[pct-l] Campo to Morena Day Hike (was 16+ mi. dry stretches)

[msaenz at mve-architects.com (Mike Saenz)]

I was going to mention the same re: The 22 miles.

At the risk of starting a flame discussion, I suggest one would drop off
their overnight stuff at Lake Moreno and slack-pack the 22 miles from
the Southern Terminus into ADZPCTKO. The hike out of Hauser aside, the
22 miles into Lake Morena is a very do-able 22 mile day hike. There's no
real elevation climb.
Time the climb out of Hauser for the late afternoon, when the temps
drop. The trick here is to allow the rocks to dissipate the heat they
store up over the day. If you time your climb out to allow the sun to
pass over enough to not be blazing directly onto the exposed, south face
of the canyon, the climb out isn't all that hard. Heck- You'll face a
longer and higher climb from I-8 into Mt Laguna...

I remember that hike, Bill. We were climbing out of Hauser at the worst
possible time of day. The heat radiating off the expose south facing
rocks compounded the problem.

Start early, get to the bottom of Hauser and siesta until the sun drops
a bit. Then it's just a few more miles and a glorious walk into Lake
Morena- and a beer and the rest of us watching the `77 slides. I imagine
the `70's era music soundtrack rising up from the campground while
you're rounding that last sandy piece of trail at sunset would be quite
the surreal experience!


M i c h a e l   S a e n z
McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners, Inc.
A r c h i t e c t u r e    P l a n n i n g    I n t e r i o r s
w  w  w  .  m  v  e  -  a  r  c  h  i  t  e  c  t  s  .  c  o  m


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Carl & Judy
Rush
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 11:16 PM
To: Brett
Cc: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [BULK] - Re: [pct-l]16+ mi. dry stretches

Hauser Creek was dry last year,but it's only 22 miles we were at the
campground by 3:00 after starting at first light , we took 4 liters each
and had 1 left apiece.


On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 00:49:36 -0500, Brett <blisterfree@isp01.net> wrote:
> There was a young lady heading northbound from Campo on Friday, start 
> of the AZD last spring. She was somewhat new to backpacking, and fresh

> at long-distance hiking. Naturally she was uncertain of her ability to

> hike extended daily mileage between reliable water sources. Her plan 
> was to camp at Hauser Creek that night, and reach Lake Morena the 
> following morning. Since Hauser Creek would be a reliable water 
> source, other hikers had told her, she decided not to carry extra 
> water but just enough to make it to the creek that night.
> 
> Well, apparently she had a bit of trouble hiking the 16 miles that day

> in the heat and sun, and ran her water supply to the bottom well 
> before Hauser Creek. Reaching Hauser after dark, she didn't find the 
> water she'd been depending on, but in her exhaustion decided to camp 
> there anyway. She had a rough night, not only from thirst, but 
> apparently some illegals came through her camp, and the border patrol 
> vehicles passed back and forth on the nearby road for half the night.
> 
> The following afternoon, I started up Hauser Mtn from the assuredly 
> dry creek, soon meeting a group of hikers who said a young lady had 
> been escorted off the trail and into Lake Morena, in the process 
> leaving her backpack behind. Heat exhaustion to blame. The climb up 
> from the dry creek had been the final straw. Although these day hikers

> would be coming back round-trip later in the day, and were 
> unencumbered, they made the insinuation that I might consider bringing

> the pack to her, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. I decided to do 
> it, as much for the sake of this unknown hiker in distress as to 
> facilitate the day hikers' deserved self-pity for not jumping so 
> easily to her rescue.
> 
> Finding the full-sized pack at trailside, and determining it to be 
> heavier than mine, I opted to remove my pack, place the other one on 
> back, and then carry mine in front, with the shoulder straps pulling 
> forward. This was a real hoot, walking the final 2 miles with no view 
> of my feet over rocky ground, as hikers would occasional come by the 
> other way, and I'd exclaim how much fun these new "front packs" seem 
> to be. Somebody, I forget the name now, held me up upon arrival at 
> Lake Morena, in order to take my picture in full absurd and heavy 
> regalia, but not before breaking out his GPS unit so he could GEOCODE 
> the thing!
> 
> I eventually found the hiker in distress. She was recovering in the 
> shade by an RV, and none too keen on continuing northbound. I told her

> she was doing great given the circumstances, and that I, too, was 
> surprised to find Hauser Creek dry so early in the season. Hopefully 
> she didn't get too discouraged too soon, and managed to see at least a

> bit more of the PCT before deciding whether to attempt the thru-hike. 
> And I think we both re-learned, for different reasons, the importance 
> of self-sufficiency on the trail.
> 
> - blisterfree
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> - Simblissity Ultralight :: One-of-a-Kind Designs for the Great 
> Outdoors www.simblissity.net
> 
> 
> > That climb out of the canyon, I thought I was going to die-I had 
> > given two of my bottles of water to a scout that was empty, which 
> > made me empty. The troop and the other adults left me in the dust 
> > and if it wasn't for one of the women in the group bringing back 
> > some water I honestly don't think I would be here today. June 6th 
> > 2003 very hot and no water anywhere. Ground Pounder Bill
> 
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