Riding The Crest 2009

SECTION B   BARREL SPRINGS TO SNOW CREEK

MAY 2 Barrel Springs - May 13  Snow Creek/Banning, CA

May 3^rd, Barrel Springs to Indian Flats. A horseman’s dream of a ride. We rode off from the trailhead outside Warner Springs, CA. It starts off through the Warner Springs Ranch, an incredibly large spread that runs several businesses in the area; golf, glide plane rides, trail rides, and more. We rode right near one of their herds. There was plenty of water on this ride so we dumped the jugs of it we were carrying for the horses. We could move out much more comfortably and did a lot of galloping and trotting. We did the first 6 miles to Eagle Rock in less than an hour. Eagle Rock is a land mark in the middle of this grasslands and quite a sight. After Eagle Rock we rode along Agua Caliente Creek  for quite a  ways and there was good water there too. It was there that we met Nona and her puppy out on the trail. Nona is a family doctor and was working the trail. She invited us to her place in  Vancouver, BC when we get up to Canada. We reached Barrel Springs together and she and her husband and pup drove away while we ate our lunch. I late afternoon climb was rocky and we stopped so I could put rear boots on Jur for the last three miles. We were less than a mile from Burton at the trail crossing when gun shots started. Two guys were shooting skeet! Not allowed in the National Forest we were in. Susan yelled “Please do not shoot. You are scaring our horses. We just want to get to that horse trailer.” They did quit and we got safely loaded for a long drive back to camp. Fortunately Ralph had made sweet potatoes, corn, carrots, and ham (from Burton) for all five of us. It was delicious and welcome after the days ride.

At one week on the trail, we started from Indian Flats Road and rode 26.6 miles to Tule Canyon Truck Road in Anza, CA. About 5 miles into the trail there was Lost Valley Spring a ¼ of a mile off trail. We went to it and scooped water into our collapsible buckets to water the horses. A couple hours later I found another water hole out of Chihuahua Valley. I kept seeing moisture in the run offs but no water. I figured there still must be water somewhere so I eventually spotted it. I went down and scooped water into the buckets with my cupped hands and Susan carried them up to the horses. This was keeping the horses hydrated without carrying the water ourselves. It was two o’clock and we started to look for a lunch spot. We came to one of the few remaining upright trees (fire had destroyed the area) and some grass for the horses and rocks for us to sit on. After lunch we saw a young skunk and fortunately got past it. We came to Chihuahua Valley Road and the house of Mike H, a trail angel, with water for us. So again we watered the. We then started the pull out of Chihuahua Valley, quite a climb with tremendous views. When we got to the NW side we spotted Burton, truck, and trailer more than five miles off. It was after 7:30 when we reached him two miles up the Tule Canyon Road the PCT crossed. It had been a long day and we were all tired. It was also the end of our first week so we decided to take the next day off to prepare to leave Stagecoach Trails Horse Camp and move north. 

On May 6 we drove from Stagecoach Trails Horse Camp straight to the Tule Canyon Truck Road trailhead. Both horses acted up quite a bit - too much time off! Talk about feeling your oats. Jur even bucked at one point. The trail had a very good surface but still would turn rocky so we continued to use boots on the horses. These are much like hiking boots for horses, allowing them to travel more comfortably over rock. The big news this day though was that Ralph had a terrible time driving to our next stop. He got on a road that was so rough it tore the underside of our trailer out - there was no turning around. Burton's trailer was able to clear it but not ours. Ralph got very upset and said many hurtful things. So Susan and Burton chose to end our riding partnership then and Ralph had many apologies to make. He was also making repairs on the trailer most the afternoon. Our new campsite was in the San Bernadino National Forest at Fobes Ranch Road. We spent three days there reorganizing how we are going to go on. Another benefit was we got to spend time with a Back Country Horsemen's group.

I met some wonderful people and even had the opportunity to speak at their Saturday night dinner. It was great to have time with fellow horse people and to be encouraged by them. On May 10 I had my first ride alone and my first ride on Harmony. Like Jur, he was jumpy on his first day, wanting to see a monster behind every rock. And there were lots of rocks. The first half the ride was through a forest of boulders. And even though I rode alone I was not alone all day. I passed two hikers in the first few miles and later they passed me and then later still we sat at a rest spot together. I also passed CanaDoug. He is a Canadian hiking from Mexico to his homeland. He helped me out when I had a problem locating the trailhead to exit on. I actually walked behind him, leading Harmony, for two miles. 

The next day I packed Jur up with all the regular stuff plus my gear. The sleeping bag and pad fit great in one side of the homemade pack  and the tent with my personal gear bag in the other side. I was also carrying two gallons of water just for Jur. The trail was HARD! A lot of climbing and rock steps, rock ledges and rock climbs. It was 11:11 when we came upon a 12” tree across the trail. The hikers had made a small pass around it to the high side. But a sharp incline on both sides did not make it safe for a horse. There were two options, return or cut out the tree. Having cut out many a tree in my trails, I cut out the tree. Thank God I brought the saw! First time too. At noon I was 2/3 of the way through and took a break to eat my lunch. Just as I put the last bite in my mouth some hikers arrived. Ben and Abby offered their help and right behind them was Rocketman who also offered. I asked the guys to sit on the stump to try to break it. But it wasn’t giving so Abby took a turn sawing and even Ben. Then I sawed while the guys sat and sure enough it gave way and the guys rolled it out of the way. Jur and I walked behind the hikers for a while as my arms were too tired to pull me into the saddle. Not long after I started riding again I came to another tree. This one was twice the diameter of the last one and up and down both slopes. The hikers had taken the high way around and gone quite a distance up the slope. I tied Jur and went up to check it out. One problem was that the surface was soft and loose – bad footing. Another was it was a long re-route and the hikers were using the hole made by the missing stump and that was even worse footing. I started by removing loose rocks and branches (even sawing some off). I cleared the route as much as possible. Then I went down for Jur. I made the reins a long lead line and started up the incline. Jur readily followed me but it got so steep he actually reared twice before finding his footing and following me to the hole behind the stump. There he paused and caught his breath before descending back to the trail. We rode on. Now I was praying we would not come to another downed tree. We came around the face of the Tequez Peak and my phone rang. In the moment I took my eyes off the trail there was a rattlesnake under Jur’s nose rattling! It was so close that I could not see it under Jur. So I backed him up. He responded and the snake slid off the trail still rattling but never striking. The hikers passed us while I let Jur get some grass exclaiming in wonder how we got around that last tree. When we rode on we passed Rocketman resting and then came upon Ben & Abby at another large downed tree. They were waiting for me so they could help me with this tree too! Wow. I could not have done it without them. We decided to used 4” branches as levers to move this huge tree off the slope and hopefully lower on the trail so I could pass. First I sawed off branches so it would roll. Rocketman arrived and we all heaved together and rolled the huge tree lower. It was then possible for Jur and I to walk around it on the lower slope. Thankfully, all the rest of the down trees I was able to walk around. The three hikers were going down to Idyllwild by the Saddle Junction trail. I wanted to get as close to Strawberry Junction as possible to drop down Deer Springs trail the next morning. First I had to get around some snow packs. I had just enough time to set up camp and get a few pictures before dark. Our camp at Fobes Ranch Road was at 4990’ and I was camped that night above 6310’ just a mile north of Saddle Junction.  

Was up at daylight and packing. The temperature was comfortable but when we climbed higher it got cooler and I was glad for my layers topped by my wind jacket. The trail peaked and then wound around the southwest side of the mountain. There was water and grass so I let Jur enjoy but tried to keep moving as I needed the two hours I had. Also found both horses like snow cones! As it turned out, the Deer Springs Trail was longer than I thought and I did not get down to Pete S. until 9. He had coffee and a danish for me. Yum! He introduced me to Lawrence P. Lawrence is the official “water man” of this section of the PCT. He updated me on all the water. Pete drove to the top of Black Mountain hauling Jur in his two horse trailer. At noon I was back on the PCT on the north side of Fuller Ridge and rode a ways out on it before heading down Black Mountain. I wasn’t far down when I encountered my first downed tree. I was able to go around it and the others I encountered that day. The trail descended well until about 6000’ and then tapered off to descend so slowly you could not tell you were going down at all. It got so bad I was wondering it I had somehow gotten on the wrong trail. The trail was terribly overgrown at the 3490’ elevation down to 3350’ to where I could not see it in front of me. This was the first day I could not see the trail in the distance so never knew where I was headed. This was discouraging when we kept winding around, seemingly going nowhere. The trail was traveling across the contour of the face of the mountain, back and forth across the valley a mile in each direction. It was on one of the sweeps that I saw Ralph parked down below waiting for us. But it took several more hours to get down there and the wind was howling and it was DARK! We came upon three hikers: Dirk, Laura (from London) and Steve. They where hunched over battling the wind like us. We all marched down the Snow Creek Road together. When we got to a gate Dirk lit a way around it for me. Ralph was on the other side and offered the hikers a ride to anywhere they wanted to go. They gladly accepted and Laura and Steve went in the trailer and Dirk in the truck. Ralph and I worked on getting Jur unpacked and safely into the trailer box. Once he was loaded I grabbed my cup of tea (Ralph had made) and jumped into the truck and we all headed into Banning. I gladly took the next day off while being treated grandly at the FiveHigh Ranch by Linda E. We also picked up the three hikers, shared root beer floats and got them back to the trail. 

NEXT: The Great Escape!

So many trails - So little time!

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