With the weather calmer, Rob and Ken are back to Walker Pass to work towards completing their progress towards Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierras.
After a brief departure, Rob & Ken are back to fill in sections of the trail they jumped due dangerous conditions. This short section from Inspiration Point to Vincent Gulch sets them up to climb Baden-Powell.
Back on trail, filling in the gap‘s that we had to skip. We’re starting with the area near Idyllwild, California that includes San Jacinto Peak. Last time, 3 feet of snow over a sheet of ice prevented us from completing this section. This time, conditions are different. However, are they really after the three winter storms that have passed through here in the last eight days?
SPECIAL REPORT: There is a new rock slide at mile 172 that is currently blocking the trail. I’m posting this now in case anyone is headed that way. The rock slide occurred on May 27, 2019. While the large rocks appear stable, the soil downhill from the slide is not. It slides underfoot. In my opinion, it’s dangerous and getting worse with each passing hiker. The video fails to represent the steepness of the hillside. Below the slide the hill drops out of sight. We made it through, and we talked to a dozen other hikers who also made it. But I do not recommend doing what we did.
The year of the never ending winter! With two storms approaching and ‘Severe Winter Storm’ coming to all of the Sierras, Rob and Ken are yet AGAIN forced off trail. Snow is still at 200% above normal on the John Muir Trail portion of the PCT and more snow is on the way. The “for-fun-only” “Sierra Entry Indicator” (found at https://www.postholer.com/snow/Pacific-Crest-Trail/1) is max’d out on July 7th. I wonder what it would say if it could go later? It’s good that we can get to ‘Home Base’ to dig deep into researching our next insertion point.
Moving though Joshua Trees and other desert vegetation, we benefit from very cool weather … sort of. The wind and precipitation leads to interesting observations. This area, typical in the 90’s for PCT hikers, was no where close to that warm for us. That’s good, but it does have its limits. You’ll see.
Walking through the ‘desert’ on the way towards Walker’s Pass. Having seen these desert hills in the distance many times, but never hiked them, we’re continued to be surprised by the rich foliage and geology. Aches and pains, after pushing too hard the prior two days, limit the distance we can cover. Thank you SO much to the Trail Angels can supply water caches in the dry portions long distance sections!
