After an AMAZING trail angel named Sweet Betty picked us up from Palm Springs Possum was back on the PCT and what better of a way to get back than to do some alternate routes! Sixteen miles of the trail was closed due to past fires so we had to drop down into a valley and follow some obscure (and unsure) routes to catch back up with the official trail.
Road and power line walking wasn't fun but Halfmile figured out some paths that got us around and there were some nice scenery. We felt like we did pretty good seeing that we found ourselves locked behind a 7' tall fence only once ( we never actually went over or through a fence to get in but somehow we were locked in).
This was opposed to the flashing, neon OPEN sign
When a man, that you spoke with 50 miles from the location, is giving you sketchy instructions about how to take an alternate route in a dry stretch in the desert and he says to "take the path by the wicker chair" you just don't second guess whether or not this is the correct wicker chair!
The brown colored section of mountains is part of the closed section we had to bypass on our way to Idyllwild. You can see the fire line just to the right of the roadside tree on the left. The land is SO dry here and the winds can get so high that unfortunately these huge fires can take off in just a blink.
For an alternate route this wasn't too bad.
Hahaha @ the wicker chair. Trick, Slam! & I were at Idyllwild when I visited in Feb. We did a circuit and connected with the PCT for a few miles from Strawberry Junction, and then down Devil's Slide into town, around 18 miles.
ReplyDeleteIdyllwild's vortex was strong, I got sucked in 3 times. From the Highway above twice, and down devil's slide once. The coffee house and pizza place where just to inviting.