[pct-l] Alternate southern approach to the PCT

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

I have fantasized about hiking from Vista to Chino Hills in a sort of
"mini-thru-hike". There's some beautiful canyons, oak groves and high
peaks along the way. Just a couple weeks ago, I had hiked into the San
Mateo Wilderness from the southern end through Tenaja Canyon for the
first time. Very nice trail, currently lush with vegetation and Tenaja
Creek is flowing very well.

Perhaps there's a corridor of open land between Campo and Vista, between
the 8 and 94, along the 67 and 78 highways? A PCT thru-hiker (who's
already seen the PCT from Campo to Agua Dulce) might end up near the
junction of the 60 and 57 freeways in eastern Los Angeles County, just
short bus ride to the foothills below the San Gabriel Mountains. From
there I know there are fine hiking trails along the west face of the San
Gabriels that could link up to the PCT above La Canada.

An alternate such as this would help relieve pressure from the pulse of
thru-hikers starting at Campo and following the true PCT north. The
cities along the way would, in no way, be as pressured by many hikers as
the local services could easily accommodate many, many people.

There would certainly be a tremendous effort to map out a trail, gain
permission from private and public entities to allow passage and
camping, and of course blaze the trail for the first time. The thought
of being the first to blaze a trail along such an alternate route is
actually rather alluring...

I had researched hiking from Temescal Canyon, at the foot of the Santa
Ana Mountains just off of the 15 freeway, up what the USFS calls an
"unmaintained" trail up the Coldwater Canyon. I wanted to hike up this
trail and hit the three peaks of Santiago (5,687'), Modjeska (5,496')
and Trabucco (4,684'), head south to El Carizo at the 74, enter the San
Mateo Wilderness and exit near Santa Rosa Plateau. I called the USFS
station in Corona and floated the idea to one of the rangers. The ranger
told me where the trailhead was at Coldwater (behind private property,
hence the unmaintained status) and became excited about joining me! He
told me that on his patrols up there, he's seen several "awesome" camp
sites along the high ridge that provide views out to Santa Catalina
Island, Downtown Los Angeles and beyond, the San Bernardino basin, the
mountain ranges Santa Rosa, San Jacinto, San Bernardino and San Gabriels
(not to mention a birds eye view of my home of Lake Elsinore and the
Temescal/Temecula Valley)! Unfortunately, when the ranger floated the
idea with his superior, he was told that overnight camping was only
allowed in the few developed campsites along the 74 in the Ortega/San
Juan Canyon.

Perhaps if an organized effort with some political lobbying, these
obstacles could be overcome and a new alternate route to the PCT near
Agua Dulce could be created! I think the trails already exist. It may be
just a matter of mapping out the links and figuring out the hop from
Diamond Bar to Glendora. Heck, one could walk between the two cities,
it's only about 10 miles, but it's a very urbanized environment and
you'd be perceived as a homeless person, but we get that at all the
trail towns...


Michael Saenz, Associate Partner
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
MVE       MVE    Institutional       MVP    International
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-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Ronald
Strickland
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 8:00 AM
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [BULK] - [pct-l] alternate PCT

I'm delighted to see this week's thread about developing an alternate
PCT in Southern California.  Tom Bache,David Bache, and I were looking
at the Santa Rosa Mountains two weeks ago and thinking the same thing.
Such an alternate must not detract financially or in any other way from
the PCT.  But even to talk about it represents the maturation of our
beloved sport.

It was what inspired my friend Dave Sherman to propose creation of an
alternate Appalachian Trail in the South.  The trick is to go beyond
talk to actually create the trail as Dave and his friends did!  [See
http://www.bmta.org/BMTRouteMap.pdf ]

Creation of an alternate is also the motivation behind Andy Skurka's
epic thru-hike on the brand new Sea-To-Sea Route.  Starting at the
Atlantic Ocean last August, Andy has now reached western North Dakota.
He hopes to finish the C2C in July at Cape Alava on the Pacific Ocean.
[www.andrewskurka.com ]

Warning:  It's not difficult to come up with ides for new routes and
trails. 
  But the dogged work of turning a concept into a trail tread usually
takes many decades.

Ron "Pathfinder" Strickland, La Jolla, CA


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