[pct-l] confused NB'er heading out from Cabazon

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Mar 30, 2010, at 3:54 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> Got this from my sister-in-law (a captain with Cal Fire) today...   
> Anybody know who this guy might be, and what his plans are?  If he  
> can't find the trail where there's NO snow, I wonder how he's  
> planning on dealing with the snow.  Maybe he's going to skip north  
> or something, but he's going to get some snow either in the Sierra  
> or the San Gabriels.  Sounds to me like the exact kind of solo, not- 
> super-well-prepared hiking that we've seen end badly.  Based on  
> where he is, if he hikes any more than 8 miles per day, he'll  
> arrive at KM before 6/10 (just an arbitrary date I picked, but it  
> seems that if he's going straight through, the snow's going to be  
> tough).
>
> Iron Chef
>
> *******************
>
> "Mildly interesting story. There was a fire out near Blythe this  
> week (not too big) so they shifted us over to a neighboring station  
> (Cabazon) for most of the day Friday. While we were there at the  
> station, we got a phone call from a NB PCT hiker who had stopped in  
> at the Hadleys store in Cabazon. He sounded a little lost &  
> confused. I guess he expected people in the area to know what the  
> PCT was and to be able to give him help and directions along the  
> way. I guess no one at the Hadleys store had ever heard of the PCT.  
> His guidebook (or instructions) was a little vague about how to  
> pick up the trail again north of the I-10 after stopping at  
> Cabazon. He sounded a little exasperated and I thought it was  
> coincidental that I was there that day to help him. The people at  
> Hadleys let him use their phone and I guess he called the fire  
> station thinking we would know the area. He said he knew the pink  
> motel was closed, but was trying to pick up the trail again.
>  Our station maps are mostly street maps, but we found enough info  
> to figure out the trailhead again near Tamarack & Cottonwood and I  
> think I successfully sent him on his way. He didn't say his trailname.


Give the guy a break. I stopped in Cabazon. Not that many people go  
there.

I had a heck of a time a) finding my way to Cabazon from the trail  
and b) finding my way back to the trail from Cabazon. I even called  
my boyfriend at home who looked it up on Mapquest. He kept telling me  
there was a road on the south side of the freeway between the freeway  
and railroad tracks. I couldn't see a road. I ended up calling a cab  
from the north side of the freeway. I had to call the cab twice  
because they couldn't find me despite the fact that I gave them a  
cross street and the name of the street I was on.

On the way back, I found the road my boyfriend told me about. I got a  
ride from someone who thought I was nuts to believe there was a trail  
and water under the freeway. I'm sure he though I was a fruitcake.

So give the guy a break. Sometimes finding your way on surface  
streets (for which topo maps fail miserably) is harder than finding  
the trail in the snow.

If anybody goes to Cabazon, you find the road to Cabazon after you  
cross under the railroad tracks and before you cross under the  
freeway. You won't be able to see the road. It's on the (left) west  
side. You have to climb up some rocks and then you'll find it. It's a  
long lonely mile or more to the post office and store. And another  
long mile or so to the overpass where you can cross if you want to go  
to the casino or outlet mall.

Books I've written:
~ Piper's Flight
~ Adventure and Magic
~ Santa Barbara Hikes