Miles 20-54 Days 3&4

Day 3

Start: 20 End: 36.1 total: 16.1

I awoke around 6:15 and started quietly packing my belongings trying not to wake the others. The forecast was calling for snow, then rain, starting around 2. I had a big climb up Mt. Laguna, going up a couple thousand or so feet in elevation, where the snow pack would be a lot higher. I wanted to get 17 miles in before the snow turned to rain. The trail angels were doing pancakes again but I knew that would delay my start. Plus the chances of other hikers talking about the incoming storm might talk me out of my plan. 

I did a quick 4 miles on a pretty stretch of trail, it rained for a second but the sun also tried to pop out, it was a cool and easy stretch leaving Lake Morena. I got down to a road where there was a stream beneath it that is usually dry, but due to all the water it was in full force. There was no easy way of rock jumping or jumping over it so I could take my shoes and socks off or walk back to the road and go over it that way. I decided to just ford it- taking shoes and socks off and walking through.

I kept going and saw a hiker heading back south. He had quite a few patches on his shorts from other trail he’d done. I asked him if he was heading south. He replied that he was going back to Lake Morena to wait out the storm, it was below freezing there last night he said and would only be colder up on Mt. Laguna, and the snow was to start at 10. I wished him luck and continued on, questioning my choice to leave so early and in such a hurry this morning. There was a campground 1.5 miles head and I checked in with the campground host and he said what I already knew, there was gonna be snow up there. I asked him if I was crazy for going up there and he said no another hiker had already left and it wasn’t too steep. 

The weather was still holding out so I decided to keep going. I stopped under a bridge to eat my cold oatmeal and get out my gloves. I kept going, the trail climbing steadily out from where it intersects with highway 8. I hiked another 6 miles and it had started to flurry but the snow wasn’t nearly as bad as the rain I endured the day before. I saw a well protected cove and sat down to eat my lunch, a summer sausage and cheese tortilla! I debated stopping there as the trail steadily rose after that but it was only 12 and I only had 6 more miles to get to the place I planned on camping.

 Quickly after leaving that spot it began snowing harder and harder. Snow covered the path in some places but I saw no other footprints. Eventually the trail intersected a road which led to a campground .7 away. Something was scribbled in the snow but I couldn’t make out what it was. The snow was now about 2 inches deep and I saw footprints, 2 sets, one going up and one going down. Uh oh, I wonder why they returned. I started to second guess myself but kept trudging on. Reminding myself I was calm, capable and confident and I had dry clothes and a dry tent and I could always hunker down if it got too bad.

 I kept going and so did the snow, becoming 3 in on the ground. The blizzard stopped about half way up and as I kept going I eventually started to relax a bit more. Appreciating the beauty of the snow and the adventure of pushing on through this. Sure I could’ve stayed back but I’m here to hike! And what’s a little snow? About 3 miles up I saw where the foot steps turned around and I was now the first and fresh steps on the now 4ish inches of snow. I was scared I might lose the trail but even covered in snow it was pretty obvious. I trudged on for about another mile or so checking my gps a couple times to ease my mind that I was in fact still on the trail. I debated going another 6 miles to Mt. Laguna but it was getting hard to hike in the snow and my body was feeling the long day already. 

I came to a big beautiful oak tree with what I thought would be good coverage and made camp for the night. Not sure if that was a good idea since the oak tree seemed to be making me wetter than I would be without it. A couple hours went by and another hiker appeared. A mid 40, bigger looking dude with a souther accent introduced himself to me as Steve. I chatted with Steve about my relief to see another person crazy enough to come up here. Steve said he was planning on camping there but could go on if I felt uncomfortable. Relieved to see another person and getting great vibes from my new friend, I cheerfully welcomed him to take refuge at the Oak Tree.

Steve said a hiker had come back down into the campground before. Warning others of the 10 inches of snow out on Mt. Laguna and not to go up there. We laughed at this hikers estimation of the snow and bonded over the fact that it wasn’t THAT bad and it wasn’t going to be any less in the morning. Steve is a retired military man from Tennessee heading out on his first long hike! Another hour or two passed and the pair from Hong Kong, George and Bebe, who were also at Lake Moreno arrived, wet as a dog. 

The snow had turned a bit wetter later into the day and they hiked through what must’ve been quite sloshy, all while I warm in my tent since 2pm!

I thought it was a good idea to set up camp there, beat the rain storm that was coming later. What I didn’t know was that there would be 30 mph winds from 8pm-8am and that rain would last until midnight. It was a miserable night and I must’ve only gotten 3 hours of sleep at most. Steve had to complete re set up his tent in this wind and rain storm due to originally setting up in a drainage. I was cozy in my tent until about midnight when my tent stakes were blown from the ground. I had to get out and fix them, luckily the rain had stopped but the wind howled on.

Day 4

Start 36.1 End 54.7 +1.5 mile round trip side trail for water Total= 20.1 miles

The howling wind kept me up most of the night, trapped in anxiety that my tent would blow over. 8am rolled around, the wind was still howling and I decided it was useless to try to sleep. However, the sun had come out!!!  I got out of my tent and slowly started sprawling all of my belongings out on bushes in the sun. We all cheered as we had survived through the night! 

I warmed up water for my oatmeal and made coffee and put my breakfast essential in it while I sat in the sunshine. I eventually packed up my things after they dried and left camp around 9:30. It was a grueling 1.6 miles that took my 40 minutes until the stream where I filtered enough water to get me through the next 10 miles.

I then began the final ascent up to Mt. Laguna. I was once again the first footprints on the trail upward, besides the animal tracks! The sleet had condensed some of the trail, so I was only crunching an inch or two below the surface at some times. It was a beautiful day with blue sky’s!

It got deeper as I grew closer to the top, and when I came above the edge and the trail evened out, I was suddenly in a pine forest, and the snow was about 4 or so inches deep. It was a slow process and as I got further there were some sections that were even deeper. There were snow drifted parts that had to be 8inches deep that I trudged through in my trail runners, guessing intuitively at where the trail was. 

It was a painfully slow morning and I collapsed into the snow and ate a cliff bar, dismayed that it was 12 pm and I had barely covered 5 miles. The cliff bar re energized me and I got back up and kept on postholing through the snow.

Eventually I came across a day hiker heading the other way, so I finally had tracks to follow. He asked me if I was doing the whole thing and when I said yeah he responded the typical, “alone!?” “Like that movie!”

I passed the sign for the option to turn into Mt. Laguna but I passed on it as it would take me the whole day at this rate to go my planned 18 miles to the next campsite. The whole area around Mt. laguna is a recreation area that you aren’t allowed to camp in so I had to push on. 

Around Mt. Laguna it began to get more and more touristy, families and kids were sledding down hills near the day use areas and people were hiking along the trail that skirts the town. You could see a star observatory and the saltan sea. There was still quite a bit of snow but now it was more trampled down and the sun was turning it into slush. As I kept going out of the town it got more and more slushy, I was walking through water drainage at many points. 

The trail continued to rise and the snow gradually became less in the areas not exposed to the sun while the shaded areas held onto their snow fall. Around 3pm I made it to the turn off, 10 miles in, where I would have to walk 7/10th of a mile to Laguna campground to get water. It was a busy road and I was jarred by my quick return to civilization. At the campground I refilled water, texted a couple people, ate my lunch and within 20 minutes was heading back to the trail. It was now 4pm and I had 8 miles to go. 

For the first time in my hike, I popped in my earbuds and listened to some music. It was a life saver for those last miles. Yet even with the music, those miles dragged on. It was beautiful, stunning scenery, traversing on the side of a mountain with insane panoramic views. Yet all I could think about was finding the next flat piece of ground to lie down on, how my back hurt and how my feet hurt. There was no where to sleep until 6:40 pm when I arrived at the campsite I was shooting for. It was a dry stream bed but flat enough to sleep in. I set my ground tarp down and my sleeping pad over it and grunted and groaned in relief to be done for the day. I fell asleep under the stars that night, proud of myself for that day and grateful to my body to have made it. 

Thanks for reading!

❤️Lioness