There was just enough room to sit and fill your bottles, but not to sleep.

I headed back to the switchbacks again to look for a place to sleep for the night. As I headed up I saw a group of people who had found a flat place just off trail to put their tents.  They were a loud group, and I had my own plans for both sleep and getting up early tomorrow, so I kept moving to find a spot away from the party.

Climbing the switchbacks.

Unfortunately I was now running out of light. The later it got, the more broad my definition of a flat camping spot had become.  As the sun was setting I spotted an area that might be OK. I wandered around (following PCT guidelines of 200 ft off the trail), and found an OK-ish spot right next to a tree. It was a bit slanted but would have to do for the night.