Friday May 7
The hike down from Fuller ridge to San Gorgonio Pass is simply amazing, knee jarringly amazing. A loss of almost 7,000 feet in about 16 miles, and a change in temp from wool hats and fleece jackets to 100F temps….
Having said all that the descent was not nearly as difficult as I remembered from 10 years ago. This I attribute to cooler weather and a much lighter pack load.
We left before 7am under a light cloud cover which lasted until noon keeping the heat abated somewhat. The early walking continued to be a stroll through ancient trees, gradualy giving way to smaller, stunted and stressed pines, then lush chapparal and eventualy to very sparse and dry shrubs, sage and tumbleweed. The wildflower blooms in the transition zones were awesome. And we saw another rattlesnake.
Leap frogged with the same people who were camped nearby last night, finding decent shade for a couple of breaks.
Once down on the flats of San Gorgonio Pass, the terrain was barren and the path focused on attaining the highway underpass. The scenery was “Desert Industrial”. And the heat intense. The Carrot took the lead and set a mean pace. After reaching I-10 we sat in the shade beneath the highway where the dry wash runs under a deserted bridge and waited until our appointed time to meet Randi. One Braid was along with us and we all were glad to escape the sun. Several trucks rolled by, maintenance staff for the energy company operating the windmill farms. One of them offered up ice cold water and sunscreen, both were like “mana from heaven” in the 98F heat.
As the other hikers moved on we were picked up by our friend Randi and whisked away to Ranch Cucamonga for a relaxing evening…
