Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - May 5th
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Day 26: Sunday 5th May Gobbler’s Knob – Blue Ridge above
Vincent Gap
The morning started with a gentle climb up to 8000ft at Guffy Campground, through
chaparral and woodland much damaged by an old forest fire. From here it was a pleasant
walk through open pine forest along Blue Ridge. I met a family of five on a weekend
backpacking trip who were loaded down with enough equipment to last them for a long
expedition. There were magnificent views in all directions, only slightly spoilt by the haze
in all the valleys and over the Mojave Desert. This haze had more to do with the internal
combustion engine than natural causes.
For the first time I encountered trail riders on the trail. The trail was quite steep and I
had to get off the path to allow the horses past. The first two went past easily, but the
third horse shied just before reaching me. Fortunately the rider was more experienced
than the horse and he wasn’t thrown. After recovering he managed to get past with
difficulty. I don’t like to think what would happen if they met horses coming the other
way on a steep section of trail. Continuing down the trail it was obvious from the way the
trail had been cut up that one of the horses had been giving a lot of trouble.
The trail passed some ugly, fenced in, concrete reservoirs at the top of some ski lifts
of the Wrightwood Ski Resort. These were reservoirs for the artificial snowmaking
machines. Even with these machines it had been a poor ski season and, with global
warming, these relatively low level resorts are facing problems from lack of snow. The
whole place looked in need of a revamp and ski resorts always awful out of season. I saw
what I thought were about 50 ravens playing in the updraughts on the ridge. On closer
inspection they were crows, which was surprising, as crows don’t normally play like this.
I had left a supply bag hanging in a tree on the ridge above Wrightwood and was relieved
to find that it was still there. This pack contained food for at least 6 days and, together
with the water I was carrying, would make the rucksack very heavy.
In late afternoon I reached the visitor centre at the Grassy Hollow Campground. I
spent quite a long period at the centre chatting with the two retired gentlemen who were
manning the centre. I was after information about the water ahead and they didn’t think
I would find water in any of the springs. Therefore I had to fill up with 6.5 litres of water,
making my rucksack even heavier. I camped a little further on, in the shade of the pine
trees.
Day 26: 15.3 miles 6.37 hours Camp: Blue Ridge
Vincent Gap
The morning started with a gentle climb up to 8000ft at Guffy Campground, through
chaparral and woodland much damaged by an old forest fire. From here it was a pleasant
walk through open pine forest along Blue Ridge. I met a family of five on a weekend
backpacking trip who were loaded down with enough equipment to last them for a long
expedition. There were magnificent views in all directions, only slightly spoilt by the haze
in all the valleys and over the Mojave Desert. This haze had more to do with the internal
combustion engine than natural causes.
For the first time I encountered trail riders on the trail. The trail was quite steep and I
had to get off the path to allow the horses past. The first two went past easily, but the
third horse shied just before reaching me. Fortunately the rider was more experienced
than the horse and he wasn’t thrown. After recovering he managed to get past with
difficulty. I don’t like to think what would happen if they met horses coming the other
way on a steep section of trail. Continuing down the trail it was obvious from the way the
trail had been cut up that one of the horses had been giving a lot of trouble.
The trail passed some ugly, fenced in, concrete reservoirs at the top of some ski lifts
of the Wrightwood Ski Resort. These were reservoirs for the artificial snowmaking
machines. Even with these machines it had been a poor ski season and, with global
warming, these relatively low level resorts are facing problems from lack of snow. The
whole place looked in need of a revamp and ski resorts always awful out of season. I saw
what I thought were about 50 ravens playing in the updraughts on the ridge. On closer
inspection they were crows, which was surprising, as crows don’t normally play like this.
I had left a supply bag hanging in a tree on the ridge above Wrightwood and was relieved
to find that it was still there. This pack contained food for at least 6 days and, together
with the water I was carrying, would make the rucksack very heavy.
In late afternoon I reached the visitor centre at the Grassy Hollow Campground. I
spent quite a long period at the centre chatting with the two retired gentlemen who were
manning the centre. I was after information about the water ahead and they didn’t think
I would find water in any of the springs. Therefore I had to fill up with 6.5 litres of water,
making my rucksack even heavier. I camped a little further on, in the shade of the pine
trees.
Day 26: 15.3 miles 6.37 hours Camp: Blue Ridge
Pine Mountain
Mount Baden-Powell
from Blue Ridge
from Blue Ridge
Camp on Blue Ridge