PCT Day 20, 01 June 2022 (Wednesday)
“The Day That Easy Died”
Start Location: |
Wrightwood |
Destination: |
Cooper Canyon Trail Camp |
|
PCT Miles Day 20: |
25.8 |
Cum PCT Miles: |
395.2 |
|
Non-PCT Miles Day 20: |
2.2 |
Cum All Miles: |
418.2 |
|
PCT Miles Remaining: |
2,257.4 |
|
|
|
Elevation Gain Day 20: |
6,112 |
Cum Elevation Gain: |
67,984 |
It wasn’t a quick death, it was a slow death. And Easy will surely be resurrected one day soon. But more on that later. Dolores, the driver who is taking me back to the trail, was right on time and we drove back to the PCT. She and her family are hikers, so she is very knowledgeable about the PCT.
Wrightwood lived up to its reputation as a very hiker friendly town. I have to say, not just because I’m a native Californian, but all the trail towns in Southern California have represented California well (Julian, Idyllwild, Big Bear, and Wrightwood).
Today was all long ups and downs, adding up to 28 miles (with detour/side trail miles) and over 6,200 ft. of total elevation gain. This day is totally disqualified from being categorized as easy.
It was a day of contrasts. In the morning, a very nice trail through a live forest leading up to Mount Baden-Powell. In the afternoon it was pretty much all devastatingly burnt forest—this is the only section of the PCT I've hiked so far that I would not recommend for a day hike. There was also an ~2 mile road walk on Hwy 2 that was part of a detour due to a long-standing closure of a part of the PCT for endangered species protection.
I ended up getting to camp a little before sunset and ate leftover pizza in the dark for dinner.
Atop Mt Baden-Powell
View coming down from Mt Baden-Powell
It’s not all fantastic scenery on the PCT. Sometimes you walk through areas of completely charred trees
I just thought this was an interesting image
Some mushrooms like their bark well done
