May 16 – Powered by Pancakes
After another fabulous stay in Rancho Cucamonga we headed out for the trail. Powered by Charlie’s banana pancakes, turkey bacon (andj ust what part of the bird do they get bacon from?), coffee and juice we started our climb up and out of Cajon pass. Its a long steady tedious climb, gaining over 5,200 feet in elevation in just over 16 miles. And its dry too. No natural water for over 22 miles. But the transition is rewarding. Beginning in a barren landscape, showing all the signs of an industrialized transportation corridor, then passing through rocks formations shaped and twisted by strong geologic forces, the path winds it way in and out of endless gullys and ridges dominated by chapparel and eventually climbs up the spine of the blue ridge overlooking the San Andreas fault as it reaches back into Ponderosa pine forest.
There were two water caches put out by trail angels. We carried enough water that we did not need to rely on them. At the first one we stopped only for some candy that was also there as well as to look at the logbook. At the second water cache we still had enough water have gone on if we had to, but were glad to be able to consume a couple quarts.
10 years ago, the climb was different. For oe thing there were ticks galore. Being about three weekss earlier in the season it had rained several days earlier and the tall grass was green and infested with wood ticks. In one stretch I stopped every 200 yards and picked off a dozen or more each time. Today with drier and hotter weather and far less grass, there were no ticks.
The other big difference was packweight. In ’94 I went into Wrightwood from Cajon pass to resupply. So coming back out I was loaded with food for 6 days and water for 22 miles, on top of “dry” weight (gear only with no food, water or fuel) of about 33 pounds. In all I was probably carrying between 55 and 60 pounds to start.
Today we were about half that. With a base pack weight right now of 18 pounds we do not qualify as ultralight, but we are on the lightweight side. And this includes some luxuries such as a digital camera, battery charger, pocketmail device and small radio. And we have chosen to resupply at highway 2 on the crest, so we are carrying one day less and water. All told probably about 31 to 32 pounds or half of the weight in ’94.
This difference in weight is noticable and tends to remove much of the grimace from the uphills. The biggest overall effect is that my legs feel as strong or stonger than ever.
The pace is the same, about 3mph. But the recovery time is less and the enjoyment factor greater. Its easier to get up in the morning and hike and the number and duration of breaks during the day is less now. His translates into more miles per day. And even though 2 or 3 “extra” miles may not seem like much, over the course of the hike it significant enough to reduce the time needed to complete the trail from just under 6 months to just over 5 months and all the while feel physically better. So today was an easier (if i can be permitted to use that word when talking of hiking 22 miles) and more enjoyable day.
We reached Guffy campground after 22 miles and setup the tent amid a growing fog and wind. We briefly saw Dirty Harry before he dove into his tent. We made dinner and then hunkered down into the tent to eat and get out of the wind.
