[pct-l] Trip Report - Pioneer Mail Picnic Area to Scissors Crossing - Sec. A9-11

[dlabrenz at parker.com]

Hi all,

Sprout & I are not the most amibitious hikers, but we're getting it done.
The 25 miles we put in this past weekend (10/7 & 10/8), finishes everything
up to Hwy 74 (B6?) for us so far this year.

What a BORING hike - practically no scenery to speak of - just scrub.  This
was by far the rockiest stretch that we walked; a real ankle buster.  We
camped at Mason Truck Trail at the top of Chariot Canyon - lots of good
sites, and the wash makes a good place to cook out of the wind.  We were
pleased that we didn't do this stretch earlier, as it was in the mid 80's
yesterday.  We had our 40* bags, and could've used lightweight longjohns.

Water could have been an issue, but I took a 3L collapsible canteen which
was needed.  There was 1/2 gallon left at Lucky 5 cache, but the Sunrise
Trailhead had a full trough so we filled 9L of containers there.  From
there, there was no water anywhere until we got to the gate at Rodriguez
Spur Truck Trail.  The book talks about going 1.3 miles W, but there's a
fire cistern just 75 yds W of the gate that's full.  There's a steel plate
over the manhole, but it was easily removed.  No water again until the
Scissors Crossing cache.  There were 2 cases of 1 quart water bottles &
only 3 or 4 were gone.  No water in San Felipe Creek.

Next trip is Nov. 9-12 through the San Jacinto's - my long underwear should
be in from Camp-mor by tomorrow.

Dan LaBrenz
(Scout)