Pacific Crest Trail : Wrightwood to Agua Dulce

Miles this section : 81
Miles completed : 444

View from high up Mount Baden-Powell.

Wrightwood is a pleasant community of wooden houses, many built to quirky designs, I spot a geodesic dome, some kind of castle, even a kind of half scale wild west town in somebody's garden.  No campsite though, there is a Methodist Camp (closed to PCT hikers today), then the 'holistic center' sounds promising, but turns out to be some four miles away.  Apparently the idea is to phone up friendly locals and ask if they have room, not really me to be honest... I find a trail leading uphill behind one of the bars and camp there, excavating a space again, it'll do for a couple of nights.  And yes, Wrightwood provides me with my usual town needs of beer, burger and pizza.

Baden-Powell summit.

It's snowing as I leave town, not normal weather, the waitress at my breakfast stop assures me.  Well, I quite like it, makes for pretty scenery with the snow covered pines, and the climb back up to join the trail keeps me warm.  The ascent continues, I'm approaching Mount Baden-Powell, named for the father of scouting of course.  Don't quite make the summit, reaching a campsite a mile short at 5pm or so it seems sensible to stop - not least the mountain is wreathed in cloud and there'll be no view.  Camping at eight thousand, six hundred feet is a little cold, who'd have thought.  Up to the summit next morning under blue skies, the view is indeed fine, and it's a lovely walk down through the melting snow.

California Mountain Kingsnake.

Not far beyond the mountain the trail is supposed to be closed, to protect an endangered species of frog I gather.  I reach the junction with the official detour, no sign of any closure on the ground, hmm, what to do.  Don't like to change plans, but the original trail is tempting, not least it is twelve miles shorter, but, there's no water that way and I am running low, detour it is then.  Turns out to be pretty but hard work, much up and down, and tricky walking too, the landscape here is made up of steep sided hills, the hillsides either bare rock or scree slopes with pines somehow growing from them, the route is generally a narrow ledge carved into the scree, and the shifting surface means I need to step carefully.  I think most hikers must walk along the road instead of this, I see precisely one during the detour, an experienced PCT hand named Mike - he watches me digging out a flat spot to sleep on and gives me a trail name, 'Digger', could be worse I guess.

It's good to get back on the PCT proper, not too hot either so I make good time, after falling a few miles behind on the detour I'm at my planned finish, 'Big Buck Trail Camp' for 7pm or so.  Except, no sign of any camp, in fact it is steeply uphill to one side of the trail, and steep downhill the other, no place to camp at all.  I walk another mile or two, well, it is miles I'm not doing tomorrow.   And I swear, at my campsite up on a saddle, someone else has already dug out a space...

Vasquez Rocks.

Next, a descent back down to the desert, hard work in the heat.  For the first time I pay to camp, at the Acton KOA, fifteen dollars is worth it for hot showers, there's a pool too, and they have burritos, the portion of mac'n'cheese I had planned to eat can keep a little longer I'm sure.  Then a fine walk through Vasquez Rocks to reach the small settlement of Agua Dulce - the rocks being the actual filming location for the Star Trek scene referenced a few posts back... I mention this to fellow hikers who are all 'Star Trek?  Before my time dude'.  I'm in Agua Dulce in time for a big lunch, and then a bit of shopping, this is the location of 'hiker heaven', where a local couple hosts any and all hikers coming through.  They sound very hospitable, but that many people in one place sounds like my idea of hell so I plan to walk on this afternoon - but that can wait 'til next entry.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.