[pct-l] Section B Trip and Water Report

[Paul Cronshaw]

Over the Memorial weekend, I completed a Section B hike from Warner Springs to Idyllwild with two friends.  The weather was the extreme opposite of the prior weekend’s heat wave.  Go figure!  We tolerated the near freezing temps and experienced the mixture of fog, high winds, rain, and snow. 

Lots of fog on the mountain tops and ridge lines spoiled the views initially but cleared as we climbed the southern San Jacinto range.  

We cut our mileage short the first day and stayed the night on Trail Angel Mike Herrera’s front porch to escape the impending rain.

The long hike from Mike’s place to the Paradise Cafe was worth every effort just to eat one of their veggie burgers and fries. I recommend ordering an extra one to take on the trail. 

The mile hike through the Apache burn area was interesting; the strong burn smell still lingers. Fortunately, this weekend’s rain has not created the destructive erosion that occurs after a burn; a feature I have witnessed post Zaca Fire in the Los Padres Forest.  It will be some time for this area to return to its original state.

During our 4 days on the trail, we encountered very few hikers: a boy scout troop headed towards Cedar Springs and three south bound hikers, to include Gail Lowe (“Wheew”) who was completing this section due to the Apache Fire closure. 

I would like to give a plug for Halfmile’s Section B map collection (http://www.pctmap.net/).  These nicely colored maps were invaluable as a resource to hone our orienteering skills. 

Section B water report update:

Date: 5/23/08

  B1 112.6 Agua Caliente Creek (just past picnic tables):  good flow thanks to the recent rain storm

 B2 115.1 Agua Caliente Creek:  4 foot wide flow (following recent rain storm)

B3 127.1 Chihuahua Valley:  No water in tank

B3 127.1 Chihuahua Valley Cache:  Approx 20 - 25 gallons

Date: 5/24/08

 B4 138.3 Tule Spring: tons of water

B4 Guzzler Replenished by recent rain storm. Note: fragile top, do not stand on cover. 

B4 139.8 Nance Canyon: 1 foot wide flow of water

B5 142.7 Hiker’s Oasis Cache: Approx 25-30 gallons

Date: 5/25/08

B7 162.3 Cedar Spring: water flowing into trough through a black pipe. An additional spring box is located 500 years up stream.

Date: 5/26/08

B9 Tahquitz Creek  Water (enhanced by snow melt from recent storm)

I posted a few pictures of our trip at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/beemancron/PCTSectionB


Happy Trails

Paul “The Beeman” Cronshaw


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