Passing the 400 mile mark!
A slow-paced day from the get-go, we didn't bother rousing from the tent until 745 and didn't start hiking until 9. A good smattering of American robins, fox sparrows, western wood pewees, olive sided flycatchers, dark eyed juncos and mountain chickadees provided a sonic backdrop to the conifers of the San Gabriels as we worked our way to the Mt. Islip saddle trailhead.
The conversation was a little bit mad, as we discussed the proper location and characters to portray if one were to get "Law & Order" tattoos. by the time we arrived 2 miles later, the duct tape moleskins I applied to my assorted hotspots had given up. A quick leukotape repair and a glance at the maps, and we were off towards the old Endangerd Species Detour, the new one adding some 18 miles of shabby trail and several thousand unnecessary vertical feet to avoid a 2.7 mile walk on highway 2.
We heaved over Mt. Williamson, then dropped back over to hwy 2. Yellow-rumped warblers confounded me with their singing on the way down, as I was still rusty on my mountain woodland birds. We happily walked the road in lieu of the longer detour, and encountered Trail Angel Ruby along the way, who hooked us up with Capri Suns ( which reminded us both of youth soccer).
Smiles scoots along Highway 2 to avoid endangered Sierra Madre yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) critical habitat.
We arrived at Buckhorn Flat campground, and were somewhat surprised to be greeted by t-Rex and tick tock, since they left camp a cool couple hours before us and were quicker hikers. It turned out that Rocky an Carrot had fallen ill, and they all stopped to recuperate and strategize. While eating and perusing the map with them, I realized that the trail we were about to take to complete the detour dropped us 700 feet onto the PCT, only to climb 1300 feet back to highway 2 in 4 pct miles. A 1.5 mile road walk from our location bypassed that, and also kept us out of potential MYLF habitat (which was the reason for the multiple detours to begin with). The Buckhorn campsite was quite beautiful, with enormous cedar and sugar pine lining the small valley. We walked for 20 minutes on hwy 2 and rejoined the PCT. Two miles later, we passed the 400-mile mark and met up with a slightly lonely Sour Cream, who had pressed on in front of the Portland crew at their behest after illness struck. Along with approximately 3 dozen honeybees, We tanked up on water at a dilapidated Boy Scout camp, then walked together to the Three Points trailhead. Right beforehand we received an inkling of what was to come: the 2011 Station Fire remnants.
Burned area warning sign, with an unofficial addendum for poodledog bush.
Trail sign with poodledog bush right behind: an ominous omen of what lay ahead.
We made camp there, as it had many luxuries: trash cans, bathrooms, and picnic tables. We shared conversation and dinner as we got to know Sour Cream better. He and I constructed a properly executed but poorly designed (=too short) counterbalanced bear hang to protect our food from the two to three bears in the whole range. Nearby, the lights of LA lit up the periphery of the skyline as we drifted off to sleep in advance of a long, potentially hot hike in the morning.
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