Acton – Wrightwood – Day 141 – Sun Nov 12th

Day 141 Sun Nov 12th
Tent site 2 b4 Highway 2 – Tent site on ridge near Mt Baden Powel
2255.7- 2276.9
Approx. 6293 ft ascent 3773 ft descent
21.2Miles (19.9 Approx. road walk = difficult)


It was a cold night and we both woke up reluctant to leave the confines of our tent. Packing away with numb fingers was back on the menu. Sarah also managed to get a wet foot yesterday when collecting water so. she also had numb toes on one foot.

Yesterday we’d seen on the Far Out app there were a lot of alternate routes today, rather than taking the PCT.
Reading some of the comments suggest people have skipped parts of the PCT to avoid washed out trail and Poodle dog bush meadows. The jury is still out at the moment whether we’re going to do the same, but I don’t really fancy walking along a highway.


As Sarah packs away her rucksack whilst I record this, there’s a lot of noises of discomfort as she fights the cold. There’s a little grimace on her face, but as soon as we get moving this soon dissappears.

As we climb out of the shadows and leave the charred remains behind the sun warms the backs of our legs and bodies and our mood improves drastically.

We decided to take the road walk along Highway 2 to Islip Saddle.
This consisted of a 2.5 hour, 7.5 mile road walk and meant we didn’t have to walk through poisonous Poodle dog bush and washed out trial.
It was a similar distance to the PCT and it seemed that every other Tom, Dick and Harry had been doing it. So we thought it was fair game.

It will also be interesting to see how our knees and ankles deal with walking on a hard surface for a change.
We will have to keep our wits about us as it’s Sunday and there seems to be a lot of people with fast sports cars tearing around the mountain roads like some kind of race track.

When we passed camp Glenwood last night we had a reminder that we only have 400 miles to go. Based on our 20 mile and 25 mile days estimates that only leaves 20 or 16 days left to complete the trail, which kind of puts things into perspective (excluding any rest days).


The start of the road walk is downhill and the scenery is pleasant. On either side of the trail we see mountains and pine trees.

The road turns out to be busier than expected with a lot of weekend activity. With people either ripping it up in their sports cars or out for a hike.


It isn’t long before the road starts to go up hill and we go across the ski crest as the road twists and turns through the mountains.

A truck pulls over and the drivers asks if we’re hiking the PCT offering us water and a ride to little Jimmy Spring.

We say thank you, but we ain’t cheating and we’re prepared to walk this road.
Approximately 4 miles into the road walk there is an option to get back onto the PCT. Far Out says this section is closed due to an endangered yellow frog and is not to be opened until the end of December 2023.

Even though this scenery is stunning, road walks are pretty dull and what we need is one of Smiles’ crosswords to keep us amused.
When we all hiked together he would read out questions and Sarah and I would try and answer to help him fill in the crossword puzzle, which helped past the time.


A couple of guys pass us on electric mountain bikes, one with a rifle sitting vertically in his backpack. It looks like they’re going on another hunting trip.
I showed them the peace sign and they reciprocate.

We arrive at Islip Saddle which is at the foot of Mount Baden Powell where we stop for a lunch break.

In the first section of trail to Mount Baden Powell we are walking through a burn zone and have yet more Poodle dog bush to negotiate.
The first part of the climb reminds us both of Mount Lassen as the trees are chard and the ground looks sterile.
Fortunately this doesn’t last long. As we climb higher we start to walk through large green pines standing proud amongst the dead trees and smallerr green shrubs of vegetation.

I then suddenly take a turn for the worst on the approach to little Jimmy camp.

My stomach has been hurting for the last couple of days with a feeling I’ve been punched. Maybe its something to do with the fever or it could the Mexican food the other night . Either way I had the Tommy tits!
This is probably the worst possible situation on trail, but fortunately it doesn’t last long.
This section certainly does seem to be throwing the book at us.
On paper it looks pretty easy but with all this illness it hasn’t played out as planned and is taking longer than the 4 days we hoped.
Maybe there’s something else going on or maybe Sarahs trying to poison me slowly leaving me buried out here in the woods!


We reach the appropriately named Windy Gap where as Smiles had promised we are able to see LA and the ocean in front of us. As we stopped we could see the light reflecting orange off the ocean out in front. We both commented how long it seems to be since we had seen the ocean.

For the rest of the afternoon we climbed walking along a series of ridges that lead to the spur to Mount Baden-Powell

My stomach condition seems to improve as the afternoon went on and we opted to call a day just shy of the summit.
We stopped here so that we could see the whole of Los Angeles twinkling like some large living organism beneath us.
Sarah commented that I seem to like the twinkling lights of the city.

You could also see a thick layer of smog above the city and to the west a watercolour sunset. It was dramatic and possibly amplified by the addition of smog and clould. It was stunning to look at.

Although it is very windy up on the ridge we found a tent site slightly set back from the prevailing wind.

The ridge was also covered with thick layer of Manzanita, which also offered some low-down protection.

We set up the tent and built a wall around the exposed sides using rocks to act as a wind break.
As soon as the tent was up I dived into my sleeping bag. It was Sarah’s turn to rustle up something tonight for dinner.
I really don’t fancy anything to eat but she’s forcing me.

We have 15 miles to cover tomorrow before we reach our next town called Wrightwood.
We are both looking forward to getting a hotel room and a decent rest. Even though we spent 2 nights at the campground in Acton our sleep was interrupted by the road and train therefore we didn’t get a proper rest.