Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - May 8th
Day 29: Wednesday 8th May Camp Glenwood – Gleason Road
The trail continued paralleling the Angeles Crest Highway for a bit. From the sunny
hills there were good views over the cloud-filled Los Angeles Basin. In these mountains
it is often clear and warm on the mountain ridges, but cloudy in the valleys. The PCT
followed the Silver Moccasin Trail all morning and I missed the junction where the PCT
left this trail. I’d gone about a mile past the junction before I realised that the path was
not heading in the right direction. I was reluctant to retrace my footsteps so I
continued along the trail with the intention of cutting back to the PCT by some jeep
roads further ahead. Once I hit the jeep tracks they enabled me to make quick
progress. These roads were closed to traffic for the winter and not due to open until the
middle of May so I didn’t have to put up with the dust from passing vehicles. The only
disadvantage was that the road followed the hot dry shadeless southern side of the
mountain ridge contrasting the wooded trail followed by the PCT. After a long detour I
rejoined the PCT at Mill Creek Ranger Station where I stopped to pick up water and
took my dinner break on their shady back lawn. The main responsibility of the staff at
the Ranger Station was fighting wilderness fires and, with the fire season almost upon
us, they were busy training one of their new recruits in driving their fire engine.
While I was stopped for dinner Parker, from Montana, Joshua “The Jaybird” from
Alaska and Nate from Minneapolis turned up. They had started separately the weekend
after me and had got together a few days ago. They decided to camp on the lawn at the
Ranger Station.
As my daily mileage increased, I often stopped early for dinner and then walked for
an hour or two in the cool of the evening. I left to climb to the Gleason Ridge and
camped on the sandy ridge above the Gleason Road.
Day 29: 17.2 miles 6.59 hours Camp: Gleason Road
The trail continued paralleling the Angeles Crest Highway for a bit. From the sunny
hills there were good views over the cloud-filled Los Angeles Basin. In these mountains
it is often clear and warm on the mountain ridges, but cloudy in the valleys. The PCT
followed the Silver Moccasin Trail all morning and I missed the junction where the PCT
left this trail. I’d gone about a mile past the junction before I realised that the path was
not heading in the right direction. I was reluctant to retrace my footsteps so I
continued along the trail with the intention of cutting back to the PCT by some jeep
roads further ahead. Once I hit the jeep tracks they enabled me to make quick
progress. These roads were closed to traffic for the winter and not due to open until the
middle of May so I didn’t have to put up with the dust from passing vehicles. The only
disadvantage was that the road followed the hot dry shadeless southern side of the
mountain ridge contrasting the wooded trail followed by the PCT. After a long detour I
rejoined the PCT at Mill Creek Ranger Station where I stopped to pick up water and
took my dinner break on their shady back lawn. The main responsibility of the staff at
the Ranger Station was fighting wilderness fires and, with the fire season almost upon
us, they were busy training one of their new recruits in driving their fire engine.
While I was stopped for dinner Parker, from Montana, Joshua “The Jaybird” from
Alaska and Nate from Minneapolis turned up. They had started separately the weekend
after me and had got together a few days ago. They decided to camp on the lawn at the
Ranger Station.
As my daily mileage increased, I often stopped early for dinner and then walked for
an hour or two in the cool of the evening. I left to climb to the Gleason Ridge and
camped on the sandy ridge above the Gleason Road.
Day 29: 17.2 miles 6.59 hours Camp: Gleason Road
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Granite Mountain
Nate
Jaybird
Parker