Mile 190.5 to 209.5 Highway 10 Underpass

Today was a day of extremes. Extreme beauty and extreme conditions.

I awoke at my cowboy camp a few miles past Fuller Ridge and headed out with the crew. Today was all about losing elevation. Yesterday, we reach 10,883 feet at the top of San Jacinto and today we would drop to 1,000 feet. Over 9,000 feet of elevation loss…man the knees were going to feel this one.

About one mile into the downhill, we were stopped in our tracks by the scene before us. The trees parted and the valley 8,000 feet below us was filled with a sea of rippling clouds. To the east, the sun was just cresting the mountains and we watched the first rays of sunlight hit the clouds. Magical.

This was a sight that reaffirmed my decision to be out here. At this point, it wasn’t about hiking anymore. I told.my partners I was going to be there for a while and they kept hiking on. It was just to beautiful to not drink it in and savor every last drop.

Reluctantly, I started my trek down. But the views kept coming and mountains poked their peaks through the clouds becoming islands in the sea.

Walking through boulder fields and over hills, I caught my friends at the first on trail water source 4 miles from camp. We packed 3 liters for the 10 or so miles until the next source.

The descent began in full force and we dropped into the valley to start our all day downhill. This part of the trail is completely exposed and deceiving in the sense that you can see where you are going, but you can’t go there directly. Instead you take these long switchbacks that curve back and away from the valley floor and highway 10 only to turn and head back that direction. A little maddening.

We got in 10 miles before 10:00 took a short break and then began the descent again. None of us have put in headphones so far, but on our 2 week anniversary of being on trail, we gave in. We needed something to distract us from the monotony. Within .75 miles, Burnout pulled up short and there was a loud hiss! Rattlesnake and a big one at that. It was curled up under a rock and wasn’t moving so we had to go off trail to get around.

We turned a corner and SLAP the wind hit us in the face. A left, a right and another left. The wind was throwing us around like rag dolls. As the trail twisted and turned, the wind would buffet us from different directions making us stagger. There wasn’t much room for error on the trail to begin with and the wind wasn’t making it easier.

As we descended the wind only increased and we marched on into a head wind. 15 miles into the day, we reached the valley floor and the water, which was a cruel joke. They water fountain proclaimed that it was put there by the Desert Water Authority for PCT hikers, but the funny thing about a water fountain in 50+mile per hour winds is that the water goes ducking everywhere. Good luck trying to get that stuff in a bottle.

We gave up and hiked on to a trail angel’s house. They weren’t home, but they left and extension cord out for charging and had a water spigot for us to replenish our low reserves.

We pressed on. The winds picked even more and anything that wasn’t strapped down was either hitting you in the face or slapping another part of your body. We could see a wind farm to the right and a storm system to the left. Dark clouds were moving in and drops of rain were sprinkling down as grit whipped up by the wind found its way into your eyes, nose and mouth. I kept a consistent 30 degree lean into the wind to stay up right.

We reached the Highway 10 underpass and found coolers with sofa and beer and a sign with a phone, which belonged to Hillbilly Dave and promised food, drinks, and shelter!

Without even a call, Dave showed up in 10 minutes and we found ourselves in the back of his pickup with 4 others, which he claimed was technical illegal. He gunned it and soon we where dropping our packs at his place and then on our way to In and Out for food.

When we got back to his place, there were 11 other showered hikers chilling in his home. We were reunited with Fun Dip, Viper, Inanna now called Super Slosh, Hip, and others.

We proceeded to shot the shit, tell stories, get caught up on trail happens, and have a great time. The trail culture out here is awesome as are the people. We all have the time to really connect. No one is has their face buried in their phone or is stressed out. We are all just enjoying life and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring. In this case, hopefully a little less wind.