Day 16 : Descending Mt San Jacinto

5th May 2013
Mile 186 to Mile 210.5 : Little Round Valley to Ziggy and the Bear
Mileage : 25.5 + 1.5
Today was my biggest mile day so far, and it was hard. I started late, simply because it was so cold. I went to sleep wearing every article of clothing I own and was still too cold to sleep properly. I don't think my sleeping bag has been doing a good enough job and am thinking about replacing it. Usually I try and have a litre of water spare when going to bed to get me through the beginning of the day and to a water source. I did in theory have my litre when I woke up, but it was unuseable as it had turned to ice, the entire bottle. The campsite was also shletered from the morning sun by the mountian, so i knew it would be cold regardless how long i stayed there. I was up and moving late but reached the PCT official trail leading to Fuller Ridge. Fuller Ridge was not the challenge that I had been lead to believe it would be, but I can understand how it could be. It is totally exposed with no exits, with the trail mostly located on the north face meaning usually there are a lot of snow traverses. In the first half an hour I met three groups of people coming the other way, each telling me to get off the ridge as soon as possible as some serious weather was due to hit at the end of the morning. I knew the weather was coming, and had no intention to get caught in a snowstorm so speeded my way down the trail as far as possible. The trail from Fuller Ridge goes all the way down the mountain, one long waterless descent. Fuller Ridge tops out just under 9000ft, and the next water is located 20 miles away and 7500ft lower down. My knees were less than ideal at the end of it, but worse than that is my right elbow. I have been using my hiking poles so much since I've begun I can now feel some sort of elbow pain. At least my aches and pains come one at a time. My ankles have mostly recovered (thanks for the exercises Mags!) and my achilles tendon is feeling way better so now i guess the pain needs a new home and has found one in my elbow. Hopefully it'll be like the others and will go away in a few days. As I said the descent was an ordeal, but also stunning. In the 6 hours or so I took to descend, i passed from snow drifts and pine trees to sand dunes and tumbleweed, and saw mt San Jacinto looming higher and higher above me as I wound my way down.
I ended the day completely shattered at Ziggy and the Bear's place, two trail angels who put up pretty much every PCT hiker as they pass through near mile 210. The last few miles after having completed the descent of mt San Jacinto cross the plain between the San Jacinto mountains in the south, and the San Bernardino mountains further north. I could see this pass as I came of the mountain, and could see that it was filled with wind turbines. Pretty as they were I knew they meant wind., and I was right. The sandy floor of the pass was wipped up into the air by the wind so strong it was not really possible to walk upright, a difficult end to a difficult day. I was the last to arrive that day and had missed pizza and icecream that was on offer for dinner, but was happy enough to be sleeping out of the cold and out of the wind.

Mt San Jacinto from the bottom of the descent

Half way down Mt San Jacinto