Mile 145 to 162 plus 4.9 non-PCT miles

I am writing this from the gravel shoulder of a pullout on a deadend road. It is 8:15 pm and I am sleeping here.

Backing up to this morning, I awoke at Walden at 5:00 and was on the trail by 5:36 with B&B. We had just over 6 miles to Highway 74 and a 1 mile road walk to Paradise Valley Cafe.

The trail contoured the mountains in sinuous lines as the hills rippled below. When the early morning light crested the  mountains to the east, it caught the tips of the hills and reminded me of the white caps that form on waves in high winds.

I led the climb out of camp and was soon alone at the front. I passed people still in camp and a German girl hiking with a large red pack.

Slowly I started the gradual descent to the highway and before I knew it I was there. I began the road to Paradise Valley Cafe without even trying to hitch. Three quarters of the way there, I saw a familiar sleeve hanging out the window of an SUV. It was Burnout’s.

Soon I was at the cafe and reunited with the group and it was yet to strike 8:00. You could tell the place serviced a lot of hikers because they had extension cords out side for us to plug in our electronics. After about 15 minutes, they opened up and we were inside browsing the menu. I got a three egg omelette with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, Italian sausage and spinach, a side of hash browns, and a grapefruit beer. Hey when you wake up at 5:00 and have already hiked 7 miles, you can order whatever you want. The owner didn’t bat an eye. In fact, he complemented the choice.

We stayed for a little over an hour and then got a hitch with the author of a hiking book about the best 120 hikes near Palm Springs. He said it reached number 2 on Amazon a couple years back.

We were on a mission to get in some miles before our daily siesta so we hit the trail for what would be quite a climb. We also started to see the vegetation change from scrub brush to pines as we gradually climbed up. We went through some pink and white boulder fields reminiscent of Arizona’s red Rock and I climbed a huge slab with a large overhang that would have been a great siesta spot, but it was still too soon.

The climb was continuous until we reached a saddle. From here we needed to take a .3 mile spur trail down to a horse trough that had water running into it at 1 liter per 30 seconds. This was the worst type of spur trail because we lost a decent portion of the elevation we had gained over the last 20 mintues since it was a steep drop on a lose and unmaintained trail…we would have to climb it to get back to the trail too. We took our packs down since we were going to siesta there until the heat of the day passed.

4 hours and 4 liters of filtered water later, we lifted our begrudging bodies back up the trail and began our upwards climbed once again. To the right we had epic views over the San Jacinto Mountains with Palm Springs and the Salton Sea just beyond.  We were also climbing to the highest point we have reached on trail yet, 6,700 feet!

Soon the trail switchbacks to the top of the ridge and we were on a saddle with The valley we had climb out of this morning and highway 74 to the left and Palm Springs to our right. In front the range unfolded as higher peaks could be seen in the distance.

This was the first time I felt like I was truely on an epic journey. I was just a small speck in a vast landscape that unfolded all around me.

We stopped on the saddle climbed some rocks and ate our dinners as it was already 6:30 and the sun was heading for the horizon.

We got to our campsite at mile 162 to find that this Marine we had talked to earlier had already taken it. We were a little pissed because he had said he was going farther down the trail originally and we had  him we were going to the site at mile 162. Sites are first come first served, but that still seemed pretty shitty.
He is definitely not one of “the few and proud.”

At mile 166 the PCT is closed due to forest fire damage and we could walk through that portion. There is an unofficial alternative that takes you down a side trail called Cedar Springs. It should be about 2.3 miles from the top to the parking lot. We dropped about 1,500 in elevation and it look us about an hour to finish out the trail at a gate with a sign that said the parking lot was closed and trespassers will be prosecuted. We walked down the road, which is in the middle of no where and found a flat gravel shoulder and quickly set up a cowboy camp in the fading twilight.

Our clothes are sweat stained and have a layer of salt turned the once soft fabric crinkly, we haven’t showed in days, and everything we have is on our backs. We are hobos and I am loving it.

I hope no one runs us over.