[pct-l] time/distance

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

Trailhacker attempted to hike from Cabazon to Cajon Pass over the 4th  
of July weekend. When we arrived at the Section C trailhead outside  
Cabazon at 8pm it was still 102 degrees (39 Celcius). I hiked with  
him for a while and we slept on the trail near Teutang Canyon. It was  
very hard to sleep when it was too hot to use a sleeping bag. I  
couldn't even stand to have fabric cover my legs, yet big bugs would  
flutter against my legs. After a few hours it cooled off enough to  
drape a bivy sack over part of me. It was nice in the morning. I set  
off back to the car and bid good-bye to Trailhacker who continued on.

I drove home to comfortable Santa Barbara and took a nap. Sometime in  
the afternoon I thought maybe I should check my phone messages just  
in case. There was a message from Trailhacker. He sounded like he was  
in dire straights. He sounded weak and his voice was shaky and  
exhausted. He said he was turning back. It was just too hot. He  
really sounded like he might die. I rushed back to the trail and  
worried that I had been irresponsible enough to let him go and kill  
himself. Santa Barbara is 3.5 hours away from Cabazon.

When I got to Cabazon I got a hotel and turned on the air conditioner  
hoping to create a cool place to take Trailhacker, if I could find  
him. It was 120 degrees. (49 Celcius). It was way too hot for me to  
go out on the trail and look for him.

Long story short (too late, I know) he didn't make it out of there  
until the next morning. It had been 125 degrees (52 C) where he was  
and he recognized that he had symptoms of heat exhaustion so he  
backtracked to Whitewater creek where he set up a sun shade and  
soaked in the creek all day. He waited until morning when it was  
cooler to return to the trailhead.

All this is to say that July is probably not the best time to hike  
the Southern California portion of the trail. There are pieces you  
could do, such as Mt. San Jacinto and the mountains around Big Bear  
and Wrightwood, but these sections are very short. You may get lucky  
and the hottest it will be is 95, or you could have a heat wave like  
Trailhacker got and get 125 degrees. He could have done this hike a  
week earlier or later no problem. He likes it hot. But not THAT hot!

If you really want to start your hike at the Mexican border it's best  
to do it in April or May. It's delightful then. Usually comfortable  
temperatures with warm days and cold nights and pretty flowers even  
in the desert.


On Sep 28, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm new to the site. I'm planning to start a first leg of the PCT  
> next summer from the Mex border, probably early July and hike  
> through late August. Can anyone tell me how much of the trail I can  
> cover during that time (about 50 days). I'm a relatively  
> experienced hiker, used to steep climbs up the Alps; I live in  
> Grenoble, France.
>
> ?
> Pat