Pacific Crest Trail - Day 28
Start: Mile 218.6 - Whitewater Preserve
End: Mile 232.0 - Backcountry campsite
I very much entered this section from basically Palm Springs to basically Big Bear with the mindset that any trail section that ended at the ski resort nearest to Los Angeles would be a trivial exercise in walking a relatively straight relatively relaxed path to a town where stylish Southern California residents après ski in their Aviator Nation jumpsuits.
So anyway, assumptions are bad. Especially about the wilderness.
PCTA: State of the Trail - Mission Creek
KESQ: The Power of Water: In-depth look at the water and mud flow damage from Tropical Storm Hilary
These ”100+ year” floods seem to be happening every year, in ”safe” inland ”climate refuges”.
See Also:
2445.4 < 2660. I‘m not going to math that, but surely it represents progress.
When was the last time you walked into the wilderness? When was the last time you walked to the store? Why do we design our communities around 6000 lb trucks to drive our collective fat asses to strip malls for anything and everything?
You don’t have to understand color theory to know that the pinkish flowers of a prickly pear catch your attention in a muted green landscape.
They‘re essentially the perfect complementary color to their muted green desert surroundings. This same relationship probably explains a lot about why you love that one painting. Or that one. Or that one.
I‘ve never watched an episode, but I do know that this is the geological version of Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
A yucca in bloom! Beautiful!
Mount San Jacinto. We camped on the knuckle to the right of the peak last week.
Stunning prickly pear bloom. Where’s the margarita bar?!
Whitewater Preserve was the gateway to Sand to Snow National Monument. I’m pretty sure the monument was coined before floods brought sandy washes up another few thousand feet into the mountains.
It makes you feel accomplished looking back at a ridgeline in the distance knowing you traversed the entire thing. Even if it’s a Honda Ridgeline.
2 feet of trail surrounded by trekking pole notches - We’ll be wishing for anything resembling this in half an hour.
Mission Creek. Don’t roll an ankle!
This felt like a gateway. Into what exactly, I’m not sure. A physical and emotional trial perhaps.
Choose your own adventure 🔀.
This reminded me of the sculpture on the wall behind Al Pacino’s desk in The Devil’s Advocate.
2025 modern backcountry lounger. $Free.99.
