Day 19 – The Road to LA
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: Too many. 37 + a short nap + 3 more to start hitching at 6am.
I had hiked a lot of miles yesterday, most of them uphill, but luckily I woke up feeling pretty good. I could definitely feel the 29 miles, but I wasn’t hurting anywhere specific. Today was going to be more of the same, so I needed an early start to reach the highway in time.
5:34 AM
The first major hurdle of the day was a 9,000+ foot tall mountain called Mt. Baden-Powell. To get there, I walked through some ski resorts and dreamt of the winter months. I guess summer isn’t too bad either…
I eventually made it to Baden-Powell, but was not prepared for what I found. This climb didn’t seem too bad (< 3,000′) on paper, but it was unrelenting. It was four miles of straight uphill with pretty much no flats for rest.
Climbing is what I’m best at out here on the trail, so I got situated and started climbing. I generally don’t take breaks until a climb is over, but I needed a short fruit snack break on the way up to keep my energy high. I rushed up to the top and was rewarded with sweeping views in all directions and a well-placed American flag to pose with.
I slowly worked my way down to the highway from there and spent a bit of time admiring the view. As much as it sometimes hurts to climb all this way, we get to see some absolutely incredible things once we’re up here.
I made it down to the highway and took a break, but as I was sitting there, I noticed that the road was closed. “That’s weird, but maybe this isn’t really highway 2? I must be on a different road.” Nope.
Ruh roh
The highway was closed coming from Wrightwood, meaning that no one would be coming from that direction towards LA. Not good. I skipped Wrightwood in order to make it up the highway to hitchhike into LA in time, so I only had enough food for one more day. I NEEDED to get to LA. The only course of action at this point was to stick with the plan and start hitchhiking as early as possible because any car that passed might be the last one I see. I hiked through sunset and into the night so that I could start my journey early tomorrow morning.
I napped for a few hours in the middle of the night, but by 5:30 AM, I had made it to mile 400 and started hitchhiking into LA.
I did it. I made it 69 miles in less than 48 hours and now just needed to get into town for some food and time at the beach. Today was a good day.