[pct-l] the 1st 125 miles from the Mexican border

[tbache at san.rr.com (Tom Bache)]

Over the winter I dayhiked (occasional weekend outings from San Diego) the
PCT from the border to Chihuahua Valley Road (north of Warner Springs).
Except for some downed trees near Mt Laguna and in the Lost Valley section,
the trail is in great shape.  I suspect that the downed trees will be
cleared out when the thru-hikers pass by.

North of Mt Laguna (done after 1 February) the floral displays exceeded my
ability to imagine beforehand or describe now.  Simply stated, nearly every
step was on flowers, and everywhere I looked was covered with green grass
with sheets of yellow and splashes of red, blue, and purple.  The weather
was sunny and 50-60 degrees most of the time, and little steams were
trickling down every draw.   Perfect conditions ? too bad they can?t be
bottled for the thru-hikers.

and except for the 10 miles through the popular Mt Laguna area, we (one or
more of my kids was with me most of the time) didn?t see even one other
hiker on the trail!  I?m not counting the Border Patrol agents who tracked
us down a couple of times south of I-8.  That?s 115 miles of hiking through
gorgeous country, mostly in perfect conditions, always on Saturday or
Sunday, all within 30-90 minutes drive for >3 million people!   The trail
seems to be a beautiful secret ? at least in the winter.

Tom