Pacific Crest Trail : Idyllwild to Big Bear City

Miles this section: 107
Miles completed : 273

On the lookout at Tahquitz summit.

Idyllwild is really rather nice, beautifully sited among pine clad mountains, and with a lot to choose from in terms of restaurants.  I predictably go for a large burger, then back for a burrito for lunch next day, then make use of my cottage's barbecue to cook many sausages.  So much meat.  I can only manage coffee on my way out, then a brutal climb, some four thousand five hundred feet up the south ridge trail and over Tahquitz peak to rejoin the PCT.  This takes all morning of course, not ideal when my plan is for another 18 miles... think I was misled by the trail notes talking about a different, easier trail out of Idyllwild - but of course that would have meant skipping some of the PCT for no good reason, the horror!  It is worth the climb anyway, superb views from the top and then a fun walk at high altitude, snow still lingering on the trail in places.  I see no other PCT hikers, guess they mainly go the other way... though when I do meet some in the afternoon, several have taken a ten mile detour up San Jacinto Peak.  As for me, I'm six miles behind plan at the end of the day.

Snow on the trail.  I wonder if there will be much more?

Onwards and, as it turns out, downwards, I descend back into desert country, all downhill so easy walking, I aim to claw back four of those miles and camp at a park boundary.  It's a long way mind you, and though I'm still in good spirits at 5pm thanks to some awesome trail magic (gifts left by the trail for hikers - in this case beer!), from here the route climbs steeply again.  My pace slows, but I see no good place to camp so push on past sunset, eventually finding somewhere - just a short way from that boundary, I discover the next morning.  I also experience mild dehydration, having used my last water the night before... only three miles to a substantial river as it turns out, but I don't enjoy it much.  I fill all my bottles, then of course walk alongside water all day... Mission Creek is quite impressive, braided in a way that reminds me of New Zealand, although there isn't actually much water flowing.  Then I camp by a smaller creek, in an area so crowded with tents that I have to excavate a space using a rock.

Mission Creek.

Day four out of Idyllwild, I climb through another burnt area, this time the fire was more intense and more recent, even the soil is charred and ashy.  Makes me wonder why the last one was still closed off.  After a few miles I see living trees again, and also a few white specks falling on me - is that blossom?  No... hail, or at least somewhere between that and snow.  Some form of snow continues to fall all day, gradually carpeting the land, it's certainly pretty and makes for fast walking - I hadn't realised but the heat of the desert was slowing me down.  Now I make up all those lost miles to get back on plan, pitch the tent on a flat bit of snow and cook up some warming beef curry.

Camping on snow - not recommended.

Camping on snow is kind of cold, who'd have thought... I survive, think I might want some more cold weather gear for the Sierras though.  From here, it's only seventeen miles or so to Big Bear City - not much of a city though it does have an airport.  Apparently the place to go is Big Bear Lake a few miles further from the trail, people seem to be hitching a lift there... I realise my alternative of walking three or four miles off trail is more effort, but not much compared to walking to Canada.  Still, there's not a lot in the 'city', other than my motel I find a cafe and grab a burger before it shuts, and some beers to take back to my room.  Maybe I'll walk to the lake and look for a bar tomorrow...

Photos to go with this post can be found here.