Wow, windy last night and cold, we are getting up higher and I can feel the difference in my lung capacity, for me it's a real struggle. We started out with almost everything we owned on, then had to peel off layers as we warmed up. Both of us hiked most of the day with light jackets on and hoods up plus our hats cinched down. There were times we hunkered down to wait out a bad gust of wind, we think it could be blowing 60-80 mph! Sounds like a storm at sea, it roars!
Or faces are red with wind burn and the air is icy cold. We're miserable in this wind.
These were our tents last night, tucked into the brush. I had a fine later of dust over everything including my face in the morning. Did I say miserable?
This is a view of the valley where the San Andreas Fault lies. Soon we were over the top of the mountains and winding around through poodle dog brush. Nasty stuff!
It grows in burn areas for 3 years or so. We tried to be very careful not to let it touch us but in the wind that was hard.
We climbed 6,000 feet in total, no water, winds blowing and me feeling no energy, each step for me was a chore. Peggy would go ahead and try to find a place for a break out of the wind but it was hard. We once hunkered behind a bush that seemed to shelter us and waited for a lull so we could dash across an open space before the wind could knock us sideways.
We finally called it quits after 14 miles, found a place on a forest road off the trail on the opposite side of the mountain and set up our tents at 3:30pm.
We were just done. We lay in our tents and rested, napped and cooked dinner at 6. I was asleep by 7:00. Exhausted.
We slept in until 6 and both agreed it had been a pretty good sleep although cold at 8,000 feet elevation. We started off with a steep climb to Guffy campground where other hikers had camped in the wind, we felt lucky to have found our sheltered site.
We came to this overlook and I could see what looked like skyscrapers in the distance, Peggy agreed, it must be LA it was just clear enough to see Palos Verdes and a smudge of blue was the ocean. Not bad!
The hike to the highway was 5.25 miles, none of it easy. Wind was still howling! We passed the local ski area and saw a ski patrol hut where we staged a distressed hiker in need of help.
We arrived at Hwy 2 and started looking for rides to town, not 5 minutes later a couple of ladies drove by and took us down to Wrightwood. They hike daily on the PCT and were happy to pick us up.
Thank you Hannah and Michelle for the ride and fun conversation. We hope to see you both on the trail one day!
In town we rented a room and began the town process; food, picking up our resupply boxes, buying supplies, showers, laundry and some rest. Peggy's friend Francie, who lives in Fontana and co-owns a home in Wrightwood came up to meet us and take us home with her. We had dinner with her good friends who were staying in her home in Wrightwood, they will host us Tuesday night and take us to the trail Wednesday morning. We're so thankful for good friends and new friends who help us along the way. We had a relaxing time at Francie's home and I was able to finish my blog up to our morning back on the trail. The next section is Weightwood to Agua Dulce, 84.5 miles and we've planned 6 days to do it.
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