Written Saturday, 15 May 2021

As always before an early go, I didn't sleep particularly well. I was up by 4-ish to make sure I had all my gear packed up, get one last shower, and pre-hydrate, all while trying to be quiet and not wake up 'Sota Pop.

He's awake by the time I step out the door at 0645. Hope I am not making a huge mistake letting him stay until checkout time. I mean, what could go wrong? But he was so tired last night, I couldn't get him up and put him on the lawn before 0700 this morning.

I'm standing in front of Jensen's 5 minutes early. My ride is 20 minutes late. Not that I have many options. This driver is already Plan B.

I'm riding back to the point where I left the Trail, buy most people in this area will be leaping forward over 30 miles to bypass some fire recovery and endangered species protective areas.

Unfortunately, the great leap ahead bypasses Mt. Baden-Powell--ome of the highlights of Southern California. The Trail over Baden-Powell isn't closed, and there's no reason to skip it. Besides, I don't like the idea of riding part of the Trail when we can walk. It doesn't bother me that others choose to ride. It's just not what I want to do. My plan is to hike as much of the Trail as possible and road walk around the closure areas on CA Highway 2, the Angeles Crest Highway.

After dropping me off at Inspiration Point, my driver carries two other riders up the road to Three Points. I think I hear them laughing as they drive off. Yes, I'm the nut who wants to do more miles!

It's a beautiful day, and the first 4 miles of the Trailer are as pleasant as any O have ever hiked. The broad, well-graded treadway carries me all the way to the foot of Mt. Baden-Powell, which turns out to be a large parking lot, jammed with vehicles and thronged with day hikers, most of whom are escaping the prison that LA has been during COVID.

The climb up the mountain is challenging but not back-breaking, maybe 3,000 feet in 4.5 miles. The Trail is intended for day hikers so it's fairly broad and very well kept. It takes to a little more than an hour and a half to make it to the top.

As usual, the PCT doesn't go over the peak itself, preferring to roll off the shoulder, but there's a very short side trail that takes hikers to the summit.

The view from the summit is definitely worth the effort---360 degrees of southern California vistas.

There is a small monument to Lt Gen, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, an Englishman who founded the worldwide scouting movement. He served as the first Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts and, along with his wife, also founded the Girl Scouts (Girl Guides in the UK).

I was never a Boy Scout, but my father was an Eagle Scout, and I feel like I am taking a pilgrimage on his behalf.

Luckily, I find Jackie and Mark (a married couple who are hiking the PCT) along with their good friend, Ash, who lives just a few miles from the, back at home. We take turns snapping photos of each other for about 25 minutes before we need to move out.

Dropping off the peak, I take a right turn and head out another 4 miles to Dawson's Saddle to a point where the Trail is supposedly closed by the US Forest Service for for fire recovery. However, the section beyond is not closed at all, and I am able to proceed about 4 1/2 more miles to Islip Junction, passing dozens of day hikers going both directions.

Only once I reach the junction and cross CA Hwy 2, do I come to an area that is closed. This is where my road walk began.

Yuk!

Road walking is horrible, even on a road that has views that would make Albert Bierdtadt drool. The pavement is hard. It's hot. And every step is exactly like the last one, straining muscles the exact same way over and over again. It's much more fatiguing than trail walking.

Some of the shoulders are quite narrow, and motetcuvles and high-performance cars appear to be using this twisty road as a test track. Zoom zoom.

At least several nice people stop to offer inquire if I'm lost, offer me a ride, and in one case, give me a cold La Croix mineral water (although I'm still not sure what the Pampelmousse flavor is). I think I hear all of them laughing as they drive off.

I had planned to walk all the way to Three Points, around mile 403, but the Trail crosses Hwy 2 at mile 398. (well being a closure intended to protect the habitat of an endangered species, the Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog), and it's open so I hop back on.

A couple miles further, we hang another Benjamin (400 miles), so less than a mile further, we reach a nice youth camp, Camp Glenwood (not yet open for the year), and it's a perfect spot to camp for the night.

If you can figure out why the Pacific Crest Trail Association is recommending that hikers skip this entire beautiful section, let me know. By my calculation, I was able to hike over 20 miles of fully-open trail and I preserved s continuous foot path from Mexico to Canada, at least for now. Sure, the road walk stunk, but it has been part of the recommended detour for the frog habitat (I prefer "toad closure') for almost 25 years.

My only real frustration for the day is that I just discovered I'm missing one of my camp shoes. I keep them attached to a carabiner on the outside of my pack, but tonight there's only one... Those camp shoes went the full distance of the AT and--almost--400 miles on the PCT.

Fooey!

Anyway, I'm safe, dry, and warm at Camp Glenwood.

Miles hiked today: 30.5 Total miles hiked: 400.6

A NOTE ABOUT TODAY'S MILEAGE: I didn't hike 30 miles today. The road walk is actually shorter than the Trail it bypasses. The number above reflects the mileage between Inspiration Point and Camp Glenwood on the Trail. My hiked mileage today is more like 27-28 miles.

Sea Otter Fact of the Day: Sad news from Monterey Bay Aquarium (the center of sea otter conservation and research in the U.S.): Sea Otter 501, a female who was rescued by the Aquarium staff over a decade ago, has died in the wild. Sea Otter 501 was the very first rescued pup to be raised by a foster mother at the Aquarium--one of the exhibit otters--and released back to the wild, where she thrived and gave birth to many pups of her own, some of which have even had their own pups. 501 was truly a grandotter. Read more about her remarkable life here: https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/stories/otter-501-death