Pacific Crest Trail: Mile 20.5 to 42

A view east at the ocean fog creeping over the mountains to
the west. The fog burned off before it got to us as we
had no cloud cover all day long.

Section A
Mt. Laguna to Lake Moreno - Sobo
Miles: 21.5
Hikers: Dan & Gary

Lodging: Mt. Laguna Lodge

Car Rental: Hertz Car Rental – Imperial County Int’l Airport, El Centro, CA

Dining: Campo Diner (on Hwy 94/Campo Rd just 50 yards east of Buckman Springs Rd.). There seemed to be a few locals here. OK food, not great, not bad. We should have done the El Paso Taco Shop again (see Mile 1 to 20.5 entry).

Start: We drove a car to down the road from Mt. Laguna Lodge to the Burnt Rancheria Campground. Evidently many moons ago the Indians were mad at the Ranchers for overgrazing and put a match to the ranch house that used to be here. There was a locked gate at the campground entrance – it wasn’t open for the season yet. This time of year Mt. Laguna is pretty empty. Even though you’re supposed to have a “recreation pass” we didn’t. We parked in front of the gate – no problems.

End: Lake Morena St. Park. I made online reservations and picked a campsite on the east side where the PCT passes. No camping as the spot was only used to park our car. There is also a designated tent camping area for PCT hikers in the NE corner of the park if you’re a thru hiker. The park was about 50% full. I can see where this would be a nice quick get-away for San Diego residences – supposedly good fishing in the lake. We had left a car here the night before.

People along the trail: We passed 6 through hikers & 2 section hikers (father & son). Just north of I-8 there is a side trail that goes down to a river and some water falls. About 6 people were on the trail going to this spot. I also passed a guy trail running – he was training for an ultra-marathon (50 miles) and was doing 36 miles that day.

Description: Leaving about 6 am it was cold with a few patches of snow but not so windy. Mt. Laguna is at 6,000’ and we would drop down to 3,000’ at Lake Morena. Mt. Laguna slants downward to the west, but to the east it is a steep drop-off down to the Anza Borrego Desert. The trail is a typical PCT hike -- you follow a ridgeline or you’re just below the ridgeline following a contour line going in and out of canyons with unbelievable views. It was cold at first, but once we dropped out of the high pine forest, the sun it warmed up nicely. The trail ran down a canyon overlooking a swift stream. Eventually we went under I-8 and through a grove of huge oak trees, forded a couple streams, and finally climbed up a small ridge to fantastic views of Lake Morena as the sun set. I wish I was a better photographer to convey the beautiful views on this hike – but you’ll just have to do it yourself. The surprise on this hike was that for a hike that was supposed to be all downhill there was a lot of uphill.

We finished about 8 pm at dusk, jumped in our car at Lake Morena, ate at the local Campo Diner (OK), drove back to Mt. Laguna to get the rental car, dropped the rental off at the El Centro, CA Int’l airport, and cruised back to Phoenix. Now that’s a long day!!!

Alternate Shuttle Plan: As a Tri guy I had originally planned on doing solo day hikes. I would drop my bike off at the trail’s end (chain it up or hide it in some bushes) then drive to the trailhead, park the car and start hiking. At the trail’s end I would jump on my bike and ride back to the car. Figuring it would be easier to hike uphill rather than bike uphill I would hike either Sobo or Nobo depending upon the terrain. I used www.mapmyride.com to map out a return road bike route from Mt. Laguna to the Lake Morena. This hike is over 20 miles and the bike ride would be about the same and 100% downhill – this would have been a fun ride!!! I would stash my bike at the Burnt Rancheria Campground, drive down to Lake Morena St. Park, hike uphill to the bike, and coast back to the car. This plan was ditched as I had Gary hiking with me, so we shuttled cars instead.