Back to Desert: Angeles National Forest and Mojave Desert

Halfmile Project maps d and e

Angeles National Forest is the first national forest in California, historical landmark #717. Within the it rise the San Gabriel Mountains. They separate the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert and act as a water collection system for the surrounding areas. Mount "Baldy" (or Mount San Antonio) is the highest peak in Los Angeles County measuring 10, 068ft (3,069m). image from wikipedia on San Antonio. 

The National Forest has seen it's share of mishaps. You may or may not remember that in July of last year three campgrounds were closed in Angeles National Forest due to the discovery of a bubonic plague outbreak among squirrels. A fire scorched over 161,000 acres of land, that's 1/4th of the forest in August of 2009 which almost took out the Mount Wilson Observatory and the antenna farm which, among other things, broadcasts the police and fire department emergency channels. That would have sucked. The area is still in the recovery period.
Other fun facts: -Black bears are not native to this region, but in 1933 eleven rambunctious bears from Yosemite Valley were transferred here. -Baldy Camp was the hip nightlife of LA during prohibition.
The trail follows along side several sections of road, seem like map d and e are good places to have gear trouble or to strike up some conversations with day hikers or find some people with ropes to share for climbing. The trail dips down from the mountains at Aqua Dulce and then it heads back up where we tool around past Green Valley and continue to mountain roam.


Mojave Desert:

The trail descends from the mountains into Neenach, CA. From the town we will traverse through Antelope Valley, which is the western tip of the Mojave Desert. Then the trail ascends into arid mountain and canyon lands, passing through wind farms, until it exits into Cameron Canyon.
Antelope Valley was named after the abundant pronghorn sheep population, but after drought, too much snow, over hunting, etc the numbers now are few. I still hope to see one.

Flora: After spending quite a while in ponderosa, lodgepole, and jeffrey pines we will descend back into chaparral and then into sage brush and desert. The difference being we will have some new plants in the mix this time since Antelope Valley gets more rain and ground water than most. There is the California poppy (all the pictures of this massive bloom are beautiful but we will most likely miss it), the infamous Joshua Tree, the California Juniper, and many more plants that like this area.


Rock Climbing: Tunnel Crag is first to pass. It is barely out of the way and as long as there is somewhere to walk along Hwy 2. I will probably skip this one unless I meet someone with rope because it's 5.10 and 5.11 routes only. Past my free climbing comfort grades. Next up, a little more of a detour, Williamson Rock. Pretty much just sport, 5.6 -5.13. It looks real beautiful.

I'm most excited about Horse Flats. It just looks fun to mess around in with lots of bouldering and some trad climbs. Maybe a good place to take a climbing 0 day?

Desert: General Overview

On my run today I started thinking about food on the hike, but then realized I was getting ahead of myself in planning. I shifted my thoughts over to the climates we will face on the PCT. For most of us, that will be starting in the desert.

The amount of dry territory thru hikers must cover is daunting. Take it from someone who grew up in Burkina Faso, heat can make you a bit loopy. The unforgiving sun, the constant cotton mouth, the desire for just a little bit of shade, the lack of privacy (low and sparse brush)  I'm excited for all of it. At least it is dry heat. That makes it feel not quite like 100F.

Temperatures should range between 50-120F (10-49C). In April the Pacific brings storms but the area is pretty dry by mid May. The trail follows the mountain range mostly, going through the San Jacinto Mtns, the San Bernardino Mtns, and the San Gabriel Mtns where pines should make for a much welcome respite.

The obvious problems in the desert are sun, heat, and water. I will hike nocturnally and only be eating uncooked/previously prepped food to save my skin, water, and weight (I won't have to carry a cooking system for awhile, if I really start missing it I can have someone send it to me.)

I feel like after all of this I need to inspire myself. The desert is typically where people go to find themselves. You mind starts mimicking the landscape; there is no place to hide. What is often considered infertile ground becomes a place for plants to adapt and specialize against all odds. This landscape is the perfect metaphor for the beginning of our journey.

"Time and space. In the desert there is space. Space is the twin sister of time. If we have open space then we have open time to breath, to dream, to dare, to play, to pray to move freely, so freely, in a world our minds have forgotten but our bodies remember. Time and space. This partnership is holy. In these redrock canyons, time creates space--an arch, an eye, this blue eye of sky. We remember why we love the desert; it is our tactile response to light, to silence, and to stillness." - Terry Tempest Williams, Red: Passion and Patients in the Dessert

"“I’ve crossed these sands many times,” said one of the camel drivers one night. “But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.” (76) Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist


"Lion King" shows how his trip began and shares about the brutal heat.
http://www.youtube.com/v/AM1V-JZit5M?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&autoplay=1&autohide=1&attribution_tag=gRl_FbX6GWFCyH5Op_WZGA&showinfo=1