Spring Break, the spring holidays are over here in Topanga. A good reason once again to write something, because we have taken in the spring holiday to the Pacific Crest Trail in attack. But first things first ...
By chance I discovered the 2007 Pacific Crest Trail. To write my photos and I use to sort (in addition to iPhoto) has long been a small helper software written by a New Zealander named Craig Stanton. Sometime in the spring of 2007 I had a problem and that is why Craig wrote an email. It came promptly back a reply, he was a
half a year in the U.S. on hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. "WHAT?" I thought ... "How can you walk half a year?" and: "there such a thing as long walks Awesomeness will, too!". The answer: Yes there is, the Pacific Crest Trail
(
English version of Wikipedia has more information) or PCT is one of them and is or was considered the longest continuous hiking trail in the world.
The PCT starts at the Mexican border and ends at the Canadian border. He is a total of 2650 miles or 4260 km long, traverses the states of California, Oregon and Washington and goes through the wilderness along the ridge between the Pacific Ocean on one side and the desert on the other side. It follows fairly exactly the highest mountains in the U.S., along with Yosemite, crossing the 4009m with high altitude Forrester Pass the highest point of the trail. Close by is the Mt Whitney, with 4421st the highest point in the U.S. (excluding Alaska).
At the PCT we are thus largely in pristine wilderness, there are no hotels or lodges out there, we always slept. There are no restaurants or cafes, it's always good to plan where you get food and where to filter water. So it happens that, for example, in the Sierra Nevada food for 10 days or more must carry. Here, the "Hiker" so plan carefully what he eats, when and where and how much weight eating this, because a man can only a limited number of kilos drag.
I want hiken the PCT! back to 2007, the year in which I pursued
Craig Stanton's online diary and then was: I also want! Coincidentally, I just opened Seraina during this time that she would have to California for her dissertation. A year would be good ... So it happened that we decided to move to Los Angeles in 2008 for one year. I had the opportunity to continue working part time for the University of Zurich and a half year to take unpaid leave. In this half year, I wanted to hiking the PCT, so my plan last year.
As we arrived here in California then I realized that there are so much to do cool is to explore, so many cool bike trails for, to meet nice people to discover cool bands and last but not least: So much nice time to spend with Serafina and Josiah. It would have been bad for half a year away from Topanga to be alone and to go somewhere. Somehow I did not feel like that, perhaps partly because I had already read too many books about it, the days of rain in Oregon and Washington, on the day-long march through the snow in the Sierra Nevada, on the day-long march through monotonous forest monocultures miles of forest species or burned-through desolate area. I decided no "
Through-Hiker " to be but a "Section-hiker." That is, I wanted to move only certain sections, especially of course those in the vicinity of Los Angeles because they:
a) are located close relative of Topanga (go for round-trip)
b) often through the desert scenery and thus very attractive and different from the Switzerland
Yosemite and so are beautiful but it looks extremely similar, such as Switzerland, the Anza Borrego and Mojave Desert, however, are something else entirely. See my photos here
! Thus, I was smart about which parts of particularly beautiful or rich or varied wildly, and my plan is up to Josiah's summer vacation to run at least the part in Southern California. To Kennedy Meadows are the ever almost 1200 km and thus a right piece. Then climb up into the Sierra Nevada to 4000m and lies there in the area until July snow, it is not always useful for the summer holidays (in this case begin in mid-June) to go into that area (except on snow shoes but then one is too slow to cross the Sierra to and too little food with us ...). Whether I will continue to migrate in the summer holidays with or without Josiah / Serafina is still unclear. First of the first thousand miles and then see if I am seized with the virus.
PCT: The Southern California Tei l
Here is a map to California part of the PCT. You start in a small town in the desert called "Campo" just off the infamous Berlin Wall with Mexico. The Americans have started a wall along the US-Mexican border to build. A complete anachronism in my eyes and unrealistic as well, because a) come Latinos still in the U.S. and b) would collapse the U.S. economy without the day laborers, cleaners, babysitters, construction workers, fruit pickers, etc. to make $ 5 an hour all those working for which the Americans are too good. Anyway, all of Campo goes north to Canada. First, a bit up the Mount Laguna Mountains, then down into the Anza Borrego desert, then back up to about 3000m Mount Jacinto Gebrige, back down in the desert in Palm Springs, back up past the Big Bear ski resort, then back down in the Mojave desert and then it 's really up to the Sierra Nevada. Here is a picture of the height profile of the first few hundred kilometers of the Pacific Crest Trail, so that part I would like to make by mid-June. Please note that the altitude in feet (y-axis) and lengths in Miles (X-axis) and are not given in meters. You can share as a rule of thumb, foot and replaced by three meters and can be multiplied by Miles and replaced with 1.6 kilometers. The red part is the part in which it fired in the summer of 2009, and until now still closed to walkers. Are alternatives but they are usually the road exciting along, so much for me. The whole segment 3 is coming for me right now why not in question, which is a shame, because the most part if you were here wandered through the Los Angeles National Forest which will both be very nice (at least before the fire) and the other that would level the play was which is closest to my home in Topanga. Janu ...
Spring Break: From the border to Mount Laguna
The first one is usually about 200 kilometers across deserts or
Chaparal area. Actually ideal in March or early April (in May can go against it since even the 40 degrees!), but for most PCT Hikers too early to start moving, because the following San Jacinto Mountains are then covered with snow still thick. Therefore, most Hikers begin until late April at the border and that the so-called "PCT kickoff. More about this later.
Since I am not bound to a timetable, I can make each section, then when the vegetation (keyword "blooming desert") and the snow is best her. So I suggested that we start a family together on the PCT from the Mexican border and run a few days together to the north. The expected storm of protest and remained we agreed the end of March we start moving together in Campo. At that time, were grad Micha and Oriana with her baby Mila to visit and together we rented a cabin for a few days in Julian, an old gold mining dump about an hour north of the border. So we could leave our car in Julian and Michael drove us on Sunday 28 March to Campo on the border where we losliefen noon PCT and our adventure officially began:
We ran together until total of four days to Mount Laguna as a snow storm interrupted our journey. With luck, we arrived before the rain / snow to our car and drove straight down to the blooming
Anza Borrego Desert ! After a few days rest and car-camping holiday Josiah had to return to school and Seraina to work. Only I was left alone and sat on my PCT hike. After a few days ago I took a second but a snow storm and it was at first a little over a week PCT hiking.
my PCT journal and how to go
I will not explain in detail every day, plus I have an second website with my PCT web diary:
pct2010.org . On this page you will find every tag photos and a text in English and German. Here are direct links to the first few days:
- day: Start in Campo on the Mexican border
- day: Visit the Lake Morena Campground
- day: a recent sunny day in the desert
- day: degrees in time up before the snow to Mount Laguna
- day: After a break, went further on the PCT to Warner Springs
- day: 30 km just from the Anza Borrego desert
- day: In the rain through the desert up close to the snow line
The last day was a real shitty day. Very windy in the night without a tent for it and I just Blache on the road with a bin (a tent would be too difficult) threw loud and not very dry. In the morning it was drizzling then, but shortly afterwards the sun came to light. Unfortunately, short, and the higher I got, the more it rained. I called Serafina and learned that it was snowing earlier. So I decided on 7 Day my hike prematurely and return to Topanga. I would return when the snow has melted in the mountains. With much happiness I found the same day a Canadian tourist without a specific goal of drove me to go home. More on this in my diary.
this weekend of 23 to 25 April is now on the Lake Morena Camping the PCT annual kick-off - or as it is officially called "
Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off (ADZPCTKO)" - takes place. want to meet this weekend to about 400 to 500 PCT Freaks, about half of them are so called Thru-Hikers up to Canada. To make the entire PCT in one year all you have to go early enough so as not to overdo in the desert and also early enough to arrive in Canada before the end of September is the first snow. On the other hand, you have to go late enough in the San Jacinto Mountains near Los Angeles and later in the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes (where, incidentally, to the beginning of July is ski down!) Not to get stuck in the snow. The ideal time Thus, at the end of April and therefore the kickoff meeting will take place just then.
I'm missing from the first segment (see diagram above), two to three days of Mt Laguna to Warner Springs. I will do this after the kickoff and then I have to look where I'll walk. The second segment goes through snow-covered mountains and just today and tomorrow, it seems to give once again new snow. According to a report published this weekend, need stones Gesenius and pimples because it is steep. For this I'm really not in the mood, I have not come to Southern California to the snow hiking and camping. Segment 3 is blocked virtually all travel on the bypass road is not for me also in question. This leaves Segment 4 through the Mojave desert as a viable alternative, and probably I will therefore come back to Topanga and then walk from here segement 4th We were two weeks ago with Natalia and Ilia flourished there and everywhere Poppies (
to see my photos )! I hope it still is what's left. We'll see. You will one way or regularly find news and photos on my new diary under PCT
pct2010.org ! I will also write the way in the future something about camping in the desert, water, equipment etc.. Check it in there, if you're interested. There is also a
RSS feed to subscribe to.
