20240527 I-10 to Wrightwood (mile 363)
We have landed on our feet, and found ourselves in Wrightwood on Memorial Day weekend at the mercy of small-town post office opening hours. As Grace was awaiting the delivery of a critical replacement component for her bag we would not be out of here until the following morning at the earliest. We therefore had no choice but to chill out and take a day off. Fully relaxed in a buzzing café, where a troop of silver songbirds crooned covers of country classics, we drank chenin blanc and absentmindedly explored the map of the surrounding area.
I was surprised to find that we were very close to Mt Baldy, which I remembered as being the name of the zen retreat where Leonard Cohen lived for five years in the 1990s.
Zen is a school of Buddhism most known for its de-emphasis on doctrinal study in favour of direct learning from a mentor and expression through everyday lived activities. A mental as well as spiritual discipline, it is also associated with word games and logic puzzles, as well as the Japanese samurai warrior caste. Such a destination was the obvious next step for the then-middle aged Canadian poet, burnt out from three decades of fame. The core zen principles of reality and unreality, and the pointlessness of all things up to and including happiness and suffering, reflect in his writings from this time largely published in 2006 as The Book Of Longing.
A personal favourite piece from this writing is called simply The Moon:
The moon is outside
I saw the great
uncomplicated thing
When I went to take a leak
Just now.
I should have looked at it longer
I am a poor lover of the moon
See it all at once and that's it
For me and the moon
I wondered what moon he had in mind when he wrote that, and whether I had come across any similar such cheesy medallions in the night sky during the recent days travels. There had certainly been some memorable moons, great big moons, bright moons and shy moons. The moon had been rising late in the night, barely before dawn on the morning of my thirtieth birthday a week or so previous, and even later as we camped outside of some hot springs a few days before. We had been 'cowboy camping' with gusto lately, making use of the fair Californian nights, and enjoying how swiftly we could break camp the following morning. Without fail the moon would wake me though, and I too would gaze up at it, all too briefly, before falling back to sleep. A poor lover perhaps, but not without affection.
It seemed strange to think that all this zen hubris was going on just five miles from our merry table, where we sat increasingly jovial among the enormous frappés of the Wrightwood locals. Fortunately I could not dwell on it for too long and soon we turned my attention to another mountain entirely - Baden Powell, which we would need to summit the following day before continuing on the trail. Conditions were said to be perilously snowy, even compared to San Jacinto, and I even wondered whether we had perhaps sent out micro-spikes ahead too hastily. But I relaxed back into the wooden chair and listened to the band strike up another Townes Van Zandt number and calmed myself. The zen master over the hill would doubtless not approve of any worrying about such things.
Trail journal (days 19-29)
Thursday 16th May (day 19) - Walked 12.9 trail miles. Slept poorly in the desert wind. Woke to find someone had pinched my hiking poles, which I had absentmindedly left at the water spigot 20 metres away. Seething. Have my suspicions. Trail magic made things better though, first ice cold Gatorades near the interstate and then a new pair of complementary poles from local trail angel Kristen who had agreed to ferry us around for a couple of hours that morning while we got resupplied. Another hiker had ordered them from Amazon but later not needed them. Better than nothing! Went to In-N-Out with new friend Jeff and ended up hiking the rest of the afternoon with him to the Whitewater Preserve, a shady haven in the middle of an enormous exposed braided gravel bed valley. Stopped off at the wind farm HQ on the way for some afternoon respite and to meet the lovely Labrador named Kula (a very good girl).
Friday 17th May (day 20) - Walked 7.6 trail miles. Slept much better. The draw of the Whitewater Preserve was so strong that we ended up staying well into the afternoon, taking advantage of the power outlets, flushing toilets, and bathing pools. Headed off around 2:30pm and cowboy camped on the banks of another huge gravel stream - Mission Creek.
Saturday 18th May (day 21) - Walked 13.7 trail miles. Woke sporadically in the night and watched the constellations drifting from left to right. At dawn we got up and moved quickly, knowing that it was a tough day ahead. Absurd scenes greeted us at every bend in the canyon, and we seemed to face a full bingo card of geographical hazards along the trail. A cold and starless night high in the mountains.
Sunday 19th May (day 22) - Walked 17.8 trail miles. Unbelievably cold morning, made more difficult by being unable to find the trail again. Mood improved after we climbed higher and I came into Verizon signal range and saw messages from home. Hit 250 miles.
Monday 20th May (day 23) - Walked 8.4 trail miles. Took a day off in Big Bear after a windy night under some tall pines in a valley. One tent stake ripped out in the night. Glad that we did not camp up on the ridge as originally planned. Lovely lift in a van from trail angel Tiana who gave us a tour of the town. Checked into a very funny hotel with a jacuzzi in the room and waterproof wallpaper. Did laundry in the bathtub. Met up with Ally, and then Jeff and Jeff's parents to celebrate his birthday (they had driven over to surprise him). I capitalised on this and took a share of the birthday cake, a delicious homemade coconut and carrot showstopper.
Tuesday 21st May (day 24) - Walked 6.9 trail miles. Spent the morning running errands. Took longer than expected. Back out on trail and I saw a coyote within moments.
Wednesday 22nd May (day 25) - Walked 21 trail miles. Uneventful. The first full day of a good trail in what felt like forever. Beautiful campsite by the river. Had a soak before bed.
Thursday 23rd May (day 26) - Walked 13.9 trail miles plus a quarter-odd mile swam in the side quests. Woke late with a bad back, got on trail as quickly as possible. Met new friends and old crossing the river towards us in the morning. Got a great video and photos of a horned lizard digging a hole - to lay eggs perhaps? Funny creatures. Spent a while at a cool creek pool and spoke to other new friends before heading on to the famous Deep Creek hot springs. The springs surpassed all expectations and made for a fantastic afternoon, scalding hot in the smooth stone bowl before slithering out and over the rocks into the icy creek. Swam up and down enjoying the pull of the current and even climbed up to some inaccessible but majestic hot springs higher up in the rocks. Cowboy camped up on the hill and joked with Isaac and Skittle late, and in the process saw a Starlink satellite train going over, as well as what can I only be described as a UFO (none of us had any explanation for what this low, bright, silent craft was - vowed to not dwell on it lest I get into conspiracy theories).
Friday 24th May (day 27) - Walked 18.5 trail miles. Woke up slightly damp to an ashtray sky. Picturesque morning followed by a long dull afternoon section. Grace and I tried to name all 196 UN recognised states from memory and got 152. Eventually reached headwalls of a large dam, and clambered up to the shores. Like another country, with its own microclimate. Camped in a very exposed shoreline area with many others.
Saturday 25th May (day 28) - Walked 20.9 trail miles. Rained on slightly in the night. Got up and moved fast. Very little food on our bags left and the promise of a McDonald's for lunch if we could make the miles in time. 15 miles down before 12pm, the hours going by in a cold and humid blur. Very windy coming up over and getting our first glimpse of Cajon Pass. Ate a double quarter pounder with cheese and bacon, plus fries and a large coke. Bought fruit from a man with a stall by the gas station, including the Mexican chayote which I had never encountered before. Walked another six miles through various underpasses to a water cache being restocked by a man calling himself Devilfish. He roped Grace and myself plus Dave and Frankie into helping and we dutifully re-filled around 150 litres from the back of his truck.
Sunday 26th May (day 29) - Walked 16.1 trail miles. Made the mistake of checking FarOut before heading off in the morning. Disheartening. Several thousand feet of elevation gain, straight up. So hot by 11:30am that we took respite in a small overhang, which by 2pm was little more than a crack in the wall. Felt better for it though. Crunched out the remaining 11 miles with some discomfort but no lasting damage. Stayed at Mandy and Diego's on the porch, ate pizza, showered, and met the lovely dogs (and bizarre prolapsed lizard - and Argentine 'tegu').
