Mt Baden Powell— Day 27-30 (may 3-6) mi 363.4-386.1

 

Day 27 was the first of two zero days in Wrightwood as we waited out a winter storm. I explored the town for a while and ate a ton of food. Alashua’s partner, Carter, arrived in town, and he will be joining her to hike the rest of the trail! We also were able to say goodbye to Angel and Ian, as they are unfortunately heading back home for injuries. They plan to meet up with us at some point on the trail and provide trail magic.

Chris also caught up with us, as he was taking his time more coming into Wrightwood. He is also staying at the holistic spa. 

On day 28 we woke to 3-4 inches of fresh snow on the ground. We took our time leaving the holistic spa, waiting for the snow to melt- it was mostly gone by  12. I did my resupply for the next 5 days and wandered around town. That night Alashua had booked an airbnb for us to all share, complete with a hot tub.  It was a very relaxing evening of eating lots of food.

Leaving the airbnb on day 29 I ran into some people that I hadn’t seen in a long time- Jamie and Two-Tone, who I last saw on day 4 at Mt Laguna, and Megan from Uk last seen at Idyllwild. I enjoyed a free hot dog for pct hikers at the gas station, and then we got back on trail. 

Just as we were about to start the Acorn trail leading back up to the pct, we heard that the nob fire closure had ended. Already set with our plan, we stuck with it, skipping those 20 miles. We would have had to backtrack all the way to Cajon Pass. The acorn trail was super steep and covered in fresh snow. By the time we reached the top, there was 8-12 inches of powder on the ground. The snow persisted for the next 10 miles, a long slushy slog. I ran into Impala, a woman that I last saw near Warner Springs. 

At mile 374.0 Chris and I set up camp at a trailhead parking lot for mt baden Powell. Alashua and Carter were still a ways back, as was Ryan who had some issues with his hip belt for his backpack. There were about 30 tents set up at the parking lot, as there was a bit of a hiker bubble formed by the snowstorm. 

Our alarms were set to 4:00 am on day 30 to summit Mt Baden Powell. The sunrise was incredible on the way up the steep, snow covered trail. Usually there are a lot more switchbacks in this part, but the boot track for the most part goes straight uphill.    I was hiking with Chris and a man named Mark “Went”, for the entire ascent. The snow conditions were quite good as it froze during the night and the microspikes were able to grip the ground. 

At the Summit the views were spectacular. Downtown Los Angeles was visible in the distance and I could barely make out where the land ended and the ocean began. We didn’t stay long as it was cold and windy and we wanted to make the most of the good conditions. 

The next 4 miles was a ridge walk down from Baden Powell, and before long the snow began to be slushy and unstable. The terrain was very strenuous up to this point, although throughout the day nothing was very technically difficult. At the top of Throop peak a group of hikers gathered and we all decided to take the side trail down to the Angeles Crest Highway. It was a steep descent, and soon we were able to glissade 500 feet or so down to the bottom. We used our ice axes for the first time to slow down the glissade and it was a lot of fun.

We rested for at least an hour at the highway, drying out our gear from all the condensation the night before. From there it was a 5.8 mile road walk to the Islip saddle junction with the pct. It was a mentally difficult walk, with lots of patchy snow and debris on the road (the highway is closed to vehicle traffic during the winter). At the junction at mile 286.1 I set up camp with many other hikers.