Off to Do Some Hill Hiking Through the Desert

California, Section A: Campo to Warner Springs

We finally made it to Warner Springs, a small community 109.5 miles down the trail. This completes Section A of the PCT. We originally planned to complete this section in eight days, but it took us two extra days because Nick got the most bizarre blisters I’ve ever seen.

We started hiking from Campo at about 9am on April 9. We hiked fifteen miles to camp at Hauser Creek. We got a change from the forest scene of Flagstaff, AZ to the chaparral desert of California. This first day felt a little weird because it seemed like we were just leaving on a normal weekend backpacking trip. Poor Nick already got blisters after day one.

Day two started with a five mile hike out of Hauser Creek to reach Lake Morena. We had plans to hike on toward Boulder Oaks Campground, but Nick’s feet did not feel well, so we rested the remainder of the day at the county park.

We made it to Fred Canyon by day three and camped at what is still my favorite camp sight of the trip so far. We crossed under Interstate 8 and at one point could even see windmills over the mountain tops.

We had some gorgeous views of the clouds over the mountains on the morning of day four. We hiked ten miles to Mt. Laguna. While there we stopped at a small resupply store to buy some extra snacks. Some hikers stay the night here and resupply their food in full. We kept hiking an additional six miles out of the town.

Apparently Southern California has been having wind events, so on the hike out of town we were getting pushed over by the wind. Winds for that day were gusting up to 50 mph. We had trouble finding a camp site because we were hiking through a burned area and everywhere had little to no protection from the wind. We finally settled on a tiny spot out of the wind that barely fit the three of us (we also completely overlooked a campground, but it would’ve been just as windy…).

On day five, Nick’s feet were hurting pretty bad, so we only hiked four and a half miles to Pioneer Mail Trailhead. We decided to take the rest of the day and day six to allow his feet to rest. Charles’ aunt was our first “trail angel” as she brought Nick a new pair of shoes (a half size bigger than his old shoes) and some extra food for us. Other than that, we kept ourselves occupied on day six with shenanigans, laundry, and dog appreciating (a couple pups were out for a five month walk with their humans!). We also saw a few people we met at the start of the trail.

Day seven was pretty uneventful minus some sun and a steep downward hike. Nick’s feet were feeling good though, so we were excited.

By day eight, we only had forty five miles to Warner Springs, so we started doing fifteen mile days to arrive in three days. We left camp early and hiked ten miles by about 10:30. We left the chaparral landscape to hike around Granite Mountain. At fifteen miles we reached Scissors Crossing, a critical water cache for PCT hikers. The water cache is replenished by the Shelter Valley community about three times a week. We continued on into the San Felipe Hills, starting off with some switchbacks through what Nick calls “the cactus wonderland.”

There was another wind event that afternoon and into the night that made it a little difficult to find a campsite. We hiked eighteen miles, but all the campsites we found were too exposed. We ended up hiking back two miles to camp in a little slot canyon that was more protected from the wind. The wind was so strong it threw Charles and I into the rock a couple times.

Day nine was mostly just hot and uneventful. We came to the second water cache put out for hikers. Without the two caches put out by the “trail angels” we would have had a 41.6 mile a section without water.

We finally made it to Warner Springs on day ten. We had a beautiful morning hike through the chaparral and some wildflowers. We also crossed the hundred mile mark, a very exciting moment. Once out of the hills, we hiked through meadows to Warner Springs. Along the way we had a short stop at Eagle Rock.

Day eleven is another zero day for us. We’ve been able to camp at a small community center that helps PCT hikers by offering a place to camp, bucket showers/laundry, some resupply food, WiFi, charging stations for phones, and rides to the post office. We went to the post office to pick up our pre-mailed boxes of food and re-packaged our items for backpacking. Day twelve we’ll be on our way again and starting Section B of California.