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[pct-l] Trip Report - Hwy 74 north to Hwy 10 in SoCal (long)



Hello,

I hiked the above section in southern California this past weekend and
wanted to provide a trip report, in the event the info is either new or
useful to someone planning a hike in the area.

I began my hike Thursday June 5 at 9 AM at Hwy 74 (Pines to Palms). At
10 AM I met up with 4 trail maintenance people. They indicated there
were some trees down north of Apache Peak, but didn't have a confirmed
report beyond Anstell rock. I arrived at Penrod canyon shortly
thereafter and there was a small pool of water but not something I would
recommend drawing from. Continuing north, there were no adverse trail
conditions to Cedar Springs cutoff. I did not check Tunnel spring or
Live Oak Canyon for water. I traveled to the Cedar springs camp area for
water. The trough was full, and there was a slight seep into the trough
from the pipe, and a slight seep out of the trough onto the ground. The
water was clean and essentially dead bug and dead animal free in the
trough. Carrying 6.5 liters of fresh water (read - 13 lbs) I began my
long trek up to the PCT, up over Palm View Peak, down to Fobes, then
back up to Spitler peak and then Apache peak. Some fairly steep grades
to end the day. At days end (6 PM) I camped at the intersection of
Apache springs and the PCT, covering 22 miles. To this point there were
no adverse trail conditions. Daytime temps were around 85-90, overnight
temp this evening would dip to 48 degrees on the peak. While traveling
through wooded areas I tended to pick up a group of those tiny black
knat/flies that hover 3 inches from your face, and land on your
sunglasses. They would dissipate when I came out of the woods. This
pattern continued the entire trip. There were no mosquitos over night on
Apache peak but there were a few on Saturday morning. FYI, I used
roughly 5 liters of water between Cedar springs and Taquitz Valley
spring, and 1.5 liters for dry camp dinner/bfst.

At 6 AM Saturday morning I left Apache peak. My plan was to head north
to Saddle Junction, then cut off the PCT and climb Mt San Jacinto, get
back down to Deer Springs for water and end up at the Black Mtn rd dry
camp on Fuller ridge. I completed this section 12 hours and 24 miles
later, at 6 PM. Just north of Apache peak large fallen trees started
appearing across the trail, as I was warned about. From Apache peak to
Anstell Rock there were approximately 20 trees down, of varying sizes.
>From Anstell rock to South Peak there were no adverse trail conditions.
At South Peak, a large tree is down on the final switchback approaching
the peak (from the south), and then another tree is across the trail
just north of the peak. In all, roughly 6 trees are across the trail
from South Peak to the Taquitz valley trailhead.

Taquitz Valley spring (or stream, whatever it's called) is flowing well.
I got 4 liters of water, but only used 3 of them from this point to Deer
Springs (via SJ summit). From this point to the Fuller ridge cutoff
there were no adverse trail conditions noted. For interest sake, I made
it to the the Wellman divide/PCT intersection around noon, and was on
the SJ peak at 1:45. On the way up I noted a good water seep in two
locations in the Wellman Cienega area. Upon reaching the summit I noted
the official signpost to Deer Springs read "8 miles". According to my
data the distance should only have been about 2.5 miles. Very confusing.
Sure enough, roughly 1 hour after leaving the signpost on the way down I
reached Deer springs. I can say with conviction that I was not traveling
at 8 mph! On the way down I found water flowing very well at the remote
campsite one mile from the summit, and several other runoff areas
flowing well on the way to Deer Spring. I reach Deer Spring at 3:30,
refilled my 6.5 liters and headed out for the west end of Fuller ridge
at 4 PM (again, 13 pounds heavier!).

I must admit that whether it was a) tired legs from "running" down to
Deer springs (having been freaked out by the 8 mile signpost) or b)
carrying 13 new pounds of water, but the first 3 miles of the Fuller
Ridge trail (to Castle Rocks) just about did me in. I guess I expected a
fairly tame ridge trail, not the up and down switchback ride I
encounterd. Ah well, nothing like digging deep for a final push. As far
as trail conditions go, there is a very large tree down roughly 10
minutes onto the Fuller Ridge trail. Another very large tree is down at
the point just after you crossover onto the north side of the ridge just
past Castle rocks. Beyond this point I saw no other adverse trail
conditions to I-10. There are 3 very good water flows (from runoff)
within 30 minutes of the Fuller Ridge trailhead, FYI. One was a bit of a
torrent on the day I was there. As mentioned I reached the dry camp at 6
PM, a bit pooped. I used 5 liters of water from Deer Springs to the tap
on the valley floor, and 1.5 for dry camping. Daytime temps were roughly
85-90, nighttime temp at this location was 67 degrees. On this night and
again the next morning there were quite a few mosquitos present at this
campsite.

At 6 AM on day three I left for I-10. I spent the first three hours
enjoying the views and the day. At around 9 AM I reached the end of the
trees and was now back in the desert, at about 6000' elevation. The
temps began to rise quickly. By 12:30 I was at the base of the mountain,
having dropped 900 feet in elevation over roughly 20 trail miles. Man
was it hot by the end of this section. The wind was still intermittent
at this point, and didn't really blast me until I left the tap area. The
trail was easy to find through the desert/sand area to I-10. Temp was
102, wind speed was around 30 mph for the final 3-4 miles. In any event,
I put my head down, a bandanna over my nose and mouth and leaned into
the wind. At 2:30 PM I was under the I-10 overpass and happy to be out
of the wind.

Overall, the trip went very well. A base weight of 11 pounds contributed
to my ability to travel fairly long distances in pretty hot conditions,
and made it easy to take lots of water from the sources. Finally, beyond
all the things I saw, heard, felt and experienced, I discovered a tasty
new treat - Snickers Soup! Leaning against the wall under I-10 that
afternoon I reached into my bag for a snack, only to find my king size
Snickers bar was in a pure liquid state!

In any event, email with any specific questions, and thanks so much to
the group for all the info I received prior to my leaving on this trip.
I hope someone will find this info useful.

--
Mike Maurer