[pct-l] Max & Leila's weekends trail update:

[Max]

Hello,

Since I have never posted before many of you will not know me but last weekend was a great trail adventure and a few notable people were encountered.

I am not a big writers as many of you are so forgive me while I cut & past.

At this time Leila and I are 16 miles short of completing every inch of the PCT from Mexico to Sheep Creek Truck Trail just past Cajon Pass at Hwy 15.

Tomorrow we will complete the last section needed to reach this goal (Devils Slide to Fobes).

I know it is not much but I work and have the normal leashes that a household  requires.

Oh! Please say hello to Girlscout. 

Max & Leila

trailjournals.  com     /entry.cfm?id=177544

Below are a few notes from our weekend hikes from Onyx Summit to Mission Creek Trail Camp and down to the desert floor. 

We stopped to talk to several back packers briefly as we past on the trail Saturday. 

Some of the long distance hikers past us on both days (Sat & Sun). 

The people hiking the PCT ascending the mountains (on Sat) toward Mission Creek Trail Camp (1N05) were: 

        * Guy: Section hiker doing 500 miles. ~15MPD, Las Vegas is home (My space page "guyhike"). 

        * Chuck Wagon: Though hiker doing mid 30s MPD (miles per day) (No Blog site) 

        * Panther: Though hiker doing mid 20s MPD (miles per day) (My space page "meclouno"). 

I have not confirmed their pages. If you get a chance to look around at their sites please let me know of any edits needed. 

This past Saturday we hiked from Mission Creek Trail Camp (1N05) down to the desert and through the Mission Creek Preserve 21.7 miles. This exit required us to contact the preserve and request clearance to transit through. This request can take 1.5 weeks minimum and you can be refused. 

On Friday evening while we were staging the cars I called my parents in Desert Hot Springs (This is close to the Preserve) at 7:50 pm and it was 101 degrees at their house with the next day estimated to climb to 104 degrees. 

The thing we should have done was cancel this hike and select another. 

Arriving at camp around midnight we started hiking at 7:00 am Saturday and it did not take long for the heat to start increasing. 

It was so hot the sole on one shoe delaminated and was flopping around. We stopped at many of the stream crossing to wet our shirts and bandanas. The trail can be hard to follow though some of these washes. Keep a sharp eye out for the "ducks" and you will be ok. 

Much of the area was burnt not to long ago with only small pockets of green near the stream remaining. 

By mid day I was begging the small clouds building on the mountains behind us to join the hike (provide a little shade). It was just my luck, they did not listen (Bummer). 

The last few miles I had to sloooooooooow down my pace since the heat was just baking me. This was a roasted pig BBQ, oops I mean roasted Max. 

This hike is not recommended with any kind of heat. 

The drive back to Mission Creek Trail Camp was long as we arrived around 10pm. We noticed an additional tent located near ours but the occupant was fast asleep.




Sunday morning we found out who was in the tent, it was “Panther”. He arrive at 8:00 pm the night before and said this was the hardest hike so far (it was very hot). We talked for awhile filled all his water containers and agreed on a location to stash additional water near Onyx summit so he could retrieve it later that day. 
Sunday we hiked from Onyx Summit to Mission Creek Trail Camp (1N05) 12.4 miles. We started hiking at 8:50 am due to the long drive down a dirt road from camp. Things were starting to heat up when our little cloud friends, possible the ones I talked to the day before decided to visit. 

The temperatures stabilized and it was a perfect day for hiking. This section was a little different since you actually follow several dirt roads at times. This caused much confusion for several of the through hiker we met. We passed "Guy" on the side of one mountain that he had hiked the day before. We reviewed the maps and located the wrong turn that added more that six miles to his journey. I left him with one set of maps for the Onyx section and the trail direction for the section through Hwy 18 (state route?). 

Within Minutes we passed "Panther" and he had also taken a detour and was happy to hear that "Guy" was just up the trail with all the maps. 

Near the end of this hike we met a very fit looking hiker who kept us entertained with many stories about his journey that was of legendary proportions. I ask his trail name and he indicated he did not have one but his name was Andrew Skurka. As we shook hands before departing Mr. Skurka gave me a link to his journals. The only thing I can say is, WOW! 
http://  www.     andrewskurka    .    com/ 

Trail note: 


We passed few bears that looked like Grizzlies and Lions etc. (in cages) on Sundays hike. This was all within feet of the trail. I think this might be some kind of animal rescue. It was very interesting to see something like this in an area that feels very remote. 

Water caches: 

A water cache was placed at the intersection of the Onyx summit dirt road and the PCT. Another water cache was located approximately one mile south. Both had many gallons of water (10+ at Onyx, 8+ at the other). 


After Sundays hike while driving 1N05 (dirt road) we caught sight of a wild Black bear. This bear did not waste time departing the area once he became aware of our presence. This just reminded me I need to be bear smart with food etc. in this area.


Regards,

Max & Leila