Miles 213.8 to 218.5, California, Pacific Crest Trail

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
12/30/2017	11.08 miles	6 hours 38 minutes		1.7 mph

Map: Halfmile maps
Guide book: none
Directions: Whitewater Preserve to PCT. PCT southbound from mile 218.5 to 213.8. Retrace steps.

When I realized just how close Joshua Tree is to the Pacific Crest Trail, I knew we'd have to do a hike on the PCT! I have told Glen before that when we finish hiking the AT, we'll need to start section hiking the PCT. Well, we've started a little early :) This is our first hike on the PCT!!!!!!!! Can you tell how excited I am?

The first thing I noticed when studying the PCT maps - where are all the parking areas? Doing day hikes on the Appalachian Trail is easy. There are only a couple of places on the AT that I know of that can't be done as day hikes (the 100 mile wilderness, and the Smokies). Finding parking areas for the PCT was tough. They are much further apart than they are on the AT. We headed to the Whitewater Preserve, which is located around 20 minutes from Palm Springs. We saw a funny sign on the way: "Dig Your Own Cactus - 59 cents." Glen figured it was a clever way for someone to get their yard cleared of cactus (as opposed to paying someone to do that!). Driving into the preserve is a bizarre experience. The past few days, all we've seen is sand and rocks and cacti. No water. When we arrived at the preserve there were trout ponds, a river, and yellow fall foliage. We could have been in New York. It was unreal. People came here to see the fall foliage.

The .5 mile trail to the PCT starts on the right side of the parking lot. Park maps are available and we picked one up. We also had the Guthook app downloaded onto our phones, and a copy of Halfmile's PCT maps for the section. The maps are free to download and print.

I carried 4 liters of water, and wasn't sure if it was enough. The forecast was for 80 degrees, and of course there is direct sunlight and very limited shade.

We hiked on the park trail and turned southbound onto the PCT. We started hiking uphill. The trail often cut into the side of the mountains. Glen had some vertigo due to the drop offs, but did okay. The views were stunning - what a great introduction to hiking the desert section of the PCT. The trail was somewhat sandy, but usually pretty firm. We saw a bighorn sheep on a mesa. As soon as it saw us, it bounded down into the valley. The water near the preserve must attract a lot of wildlife. We also saw tons of cloven hoof prints and tons of scat. At first we thought they were from bighorn sheep, but then we read that an Indian reservation grazed cattle here. We also read somewhere that there were feral cattle here. We also saw other footprints - maybe dog?

We hiked to a dirt road crossing in view of the Mesa Wind Farm. We were really hot, and took mini breaks whenever we hit a bush large enough to provide some shade. I can't imaging hiking in the desert when its 100 degrees - I don't do well in heat. I wanted to go further of course - but we had to get back before the Preserve closed, and of course before it got dark. I wish I had researched shuttle drivers ahead of time, so we could have done a point to point hike.

This hike has whetted my appetite! I can't wait to do more hikes on the PCT. This hike had grand views. It's rare on the east coast to have so many big views.

Starting our first section of the PCT!

And some videos....