Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - Day 20 April 27th
Day 20: Saturday 27th April
Road 2N02 – above Van Dusen Canyon
It was a cold and windy night but by the morning the skies had cleared and the wind
dropped to a strong breeze. I was going to detour off the PCT to Big Bear City for
supplies
I lost my way for the first time on the route, but I knew where I was! I was following
a jeep track, with the same road number as the road I wanted to follow, but which was
not going in the direction I wanted to go and not marked on my map. The map in the
guidebook was badly out of date. It was easy to follow the PCT but, the maps in the
guidebook were only corrected where they actually along the line of the PCT and were
liable to be badly wrong when the trail was left. I cut across Baldwin Lake to get to Big
Bear City. Baldwin Lake was a dry lake and looked as if it was a long time since it had
seen any water.
Big Bear City is a winter ski resort, but there had been hardly any snow in the
mountains this year so the town was rather dead.
In Big Bear City I had left a supply bag at the Fire Station. The fire fighters opened
the Fire Station to PCT thru-hikers. At this time of year the fire fighters are busy
training the auxiliary firemen who have been taken on for the summer to deal with the
expected forest fires. A busy summer was expected with the forests already as dry as
they would normally be in August. There was a small lawn to camp on and the use of
the shower and washing facilities. I had a big steak in town and bought some extra
provisions since I intended to take a couple of rest days at Deep Creek Hot Springs. I
didn’t stay overnight but I headed up Van Dusen to get back to the PCT in the heat of
the afternoon and camped above the Canyon. Again the poor map gave me some
problems. I camped earlier than I had intended because my heels were hurting again.
The weather started deteriorating again in the evening.
Day 20: 11.6 miles 4.52 hours Camp: above Van Dusen Canyon
Road 2N02 – above Van Dusen Canyon
It was a cold and windy night but by the morning the skies had cleared and the wind
dropped to a strong breeze. I was going to detour off the PCT to Big Bear City for
supplies
I lost my way for the first time on the route, but I knew where I was! I was following
a jeep track, with the same road number as the road I wanted to follow, but which was
not going in the direction I wanted to go and not marked on my map. The map in the
guidebook was badly out of date. It was easy to follow the PCT but, the maps in the
guidebook were only corrected where they actually along the line of the PCT and were
liable to be badly wrong when the trail was left. I cut across Baldwin Lake to get to Big
Bear City. Baldwin Lake was a dry lake and looked as if it was a long time since it had
seen any water.
Big Bear City is a winter ski resort, but there had been hardly any snow in the
mountains this year so the town was rather dead.
In Big Bear City I had left a supply bag at the Fire Station. The fire fighters opened
the Fire Station to PCT thru-hikers. At this time of year the fire fighters are busy
training the auxiliary firemen who have been taken on for the summer to deal with the
expected forest fires. A busy summer was expected with the forests already as dry as
they would normally be in August. There was a small lawn to camp on and the use of
the shower and washing facilities. I had a big steak in town and bought some extra
provisions since I intended to take a couple of rest days at Deep Creek Hot Springs. I
didn’t stay overnight but I headed up Van Dusen to get back to the PCT in the heat of
the afternoon and camped above the Canyon. Again the poor map gave me some
problems. I camped earlier than I had intended because my heels were hurting again.
The weather started deteriorating again in the evening.
Day 20: 11.6 miles 4.52 hours Camp: above Van Dusen Canyon
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Baldwin Lake
Big Bear City Fire
Station mascot
Station mascot
Big Bear City mascot