Washing! – The walk

From Big Bear Lake to Idyllwild

Miles 275 to 179.4

October 31 to November 4, 2025

I was really looking forward to this section. It was a relatively long stretch, close to 100 miles. Additionally, it passed through a section where the trail had been washed away by Hurricane Hilary in 2023. There were several notes on the farout app about how to navigate this section, but most of the notes are written from the perspective of going north, not south. It was hard to know what to expect.

Things didn’t start well. Unable to find a Trail Angel who could take me to the trail early enough, I got an Uber. The driver had a Chevy Silverado pickup truck and I thought. «Great. You’ll be able to take me down the dirt road to the trail.» However, as soon as the driver saw the dirt road, he refused to take me any further, even when I assured him that the road was in excellent condition. I had to walk 2 more miles uphill to the trailhead. Grrr.

Navigating the devastated path

The storm damage to the trail was impressive. Initially, it was the tributaries of Mission Creek that washed away chunks of the trail. Most of the time, they were easy to navigate, once you had scanned the starter tracks from the previous ones. These often required climbing over loose rocks. At times, it was like trying to walk on marbles, so easy that my feet would slip beneath me. I fell a couple of times, but nothing bad.

In the second half of the washed out area, no trace was visible and the recommendations were to simply walk in the water for about 5 miles. This is because if you tried to walk on the trail next to the wash, eventually the trail would be cut off with a ~15 foot drop where you had been washed away.

There was really no way to get lost going south, which was a relief, but there were multiple walking options in the wash. The wash was about 100 feet wide and the stream within the wash was about 3 feet wide at the time I did it.

Mission Creek Wash. The path goes to the left of the slope but disappears.

I thought it was entertaining that you could choose any route and find other hikers’ footprints in the sand. I even came across a nice message written by another hiker…

Sometimes it’s nice to find a random message from someone who arrived before you.

Walking in the wash involved a lot of loose rock and uneven terrain. It took me much longer to walk this distance, especially since I couldn’t walk at night due to the risk of tripping on the loose rock.

Mount Hyacinth!

To finish off this stretch, on the last day, Mount Jacinto arrives. Once I finished the wash, I was about 1000 feet up. Mount Jacinto is over 10,000 feet, so it was a big climb. I spread it out over two days.
Getting to the top was a great achievement. Not that it was a terribly difficult hike, but it was the last big challenge of the PCT, so I shed a few tears. I’m in the home stretch now!

The summit of Mount Jacinto

Some fantastic sunrises and sunsets and the end of daylight saving time

The days are getting shorter. But there are still kilometers to go. Some hikers walk until late in the afternoon or evening. Personally I prefer to get up early and walk before dawn. This is to avoid having to look for a campsite in the dark.
Since I often get up before dawn and start walking, I get to see some pretty sunrises. In this section, the most beautiful thing was the climb to Monte Jacinto. The full moon was setting on the right and dawn on the left. Unfortunately, the images don’t capture it very well.

To add to the fun, with the clock change I now set my alarm for 4am. For me there is no “going back”! Even though it’s technically the same time, it’s still painful.

Early Morning Moonset and Idyllwild City Lights (Day 2 of 2)

Sunrise while we climb Jacinto Hill (day 2 of 2)

Sunset while we climb Jacinto Hill (day 1 of 2)

Sunrise and city lights of Palm Springs

Flowers!

Those who walk with me know that I love wildflowers. While the northbound half of the hike had plenty of wonderful blooms, most of the southbound stretch so far has been late in the season.

Desert Sand Verbena

amaranth

The big storms that came through about 2 weeks ago revived the desert a bit and I’m starting to see more color.

We’re almost there!

So, although I am in the final stretch, there is still a lot to do. We are now at the lower elevations and it will be hot with very little water. But I’ve come this far and I won’t let that defeat me.

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