Week 2 – Scissors Crossing to Anza

I’m nearing the end of my second week on trail and in 5 days I’ve covered as much ground as I did in 6 days in my first week. Just a warning, there are a lot of names in this portion. I feel like I need to include almost everyone I meet because I’m telling a story, but I don’t know who the important characters are yet. Anyway, here’s how the 75 miles from Scissors Crossing to Anza went.

April 20th – Day 8

I woke up early with the intention of getting a 6 am start. It didn’t quite work out that way, between a slower morning and a return trip for a forgotten hat, I wasn’t at the trail until after 7. The climb out of Scissors Crossing was long, but with an easy incline and nice views the whole way. I felt refreshed after my zero day in Julian and I made good time, passing some hikers I’d met a few days earlier. My first destination was the Third Gate Water Cache, which is the only source of water in this 24 mile stretch. The cache is 14 miles past Scissors crossing, and as the day heated up and the sun beat down I knew it would be a lifeline for everyone on trail. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and worried it might be dry if the demand was too high. About a mile before the cache I caught up to Mighty, and we agreed to take a long lunch break at the cache together. When we reached the turn off to the water cache some hikers resting under the shade asked if we were okay and if we needed more water. I thought it was a weird question, the water was just around the corner, right? Wrong, the water cache was still another half mile or so off trail, but we made it.

When we got to the water cache I realized I shouldn’t have worried about the water supply. The cache is run by a network of trail angels who stock literally hundreds of gallons of water a week at this location. They even built a tiny hut to contain the trash of the spent bottles before they haul it away. It was like a man made oasis in the desert, and in the hot afternoon there was a big group around seeking shade. Mighty and I refilled our water and ate our lunches with Luke, who now goes by Legs, as well as Kelly, Mike, No Meli, and Ma. I was there for about an hour and a half resting in the shade before I moved on.

I moved on and continued up trail. I passed Ma a few miles up. She said that she’d fallen in a cactus, but assured me she didn’t need help. Falling in a cactus was my biggest fear this stretch, as they were numerous and the trail was narrow in many places. Everytime I looked up I was afraid I might run into one. I was horrified for her, but she bounced back really quickly from a pretty prickly situation. I continued walking into the afternoon and the wind picked up. I rounded a corner and began walking along a ridge where the wind nearly knocked me over. I knew I needed to make sheltered fast. I found what I thought seemed like a fairly protected site for the environment and set up my tent to meet the westward winds. It was still windier than I liked, but it seemed to be dying down a little and I went to bed to clear skies, a manageable breeze, and a beautiful sunset.

April 21st – Day 9

I woke up around 3 am to the walls to my tent blowing into my head. The wind had picked up dramatically and shifted directions, as it was now blowing from the north, against the long side of my tent from the worst possible direction. I tried to go back to sleep and hope for the best, but soon learned it was pointless. It was a sleepless night until about 5:15, when the first rays of sunlight allowed me to start packing up. The wind continued to pick up but my tent stayed standing, thanks to the very hard ground I’d driven my stakes into the night before. When I stepped outside to break my tent down I noticed the entire ridge was covered in fog and it smelled like rain. It seemed like a storm was blowing in. I threw on my wind pants and rain jacket and headed down as quickly as I could, hoping for calmer winds as I got closer to the valley.

I almost walked right by the 100 mile marker on my rush to get down. Fortunately, at the extact moment I approached, Factor passed me and asked me to take his picture, so I was able to have him take mine. I continued on in cold winds. Luckily, no rain had fallen and it looked like the clouds were getting better, not worse. I got to Barrel Springs, the first water source since the Third Gate Water Cache and took an extended break to organize my pack and make breakfast. Legs, Kelly, Mike, and No Meli arrived later after their own windy night on the mountain. Barrel Springs was sheltered from the wind, but beyond it the trail was exposed again. This portion of the trail is relatively flat and goes through some beautiful, but exposed, meadows.

I continued on to Eagle Rock, which did not disappoint and looked much more eagle-like than the Eagle Rock in Los Angeles, for which my former neighborhood was named. Despite the weather and it being a Wednesday I still met five day hikers there. They told me I should be grateful for the clouds and wind, as this was normally a very hot section of trail. Sleep deprived and wind blown, I didn’t feel very grateful, but I thanked them anyway. I ate lunch with Heart at Eagle Rock. She told me her sister was meeting her in Warner Springs to join her for the next hundred miles of hiking. Other Mike and Kelly arrived at Eagle Rock as I was leaving.

The three miles to Warner Springs were easy and flat. After the day I’d had I’d hoped to camp at the Warner Springs Community Center, which usually hosts a number of services for hikers. I arrived to see a group of hikers sitting outside the gate of the community center. Apparently it’s services are only available on weekends this year. I was disappointed that I’d have to hike the next three miles to a suitable campsite, so I decided to rest in front of the gate with them for a while. The group of hikers consisted of Heart, Ice Man, Merlin, Other Mike, and Ghost. We passed around some low carb tortillas and bean dip that Ghost was going to toss and joked about the high number of “seasonal homeless” in Warner Springs. I continued on through unrelenting winds.

When I got to my planned campsite at the Agua Caliente picnic area I met Javier, who I’d met a few days earlier in Mt. Laguna, and Mark, who agreed to let me share the campsite with them. This area along the trail was in a forest of oak trees and cottonwoods and was, thankfully, sheltered from the wind. Ghost joined us later to camp, and the evening was so beautiful that we even made a campfire, my first on trail. I slept wonderfully.

April 22nd – Day 10

We woke up to overcast skies but calm winds, a great combination for a climb that is normally pretty hot. Mark, Ghost, and Javier discussed the next night’s campsite. There weren’t many options within our usual 15 ish mile distance. 14.5 miles in was a famous (or infamous) PCT stop called Mike’s Place. Mike’s Place is a private residence that offers water, a place to camp, community, and sometimes food and beer to hikers. When Mike isn’t around, the place is run by volunteers, and survives on donations only. I’d been hearing second and third hand reports since before I got on the trail that Mike’s Place was not a great environment this year, especially for young women, and should be avoided. Javier and Mark had heard this too, and we agreed to camp about two and a half miles past Mike’s Place at a campsite that was said to be beautiful, but exposed. With a plan in place, we set off, hiking alone but passing each other frequently along the way.

The clouds burned off and by mid day it was warm and the views were beautiful. I passed Ice Man, Other Mike, and Merlin, who asked where I was staying and echoed my hesitation on Mike’s Place, letting me know that the water tank sits before the gates, so I could get water without going in. I continued on and found a peacock feather on the trail, something a friend from home had brought me from India. I took a picture to send to her later.

The last few miles to the water tank before Mike’s Place seemed long, and the weather quickly took a turn for the worse. Clouds rolled in, the wind picked up dramatically, and temperatures dropped 10-15 degrees. It was clear that a storm was rolling in. I met up with Javier and Mark at the water tanks and it was clear none of us wanted to hike anymore, let alone spend a night on an exposed ridge with a storm rolling in. I suggested that we check out Mike’s Place as it potentially offered shelter from the storm, and if it made us uncomfortable we could leave at any time. They agreed to check it out with me and we headed in. We were greated by Legs, No Meli, and Mike as we entered. They gave us a tour of the place, which included an enclosed “warm room”, a game room, camp sites with wind screens, protected places to cowboy camp, and even a drink chest with soda and beer. We met Spirit, the kind volunteer currently running Mike’s Place, and were immediately glad we had made the decision to stay.

Mike gave Javier the trail name Smiles, because Javier has winning smile that is always on display. Smiles happily accepted his new trail name. Smiles, Mark, and I agreed to hitch into Idyllwild from Anza and get a place there Saturday and Sunday night. We were hearing reports that Idyllwild was booked up for the weekend, and because none of us had cell service I sent a message to my Dad on my satellite messenger to book a room for us. He came through with a great find, and we got a great deal on it. Thanks, Dad!

Other Mike, Ice Man, Merlin, Heart, her sister Danica, and Serena all arrived later in the evening. We sat in the warm room, sharing beers and even tapping into some Franzia, before Spirit made us pizza and burritos for dinner. We were in hiker heaven. I truly believe that if there was an environment hostile to women at Mike’s Place, it was likely created by whatever group of hikers was staying there that night, and not the place as a whole. We had a great group and it was one of my best nights on trail so far. I set up my sleeping bag in the “warm room” with Javier and Legs, and we slept soundly while the wind howled and rain fell that night.

April 23rd – Day 11

The weather was terrible in the early morning but cleared up by about 7. The sun came out and it quickly warmed up. Spirit asked for volunteers to help make a pancake and egg breakfast. I did notice that Spirit has outdated ideas of division of labor. Spirit only asked women to help cook and clean, and only asked men to help move things and crush cans for recycling. He also invited women to sleep inside the house to wait out the storm, but not the men. I don’t believe he had anything but the best intentions. He’s a genuine guy who truly believed that women would be more comfortable out of the storm and more comfortable cooking than crushing cans. This can be remedied by more men volunteering to cook and clean, and vice versa. I did help crush cans, and Spirit recommend the trail name “Crush” for me. I thought about it, but it didn’t feel quite right, so I’ll be Megan for a while longer. I hope that going forward Spirit will ask for help without looking at gender, and I hope that will quell any negative rumors about Mike’s Place and the treatment of women there.

I was one of the last out that morning. The trail climbs past the exposed ridge where we had planned to camp and opens up to a beautiful view of Anza and the San Jacinto wilderness. We all discovered we had cell service along the ridge, the first in 3 days for many of us, and spread out to take breaks and check in with family.

I spent all day leapfrogging the group from Mike’s place as well as Kelly, Christine, Ma, and Phi. It was a nice section of trail and it was the first time I felt like I knew everyone on trail, at least for that section. I can see how little northbound communities can form, especially in these more remote sections, settling into a shared daily milage.

I camped with Smiles, Mark, and Phi in a large camping area off trail that Phi found through Guthooks comments. I ate two meals for dinner, thanks to the surplus of food I now had after the food I got at Mike’s Place. Just a day earlier I had been worried that I’d run out of food in this stretch, but the trail provides.

April 24th – Day 12

This would be an easy day to highway 74 and Paradise Valley Cafe, with only 10 miles to cover before I was meeting my parents there at 1 pm with my resupply package. I slept in and was the last one out of camp, as always. I’m a little concerned about this becoming a pattern, but my sleeping bag is just so comfortable and warm in the mornings it’s hard to get out. I hiked the 3 miles to Mary’s Place, another famous PCT stop with a 500 gallon water tank, shade, picnic tables, and a tiny library.

Smiles, Mark, Mike, No Meli, Paul, and Christine were hanging out at the picnic tables. I filtered water, checked out the little library, and signed the log. Christine had passed me on the trail earlier and at the library asked me with concern if I was a type one diabetic, “because I saw you pounding some fruit snacks back there”. I laughed and explained that no, I don’t have a blood sugar issue, I just really like snacks.

After leaving the library I hiked an easy pace towards the cafe. It was warm, but not oppressively so, and the views were pretty. Christine happened to pass me again while I was inhaling a tuna burrito, so she definitely thinks I have a snack problem. I got to the cafe around 12:30, so I grabbed a beer with the 12 or so hikers I had been leapfrogging for days while I waited for my parents.

After my parents arrived and we ate lunch at the cafe they drove Smiles, Mark and I to Idyllwild where we got into our room and showered. We called the Silver Pines Lodge and they agreed to do our laundry for us even though we weren’t staying there. Smiles got $1 pants a thrift store to wear while his clothes were being washed. I just wore my rain pants and rain jacket. Once we had clean clothes we grabbed beers at the brew pub, got sushi for dinner, and cheered on Smiles as he sang Karaoke at the only bar in town. Smiles bought us tequila shots, but even with a little liquid courage I could not get up there to sing by myself. I did make a promise to Smiles that I’d sing Vanessa Carleton’s “A Thousand Miles” once we’ve walked 1,000 miles, so a karaoke video is probably coming to this blog eventually.

April 25th – Day 13

I took a zero day in Idyllwild today with Mark and Smiles. We took it easy and cleaned/repaired our gear. I finally got my bear line untangled! I was looking forward to meeting Max, the mayor of Idyllwild, who is a PCT legend because he is a Golden Retriever, but he was unfortunately out sick with fleas. Some other hikers said they got to meet the deputy mayor, who is also the guy who runs the Idyllwild dispensary, but online sources say all deputy mayors are dogs, so that guy might have been an imposter. Later, we got pizza for dinner and ran into Ghost! We were happy to see him and glad to hear he hadn’t spent the night of the storm on the exposed ridge where we’d planned to camp.

We’re expecting bad weather tonight and tomorrow morning. The rain is expected to clear up around 10 am tomorrow, so we’re planning on getting a ride back to the trail around 9:30, and if the storm is still bad we’ll wait it out at Paradise Valley Cafe. From there it’ll be about 4 days to I-10, with lows in the teens on San Jacinto peak (wind chills down to 0) and highs nearing 100 at Cabazon. It’s sure to be a wild few days, wish us luck!

Until next time,

Megan