6/16/2023
Section: Mile post 411.8 to 430.4
Distance: 18.40 Miles
Moving Time: 07:33 hrs
Elevation Gain: 2,533 ft
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Today’s stage seemed like it was going to be a little shorter and maybe a rest day, but that was an illusion. The stage started off on a high point as we descended from our lofty camping site on the northern flanks of Pacifico Mountain. From there the path wound down westward to meet highway 59 at the Mill Creek Summit. At this pass the trail turned upwards again breifly traveling due north before the trail wound back down in a southwestern trajectory running parallel with an old forest service road, 3N17, towards Big Buck Trail Camp. At the camp, the trail winds its way further west and downwards before a final climb to cap the day at Messenger Flats and a nice campground there.
I did not sleep well last night. It’’s getting warm again as we descend to the desert and I never sleep well in the heat. Add to that a 15 degree bag and it really made for a topsy-turvey night. In any case, the mornings are getting light earlier as we cruise towards the summer equinox and this morning the light was there pretty much right at 5 o’clock. Amanda and I manage to get up around 5:45 and were packed and moving at 6. A few more tents had arrived in the night, though the only person we recognized stirring was Sean. We said high and that we would see him up trail.
We climbed another 300 feet to get over the shoulder of Pacifico Mountain then cruises down the long slide of a trail towards highway 59. The 5 miles flew by and nothing too notable transpired as we descended. Just as we were arriving at the highway we saw a handwritten cardboard sign stating that a short detour would deliver you to water but Amanda and I were good on the water as we had pumped the night before so we continued on down to the road and waiting pit toilets. As we descended we noted a large number of Porsche’s of varying ages lined up in a turnout across from the pit toilets. “Must be a car show,” Amanda said back to me. “Kinda looks like a Porsche convention,'' I replied. We sat our things at a picnic table near the pit toilets and took turns watching while the other did what they had to. “I was really hoping those Porsche guys might be having a grill out” Amanda stated flatly “there’s no limit to what I would pay for a hot dog right now.” Unfortunately, it looked like cars were the only thing going on at the pullout so we proceeded up the trail.
From the Mill Creek Summit pass the trail climbed steeply, punishing legs that we had let stay static for too long. The trail paralleled an old, paved forest service road, 3N17, for some time as it wound westward and then slightly south around a ridge. The day began warming up and we continued to climb. Overgrowth encroached on the path in many areas and at one point I wiped a tick off my forehead. So glad my arms and head were fully clothed as we hacked our way through the overgrowth. Eventually the path began dropping down to a drainage. We stopped and talked to a day hiker, giving him some beta on water spots southbound. Not too much further we stopped again and talked to another day hiker who told us there was a stream in about a quarter mile and one in 2 miles and that the 2 mile stream was probably better. We thanked him and carried on, stopping at the closer stream, more of a trickle really, to eat some of our last reserves of food.
We shaved it a bit too short on food this time. We have one more full day to go before we reach my parents resupply and go into Acton for additional food but as I write this after dinner today I am down to 1 electrolyte packet, one fruit leather and a pouch of buffalo chicken and have been hungry the last 2 days as I try to space out my reserves. We don’t really know what happened, since the Wrightwood grocery store was one of the most hiker friendly stores we have been to but one thing is for sure, we are not going to make this mistake again.
After a snack we carried on to the last water source before our dry camp and filled up on water. While we did so, Sean caught up to us and we talked about a whole multitude of things from hummingbirds to politics. He is a fascinating person to talk with and has traveled more than even we have, so it makes for lots of great conversation and story swapping.
After water, we all hiked the last 4.5 miles up to Messenger Flats and tossed our things down. We talked and ate dinner as a group of about 8 other campers showed up. After 2 hours everyone was starting to retire to bed so we decided we would as well. Sean broke his tailbone coming off Jacinto so he joked that he was going to go practice sleeping and we laughed and wished him luck. I typed this as the sun set in a beautiful cascade of oranges and reds - dreaming of all the Enchilada's Verde I am going to eat tomorrow.
