I had a week to spare before pacing my friend Yiran at Western States. Noe, Adam and I headed out for a few days near VVR, and then I planned some solo trips in the Courtwright/Wishon area.
We camped at a rather noisy turn out on Dinkey Creek Rd. Somehow, dozens of cars passed by in the pre-dawn hours. We piled in Noe’s car, and made great time on the windy road out to Lake Thomas Edison. The miles up the Bear Ridge cutoff went quickly and we passed a stream of PCT hikers heading down to VVR. When we reached the PCT, we dropped most of our gear and headed up for Recess Peak.
Although only three miles off trail, this peak took much longer than expected. The last mile was very slow on the loose ridge. Clouds were threatening, but the forecaster correctly told us not to worry. We watched the USA win a world cup game on the summit, and took in the beautiful view.
It was late by the time we returned to the trail, but we trundled on a few more miles. We must have passed 50 or so PCT hikers, camping on the Bear Ridge climb. We foolishly camped down by Bear Creek. We hiked until last light, holding out hope for a better spot, but ultimately settled on a very subpar spot directly adjacent to Bear Creek.
Predictably, we woke up to find all of our belongings drenched in dew. We were all quite chilly from the dew, and the early morning crossing of Bear Creek that ensued. The original plan for the day had been four peaks. Reality set in, and we ended up going for Hooper and Senger. I was starting to get antsy and impatient with the group, but once we readjusted our plan, I began to feel a lot more calm. The calm allowed me to fully enjoy myself in the mountains.
Hooper took longer than expected as well. Adam turned back after a sketchy slab move, but soon Noe and I found ourselves at the base of the summit block. We found the class three route up the back, which gave us little trouble. We rendezvoused back at our gear stache on the PCT and had lunch. Senger also had some slow and tedious talus. The views on the summit were unreal, just far enough off the crest to provide panoramic views for miles north and south, but just close enough that all the peaks could be seen in great detail. After the slow ascent, we decided to take another route down, south down to a grassy lake on the PCT.
We walked a mile or two back on the PCT and setup camp on the north side of the pass. Adam was having some dehydration issues, but luckily he felt better by morning. We had a nice chill evening in camp, with a beautiful sunset. Matt sent some very exciting news on the inReach, and we were all very excited. The next day we enjoyed the 12 mile exit on good trail, and celebrated the trip with lunch and a world cup game at VVR.
Our peaceful weekend in the wilderness came to an abrupt end as we were thrown back into reality on our drive back. Two strung out people had crashed into a women driving the other way head on. Both cars were mangled, and they were deep in the single lane section of the road, far from any tows. Noe pulled over and offered to help, but it soon became clear that the situation was out of hand. The two drug addled people desperately asked Noe for a variety of tools he did not have, a crowbar, a hammer, and various other metal devices. Finally they borrowed Noe’s tire iron. They desperately tried to remove shards of the bumper from their front wheels. It became clear to everyone else that this was a fools errand, but in their drug addled state, they only began to try harder and harder. Finally as they were slamming Noe’s tire iron against their wheel, desperately trying to pry the metal out, Noe stepped in, calmly informed them that they would need a tow, asked for his tire iron back, and we resumed our drive. The whole situation a sobering reminder that often the drive to and from the trailhead is the most dangerous part of the trip. Had we not stopped to have lunch and watch the world cup, the drug addled couple could have easily hit us as they recklessly tore down the single lane road.
