After the Rockpile we headed south to put more miles on the PCT. Got to Idyllwild on Sunday at noon. Set up camp and went for a recon of possible pickup points. Found locked gates, and by late in the afternoon, we settled for a 3 mile hike that gained us 2 miles on the PCT itself.
That evening in camp:
Reading by firelight:
Monday, Tricia had a horrible cough (eventually she coughed so much and so hard that she threw up a few times during the day). Seemed too much to go for a 14 mile hike that day, so we walked up to Suicide Rock instead and I got in three new routes. Tuesday "T" seemed a little better, so we went for it; a 14 mile hike to Fobes Saddle that would gain us 12 more miles on the PCT. This on the southern, long ridge that makes up Mount San Jacinto.
Starting:
Looking toward the summit of San Jacinto:
Looking down at Lake Hemet (that's my dad with us):
Snack Break:
Tricia coughed quite a bit, but we kept the pace slow enough to control it:
Looking down on Palm Springs and at Keyes View in Josh:
Looking at the Salton Sea:
We had wind gusts up to 50 mph and steady winds in the 30 to 40 mph range (the incoming storm):
All we could figure is that "PC 2000" on the sign means "Panama Canal 2000 miles?" That arrow points south.
Just before descending to Fobes Saddles (and ending this day's hike):
The next day a small storm dumped snow to 6,000 feet. Since we needed to hike up to 8,400 feet on our next leg, we held off that day and the next (we went and did the Orange County highpoint). With a seven year old (albeit a tough one), I was a little worried about a 15 mile hike with 3,000 feet of elevation gain, and ice already on some sections of the trail (the guy at Nomad said most people were using crampons for a few parts of the trail that made up our next leg).
With a second small storm heading in Friday, we held off again, waiting out what was predicted to be more "showers." We planned to go for it Saturday (today), getting in one more tough hike. I packed crampons and one ice axe and many warm clothes and headlamps. Although, I was a little worried about the conditions, going for it seemed right (we could always turn around). But, midway through a play-around day yesterday it started dumping big snow at 5,300 feet in Idyllwild ("showers" my ass). With two mildly sick girls, and probably 4 to 6 inches of new snow on our trail, I saw a certain wisdom in holding off on this next leg (to Saddle Junction, just above Tahquitz) until we come back in June. We split for home.
