[pct-l] Scissors Crossing to Warner Springs February 22nd to 24th.

[mindreader at yahoo.com (Dana Law)]

Our party included Bill Redman, Ray Ellis (AT 98) and me, Dana Law. The weather was terrible but we took one step at a time. It wasn?t raining when we got to Scissors Crossing. We spent the night to get an early start.  We were off by 7:20AM.  Slow walk up Grapevine Mountain with heavy packs. There are some pretty cacti and cool Juniper trees on the way up. We found a rain induced rockslide about a mile along with minor damage to the trail.  Vulcan Mountain to the west was snow capped with a heavy cloud cover. A light shower kept us out of our rain gear.  I had packed 2 ½ gallons of water in preparation for the ?dry? San Felipe Hills and probably in the first time in years it was unnecessary.  Ran into Jeremiah from Tennessee, ?doing the bottom half? who had passed through snow in the Laguna?s. ?I filled up my cookware with rain overnight on Granite Mountain?. We finally needed our raingear late in the afternoon and then camped at 4100 feet overlooking the San Felipe valley in a big
 wind. It was a poor camp on but we were spent. Military helicopters passed north through the valley at 2000 feet, maybe lower. It was 37 degrees overnight.   Our party got off at about 7:15AM with a quick trip into the clouds and through the ?Gap? that we didn?t see but felt as the trail descended.  This is the burn area and there isn?t much left.  We made an early arrival into Barrel Springs about 10:30AM. There has been quite a bit of trail work on the last mile or two of the trail. The water trough is full and running.  We crossed S-22 after an early lunch and headed across the beautiful meadows. Saw cow pies but no cows.  The trail is distinct here and picturesque.  It was cold and blustery but no rain today.  San Ysidro creek is running but easy to cross.  Walked to Canada Verde. The creek here is running well and is lined with beautiful oaks.  We ended our hike at the Warner Springs Fire Station which has a patio, chairs, water and log book just for PCT hikers! The last eight
 miles of this trip was a pleasure after the dreaded ?Hills.?  We can?t wait to head to Highway 74.  





 

Dana Law

Amazing Dana Magic Shows 

619-444-2002


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