I got the floor in our cabin last night since I was the last to come in from our party. My cabin mates weren’t stirring at all when I got up at 7:30 this morning, so I took advantage of quiet time to do some much needed journaling. By the time I had finished journaling on the outside picnic table, my trail buddies had left for breakfast. I did some packing and trail prep, then visited with Grilled Cheese, Ladyface, Nabor J, Jean Luc, BS, and Jessica for a few minutes. The gang returned from breakfast and slowly packed up. Good To Go and Doodlebug were both suffering the effects of a little too much fun last night. Hikers ran a few last minute errands while Ladyface and I played on the swingset for a few minutes. Finally all were ready to return to the trail.
Good To Go called a trail angel from the list posted at the Wrightwood hardware store and 10 minutes later a white truck pulled up to take us up to the trail. Phantom, Good To Go, Doodlebug, Nightingale, and Bono and I loaded up and just a few minutes later we were back on the trail. We took a slow pace to get warmed up and stopped to talk with some 5 and 6 year old in a school group that was having some play time near the trail. And then we stopped for a lunch break after just 2.5 miles.
After lunch I took the lead and arrived at Vincent Gap around 2:30pm. There, we met with Stacy and Jeff from Albuquerque, NM who were planning to road walk around Mount Baden Powell. We all regathered at the gap which was the decision point for going over the summit via trail or bypass using a 10 mile road walk. Phantom was really struggling with a very shortened gait and Doodlebug with her persistent cough was not in top form, either. The four of us decided on the road walk while Bono and Nightingale made the decision to take the trail over the snowy summit. We said goodbye and good luck and chilled for a few more minutes.
There was an abandoned family sized tent at the gap. Doodlebug and I both crawled into the tent and took a mini siesta before pushing off for the road walk. The last of the Cal Tran (California Transportation) workers had supposedly left from the closed off road around 3pm. We heard that Sheriff’s deputies had been monitoring the road (Angeles Highway 2) and had been turning back hikers who tried to walk it to bypass Baden Powell. We saw no one after crossing the temporary gate and began the 10 mile walk.
For the first two miles the road looked fine and I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. Then we came around a curve and there was a rock slide across the road. Then large patches of snow were across the road, followed by more rock slides. By mile 4 we were face the north slope of very steep walled mountain gorges and walls. I was in front of the group including Phantom, Doodlebug, Good To Go, Jeff, and Stacy. I got to a steep curve in the road…and it disappeared under 20 to 30 feet of snow piled over it.
The next two to three miles there was no road, just huge piles of rocks, then snow, then rocks. The whole area had been hit by avalanche, rock slides, and mud slides. As we walked, occasional rocks would tumble from above and it was obvious something could come down at any time along any stretch of this destroyed section of highway. The hiking was tedious and the afternoon was wearing on. Finally, I reached the crest of about a 5-mile climb on the highway, then began a long descent with more rocks, debris, ripped up trees, and snow in the path of the highway.
I took an hour break before the gang finally caught up. During the break I had studied the map and saw that a picnic area was designated along the devastated highway in another 2 or 3 miles. We agreed to shoot for it as a campsite for the night. I was hopeful the area would be outside the fall zone for additional rocks to come down. Just before dusk Doodlebug and I located the picnic area off the side of the highway. It hadn’t been used in a while and there were no picnic tables. But it was flat, protected from rock slides, and protected from the cold breeze blowing across the snowy sides of the mountain above us.
In for the night, the six of us made camp (cowboying), ate dinner, and kept our food and packs right be our side (we are in active bear country now). As road walks go, this was by far the most adventurous, exciting, challenging, and memorable one I’ve ever experienced. We are confident we made a great decision not attempting the climb and descent over Baden-Powell.
Today’s mileage: 14.5; Cumulative mileage: 384.0; weather: sunny and mild, high 75.
