Day 20 (21 April) - Mile 186.61 - 197.18

San Jacinto State Park Wilderness to Campsite on Fuller Ridge

It was a breeze and chilly night, but not as cold as I expected. The biggest issue was that I didn't pitch the tent in a flat spot. I seem to have a problem seeing if the ground is level. I guess I will never be a good at putting in golf.

I actually slept in till 7:30 AM. I guess my body needed more rest after all the climbing yesterday, plus we didn't get into the tents until 9:00 PM last night because we were talking with Linda; plus, I stayed up another hour to blog. When I popped out of the tent Linda and the German couple was gone and Brad was just getting up as well, so no foul.

We were able to get on the trail by 9:10 AM, proving I can get ready in under 2 hours.

Ready to hike.

As soon as we hit the trail, we started running into snow. Yesterday there was snow on the trail, but we were going up so it didn't seem as bad. Today we are going down making the snow traversing more difficult because it felt like I would slip down the trail. I am so happy i hike with poles. They really help with the snow. I don't know how some people hike this trail without them.

Here are some pictures of the harder snow crossings:

Brad negotiating the snow.

A slippery downhill.

Regardless of the slippery snow, the trail did not disappoint. For all of the morning we had views of mountains beyond the pine forest we were hiking through.

Beautiful mountain view.

Awesome.

Wow.

Self-portrait "Taking a break on a rock"

Incredible view of San Jacinto.

Cool tree beside the PCT.

Pine cones on the PCT.

By lunch we made it to the start of the Fuller Ridge trailhead. At this point we hiked down from 8,678 feet to 7,746 in under 4 miles. Now. The down really begins. As the crow flies, it's 4.3 miles from the Fuller Ridge Trailhead north to the bottom of the ridge at mile 206. Hiking on the PCT it takes 15.2 miles while descending 6,040 feet. Four miles beyond that is I-10, our goal for tomorrow where Tim and Brad's girlfriend will be meeting. All that stands between us and them is a 7,041 foot drop in 19 miles.

I-10, our goal, is down the trail.

Pointing way down to I-10.

At mile 193 we came across a lookout at 6,847 feet. What a view.

PCT sign of the day.

Self-portrait "At the overlook"

Throughout the day our view of San Jacinto got further and further away.

San Jacinto Peak.

Even though we were going down all afternoon, it didn't seem too bad on the feet and joints. It was probably the views and beauty of the trail that made the constant down bearable.

The beautiful PCT.

We made it to camp by 5:00 PM. We were glad when we got here that there wasn't anyone here since the next noted campsite was another 4 miles ahead. We made up camp and cooked and ate dinner. We were done by 7:00 PM and decided to hit the tents early since the temperature began to drop once the sun went behind the mountain. The good news is that we are camping at 4,908 feet, so the temperature should be warmer tonight.

While in the tent blogging I heard a group of 4 guys pulling into the area to camp for the night. They somehow found sites for 4 tents, probably not very flat ones, because they didn't have 4 more miles in them. It does pay to stop hiking earlier because then we have a choice of tent sites.

Check out my tent site for the night. Perfectly guarded from wind from the bushes, but still a spectacular view of San Gorgonio Peak to the north of I-10.

To make things a little better, there is now an owl hooting nearby...I love this trail.