Storm blew out yesterday and today seems like low temperatures and windy.   Perfect for what is ahead… a climb back up to 8k.   Scarfed down the free Best Western breakfast and packed a couple of extras from the table.   Good start for the day.

After crossing under the 15 and some railroad tracks, the climb was reasonably consistent and gentle.    Just following the wash on the ridges surrounding the valley.  

Here is a little video of turning a typical corner on that climb.

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After a bit of climbing on the Southeastern ridge, there was a small decent through the valley to cross over to a much bigger climb into the tree line.   Ran into a little trail magic sponsored by the folks at Wrightwood.   Unfortunately, just water here.   A beer would have been nice.  Even if it was a PBR.   

Turns out that water cache was all that was going to be available for a while.   This one at the base of the hill is dead and gone.

The bulk of the day was climbing through a huge burn area.  Apparently this fire started near the Cajon Pass and just burned up higher and higher.   First the brush, then bushes, mid-sized trees, and finally the pines and redwoods.    I think this stream of pictures tells the story.

 

By now I was getting above 6k when I ran into a guy named David.   He was around my age, but was a little flustered.   He had just woken up from a nap and said he was disappointed with his energy level.   I suspect it is altitude….I feel ya Dave. 

After my David encounter, it was time for some late Lunch.    Found a graded fire break that offered some good views from the ridge line and boiled up some noodles. 

Climbing continued up to 8k.   Got above most of the clouds, so there were some cool views looking down into the valleys.

Dave caught up to me during one of my pauses

 

 

My goal was to get to a campsite within 5 to 7 miles of Hwy 2 so I could nero / resupply at Wrightwood tomorrow.  Unfortunately that meant camping at 8,000+ feet which is usually a bad idea after a storm rolls through since it can get cold.  

And, of course, that’s what happened.  Around 4 it started to get windy.   First it was 20 mph gusts, but they kept growing by the hour.    I started taking compass readings of the wind (coming directly from the West), so I could better pick a protected campsite when the time came.

First option was at 361.   Nice camp grounds, but on a completely exposed ridge.   Some folks were setup there with a camp fire, but it looked miserable.    I hung out a bit until a 30 mph gust of wind blew a bunch of embers into some people’s faces.    Time to move on.

Next was a place called Guffy Spring Campground.  Was the same situation, bunch of folks, top of an exposed ridge, fire being fanned by hurricane winds.   

I found a decent spot below the ridge line near the springs.    I was just getting some back-scatter which was manageable.  Spoke with a couple of dudes who invited me up to the fire, but that setting looked miserable.   Just crawled into my tent, ate a poptart, and crashed.  

 

Found out later that the winds got so bad up there a couple people just gave up, took down their tents, and night hiked.  I had to layer up in my bag.   Pretty sure it dropped below freezing. 

Did 22 miles and 6k of climbing.  It was a good mileage day.