[pct-l] Question on Idyllwild area trails

[Melanie Clarke]

If you drive up Black Mountain Road, there is a parking/camping area at the
Fuller Ridge Trail Head.  The PCT goes right through this parking lot
before crossing Black Mountain Road and continuing  down to I-10 (or maybe
I just did something wrong?)  I suppose you could cache water there or in
the camping area.  I just finished hiking Hwy 74 to Black Mountain Road
October 20th or so.  Some of the water sources were very poor.  We had to
hike a mile down hill to Apache Spring.  It was only a trickle and even
though I filtered it, it tasted like sweat socks.  I did not get sick from
it though.  We also had to hike a mile down hill to Cedar Spring.  It was
trickling a little so you could fill a bottle if you don't have a filter
but it would take a long time to fill a liter, at least it tastes good.

No water problems after mile 176 Tahquitz Creek and the water sources on
the San Jacinto.  You can "camel up" and then fill up at least 2 liters at
mile 186 and quite feasibly make it down to the water fountain near I-10
but the hike will take most of the day.  If you put a cache at mile 191
Fuller Ridge Trail Head, it would be a lot of trouble just to put you 5
miles ahead with water.  Black Mountain Road is a long winding road!!!!!
 Fuller Ridge is mostly down hill and at this time of year you don't need
lots and lots of water.

Good Luck

On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 6:00 AM, juma <juma3 at cox.net> wrote:

> If the weather holds, I'm thinking of section hiking from the Paradise
> Cafe to I-10 over 11/8-13.  As I'm sure its dry up there, I'm wondering
> about the possibility of caching water at the Morris Ranch trail
> junction or the Fobes Ranch trail junction.  Is there an accessible
> trail head at either of those roads where I could park while I hike up
> and leave water?
>
> I'm also wondering about Black Mountain Road.  Will it be open at this
> time of year so I can drive up and leave water at the PCT crossing?
>
> I'll be flying out from the East Coast so I'd like to be as certain as
> possible about my water cache plan before trying to do this section
> now.  Thanks in advance for any info on this!
>
> juma
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