And today's challenge....

is the dreaded Poodle Dog Bush. We've been warned about this plant since the beginning of the hike and we knew we were getting to the area where it's prevalent. It grows well in areas that have burned. It can cause a pretty serious rash and on rare occasions, some respiratory problems. Saw LOTS of it today.

Right beside the trail. It was challenging to keep an eye out for it because we did big miles today, so it was easy to lose focus! Fortunately, it has a very pungent smell, so that was a good reminder. We had to do a little bit of road walking again to avoid a section that has been overtaken. 

Saw some more amazing views..

And even though This photo is not a great representation of what the trail was like most of the day, I thought it was cool.

All the new green growth and the charred trees. Signs of the recovery of the forest.

And today we also saw GIANT pine cones!!

Walked through an area that wa devasted by fire in 2009. It was very sad and a little eerie. 

It is unreal how much of southern Cal has been devastated by fire. 

Had a killer climb at the end of this long day. Tomorrow we have a shorter day into a KOA campground. Shower/laundry. Ah!  Life's simple pleasures!

400!

Last night was one of our chillier nights and woke up this morning to more snow. Oh joy :).  It is hard to get out of my warm bag in the morning, but once I do...its full steam ahead. Only one way to get warm and that's to get moving. We had a few miles of down before we came to Baden Powells annoying little brother, Mount Williamson. Not as tall but after yesterday's challenge, it kicked our butts.   But when we did get up it, it was worth the climb.

Came across some cool desert plants today...

After a few more miles we came to this sign and had to do a few miles of road walking to bypass this section. 

The good news (for us anyway) was that there had been a landslide, so part of Highway 2 was closed to thru traffic. Otherwise it could have been a little dangerous. Check out this tree with the exposed roots hanging precariously over the road. 

It's interesting on this trail... There is a lot of people skipping a lot of trail. For example if there is a closure for a few miles, instead of doing the reroute, they just hitch in to the next town. It's pretty rampant. We are kind of in a bubble right now of like-minded hikers. Everyone is doing their best to cover all the open miles of the PCT or hike the reroute miles. 

But the big news of the day is.....today we passed 

400 miles. Woohoo!! We did some good long miles today and hope to do a long day tomorrow as well. 

Camping tonight at a few thousand feet lower than last night so hopefully no snow! 

Timing Matters

So, after much debate, we decided to hike out of Wrightwood today and climb Mount Baden Powell. We were getting varying reports from a lot of different sources. The people at Mountain Hardware said it was a bad idea without microspikes. And again, my microspikes are are home waiting for the Sierras and mountain hardware was sold out and weren't getting more for several days. Then we heard from some people who had just done it that it wasn't that bad. So, we bought some yaktrax (wiry fittings for the bottom of your shoes to give a little more grip) and decided we were going. The forecast was pretty decent with a chance of storms later but Thursday looked worse. 

Passed this sign early on...

Always fun to see progress. Hiked down to the base of Baden Powell

And then started the climb. It was only four miles and the sun was shining. The first 3 miles went smoothly and then there was more snow. And the trail became harder to find. The switchbacks were covered with snow, so we basically started just following footsteps and climbing straight up. We lost the trail several times but always managed to figure it out. Finally got there. The PCT doesn't actually go to the summit, so we dropped our packs at the base of this awesome tree 

And walked the 1/10th of a mile to the summit. And what a spectacular thing it was! This is where the timing comes in. After fretting about the weather and conditions, we had blue skies and very little wind. Mount Baden Powell is named for Lord Baden Powell who started the Boy Scouts. This monument is up there . 

Had some really great views of the valley below and some of the peaks that we've already been over.

Feeling very lucky :) Once we started hiking down, the valley got quickly socked in with clouds so we felt happy to have summited when we did.

Got in to camp at about 5:30 and there are lots of people camping here tonight. There's even a guy here doing some trail magic with beer and sodas, but it's too dang cold so I'm tucked in to my tent for the night.

Thinking of those hiking on the eastern side of the country where the wildfires are burning along the Appalachian Trail. Someone sent this photo of the mountains behind Hot Springs, NC. It is one of my favorites on the AT. 

So very sad. Hope they get some rain relief soon. 

Note to future PCT hikers....(Mando and Caylie- this means you :). Think about having your microspikes with you sometime before Fuller Ridge. Obviously snowfall every year is different and we really only needed them for a short bit, but they would have been handy.

Good luck Kel! Very proud of you.

Slept great last night strangely enough. The wind was crazy but settled down sometime after about 3:30. Woke up to a beautiful morning and the sun shining in to my tent.

We still had a few more miles to climb and much of it was snowy.

Finally hit the summit and this beast was looming in front of us.

Mount Baden Powell. She looked pretty intimidating and every time we turned around a bend, there she was. From what we've heard, we have a weather window to get over her tomorrow because on Thursday there could be a storm coming in. 

Part of the hike today went down Mountainhigh ski resort

And then down into Wrightwood. This is the first town we've come to in quite a while with a legitimate grocery store so we did a full resupply. We have 4 or 5 days to the next town.  Nice hiking tan going here.

As we were walking from the grocery store, a car pulled up and little ten year old guy jumped out with a laminated map of the US on one side and a world map on the other.  He asked if we were PCT hikers. We said yes and he asked us to sign his map with our trail names on the place we were from. He said he does this every year and that when he's 17, he's going to do it. Pretty cute. He already has his trail name. Atlas.

Ran into Venture and Bee here 

Had a few good meals, and tomorrow morning we have another big climb ahead of us.

Sending good vibes to my daughter taking her PT Boards on Wednesday! Go Kel! 

You just never know

Ate a good breakfast at the best Western and got back on the trail by 9, feeling slightly guilty about the caloric intake of the last 24 hours. Started out walking under Highway 15 and then under the railroad tracks.

Pretty much started right in to the 20 mile climb ahead for the day. Some really pretty and dramatic scenery.

I got my rain gear out because of the clouds, even though there was no

Rain in the forecast. 😂😂👍🏼

Hiked through some more trail damaged by fire

After about  5 or 6 hours of climbing, the guilt over my 'bigger Mac' was long gone. The wind started to pick up and we started getting pelted with these little white, frozen pellets. Snow? No way!

Came to a spot that seemed a little protected and even though it was only about 4, we went ahead and pitched our tents. THANK GOODNESS!!

Because THIS happened....

Not just a few flakes. But real, honest-to-goodness snow. And BIG wind. And thunder. What the ...????  If my tent withstands this wind tonight...I will truly be a happy camper.

This is me tonight

I'm pretty much sleeping in every item of clothing I have with me. My sleeping bag is the North Face Blue Kazoo 15 degree bag. Same one I used on the AT and it hasn't failed me yet. It will be tested tonight!! Water filters can be ruined in this type of weather, so my phone, my filter and I are all tucked inside my sleeping bag for the night. Tomorrow we hike into Wrightwood and the weather looks pretty questionable through Thursday, so there could be a zero in our future.  After Wrightwood is Mount Baden Powell and it's not someplace you want to be with bad weather.

Pics of our little camp tonight. There are five of us here.

And even though conditions are not ideal :). .. The sunset is still beautiful.

Gold Rush 2016

The Golden Arches that is. We busted out of camp this morning before 7.  The Trail Gorillas call this section of trail, 'the McDonald's Section.' Everyone we met had the same goal today. Seems a little ridiculous, but after 80 miles of sun, walking and tortillas...just sayin'.   

It was actually some really cool trail today. 

You can see the road below. That was our destination for the day. Came to this sign...

We are 342 miles in to the journey. Next sign was-

And that...is where we spent much of our day. Rolled in to McDonald's about 9:15 for breakfast. We planned on staying at the Best Western here and couldn't check in for a few hours, so we camped out with several others in the corner of McDonald's. If you're there long enough, you become friends with the employees. Our favorite guy, Andrew (we gave him the trail name, McAndy)

When it came time for lunch (yes...we did eat two meals while there. Don't judge. It had been a few lean days before 😁) I planned on ordering a Big Mac, which I'd never had before.  (at the urging of my daughter Kelly) But then, McAndy suggested the little known, rarely ordered....BIGGER Mac. 

It was delicious. And then, the finale, a hot fudge sundae. Sprocket, who had rushed here last night, showed up again this morning and hung out until about noon. He was still planning on hiking 22 miles this afternoon! Impressive. As he left, took his pic 

With McAndy photo bombing :)

When we got to the Best Western , we ran into LOTS of hikers that we had met or heard about. Pretty nice after seeing so few people the last few days.

Heard from several AT friends who were doing trail magic on the other side of the country for this years class of AT hikers.

Sounds like they had a blast! 

Here's Bubba, Lunch, Mack and Mobius.

They are even considering coming west for a few days which would be so cool!!

I have spent the last few nights in my tent trying to come up with a plan for the perfect backpacking pillow. Light, soft and not slippery. Mine is light but not the latter two.

But for tonight, clean me, clean laundry, full stomach and a real pillow. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Tomorrow, the start of a 20-mile climb.

McDonalds Eve

Or so I thought. I thought today was just going to be for knocking off miles until McDonalds. (Also known as Cajon Pass) After three days of seeing no one but JJ and Lydia, we ran into some other hikers today! A young guy from the UK popped in to our campsite to chat this morning . Sprocket. Then we hiked a few miles and saw Pops, Three Socks and Walking Home.  Good to see some people. Mid morning we stopped for a snack and this lively group of hikers came along and stopped to chat. They were so excited to meet thru- hikers because many of them want to do it. Laughed and talked 

They all had hats that said, 3H on it ( Hiking for Health and Happiness) and they gave us each a hat . Funny how just a little fun interaction can give you a little boost.

So the day was shaping up to be more than a long march to McDonalds. About 1/2 mile after this we came to...

A cooler in the woods. Always a welcome sight! We were low on water so it was awesome. So the day just got better. Then we came over a ridge and...

A beautiful lake! In drought stricken SoCal! Bonus! Hiked around the lake and came across lots of Trail Gorillas 

This is an absolutely amazing volunteer group that has adopted the whole lower 700 miles of the PCT to maintain. What a huge undertaking. The trail wouldn't be available without them. 

We were all really low on food today but we knew we could get food tomorrow so we were just powering through. AND THEN, one of the trail gorillas handed is each ...

Two oranges! And they were delicious. The day just kept getting better. Then we came to...

Ok, so this wasn't THAT great, but at least he was out in the open where we could see him and he slithered along quickly.

The trail led us down to the lake and we stopped to fill up on water at a picnic area. A group picnicking nearby, asked about the hike and when they heard what we were doing, they brought us sodas and chips (we demolished a large bag of Lays in minutes) You'd have thought they'd just given each of us a million dollars the way we carrying on thanking them for the sodas. Another group picnicking nearby, must have noticed the commotion and not to be outdone, brought us melon, grapes, oranges and orange juice and avocados.

 Wow! Banner day. Ate what we could and packed up what we couldn't and started walking back to the trail. But then, another guy in the parking lot stopped us and gave us more treats. When it rains it pours. 

Hiked until early evening and for dinner tonight, instead of about 10 wheat thins, a packet of string cheese and a slice or two of salami, I also had, an avocado, some pistachios, and a banana.  What a crazy day. It seems like that's the way it goes out here. Just when you think you know what's ahead, you don't know what's ahead. Pay it forward seems to be the motto out here. Everyone helps everyone. More on that another day.

Ended the day at a quiet spot. Walking Home is camped here too and Sprocket stopped by to chat but was going to power on to McDonalds.