[pct-l] walker pass to chimney peak: gorillas 3, bears 0

[David Hough on pct-l]

Over Easter I went from Walker Pass to Canebrake Road to Long Valley Loop Road.

Some bears had indicated that there might be gorillas on the trail.    We found them,
hard at work.     The gorillas indicated that there might be bears at Joshua Tree Spring.
We didn't find any bears; bears don't work as hard as gorillas I guess.

The gorillas had set themselves a hard task - clearing 40 trees in the Spanish Needles drainage
and the next drainage north.     A lot of these were quite large, probably requiring larger caliber
weapons than these gorillas were packing.    Definitely blocking to stock, and no fun for hikers,
on steep soft slopes.    The gorillas worked hard on Saturday and Sunday and made good progress
but probably didn't finish.    I had to carefully work my way past them and their well-behaved
pack stock and deal with most of the trees on foot.

I had been encouraged by positive water reports from Roguephotonic and a report of a successful
solo hike by L-Rod.    The water at Joshua Tree Spring and Spanish Needles Creek #2 was in great 

shape.     The flowers in the Spanish Needles drainage were stunning, as good as any I've seen on
the PCT.    Section hikers and day hikers do have some advantages over through hikers.     But only
if they can manage the car shuttle and parking.


I managed to set up a car shuttle with a small rentacar at the PCT crossing of Long Valley Loop road.
But I wouldn't do it again without high clearance.     Day hikers wanting to do this should drive
to the Long Valley campground junction and then another mile or two, up to a saddle with a 

fairly broad flat parking area, park there, and walk the last mile or so to the PCT crossing.