[pct-l] pictures and observations from section a

[pcnst@oakapple.net (David planning PCNST)]

No illegals, no rattlesnakes, lots of border patrol agents and military
aircraft instead.    I never wanted to remove my long underwear.

http://www.oakapple.net/pcnst/pcnst-ca

and a few yards of section e:
http://www.oakapple.net/pcnst/pcnst-ce

Click on the date-map of interest to get a thumbnail index,
then on the particular thumbnail to get the full 640x480.
It may be easier with some browsers to turn off javascript.

I will try to write up a trip report at 
http://www.oakapple.net/pcnst/past.html 
in the next couple of days,
but the following points may be of interest now; I am sorry if they
have already been reported among the 203 messages accumulated this week
that I will read later:

Reported to me by through-hiker 
http://www.oakapple.net/pcnst/pcnst-ca/01-04-03-a11/d4030043.jpg
on April 3:

1) Boulder Oaks campground is closed until June 1 for camping, to protect
the frogs.  You can get water though and use the toilets.

2) Boulder Oaks store is not only closed, but eradicated.   [Delenda est.
Rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!]

3) There was no water on the trail from Laguna Mountain 
to Scissors on April 2-3.

And a note at Barrel Springs:
http://www.oakapple.net/dhs/pictures/pcnst-ca/01-04-05-a13/h4050003.jpg

My own observations:

a) At Scissors, the two gallons in the morning on April 3
had miraculously multiplied to half a dozen or more by night, so 
situation 3) may have been remedied elsewhere by now.

b) The tick brush (my generic term for chaparral overgrowing the trail 
so that one can't get by without giving either the east side or west
side team, or both, a chance to latch on) is getting real healthy
around mile 66, and is starting to get healthy around mile 97.
Fleece pants seem to fool ticks into thinking they are burrowing
into one's fur, so they amuse themselves trying that instead of prospecting
for a better port of entry, allowing one time to pick them off.

c) There is no problem following the trail from Barrel Spring to Warner Springs;
the guidebook main text suggests a compass would be helpful, but if you read the
2000 update, they note that the route is much improved.