Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Thru hikers are normally asleep by 9pm. Up and moving at first light.
Idyllwild is an exception. It’s a party town.
Everyone loves Idyllwild. It’s a great little mountain town.
Again without hitchhiking, I caught a lift from town with a hiker and her dog headed back up to the trailhead.
The Devil’s Slide trail. That’s about 2.5 miles of switchbacks up to Saddle Junction on the PCT.
This is Tahquitz Peak, the 1000-foot granite face where American rock climbing was born. Yes, before Yosemite.
Here I am — back on the PCT. I’ve travelled surprisingly few miles from where I started.
I headed south into a snowy wonderland.
I scrambled this rock with a local guy.
Unlike the PCT hikers, I was in no rush.
Even by California standards, this hike is gorgeous.
I was pleased not to be down on the hot, dusty desert floor.
The day was a gorgeous ridge walk. Mostly down.
I wanted to find a tent site on the ridge — to maximize both evening and morning light.
25 miles of this section burned in 2013. It was closed until fairly recently.
Another gorgeous sunset. Though windy, I did not put on the tent fly.
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