Pacific Crest Trail: Mile 478 to 486

PCT in a tree covered canyon in the Angeles Ntl Forest.

Section E
Sanfrancisquito Canyon Rd to Hughes Lk Rd.–Nobo
Miles: 8
Hiking with: Rob

Lodging: Best Western John Jay Inn, Palmdale, CA – There are a lot of hotels in Palmdale along Hwy 14. It was appropriate we stay in the John Jay Best Western on Martin Luther King Day Weekend. John Jay was the first Supreme Court Justice and 3 time Governor of New York. On his third try as Governor he emancipated the slaves in New York State. Why there is a hotel in the small remote desert city of Palmdale, CA named after him I have no idea. The décor was sort of colonial. I got my Best Western discount and so got a real deal. Regardless of what I paid I feel Best Western is always a great deal. They’re always cheaper than the Marriotts, Hiltons, and Holiday Inn Expresses and usually get comparable rooms. However, this hotel only had hard wired Internet in the rooms. The only wireless available was in the lobby.

Car Rental: We rented from Avis in Hesperia the previous day. It was about 10 minutes away from the Hotel. I was able to return the car in Palmdale just 2 exits north of the hotel.

Dining: After hiking we returned the rental car and asked the attendant if she knew of any good restaurants – she pointed to the Bayou Bar B Que across the parking lot and said “I’ve never eaten there but everyone say it’s great”. That’s was good enough for us so we tried it. Wow—this was as Cajun as this boy born in Michigan and lived in Arizona for the past 25 years has ever had. I’ve read some of the on-line reviews and they are like: “Best Cajun food west of Texas”. Definitely worth the try. I had the Bayou Classic which is Bar B Que chicken, smoked brisket, spicy pulled pork, bacon, and cole slaw on a hamburger bun – FANTASTIC!!! I also had some other southern food such as Greens (boiled large leaf of some sort) and Lousiana Boudin (Pork and spices injected into a natural casing)….It was OK but next time I’m getting cole slaw.

Start: We dropped a car off along the roadside where the PCT crosses Hughes Lake Road and then drove to San Francisquito Canyon Rd and parked along the roadside where the PCT crosses. There were another 6 cars here – my guess they were from locals out doing a quick hike (they were all gone when we returned to pick up the car after the hike). Just down the road is a forest service station with a parking lot and picnic tables. I’m surprised they PCT wasn’t routed through this spot just 100 yards down the road.

End: We arrived at our car on Hughes Lake Rd.

People along the trail: We saw a local hiking with his dog and a trail runner.

Description: Having spent a summer in Palmdale 30 years ago I thought this area would be ugly low desert scrub and very exposed. To my surprise there was a lot of tree cover and it was extremely green (although this is January not Spring/Summer and we had cloud cover). The canyons had large trees which added variety to the PCT. The trail would wind into a canyon with tree cover with a forest feel and then wind out to a ridge line with spectacular vistas.

After the hike we drove back to get the other car at San Francisquito Canyon Rd, drove back to the hotel and showered (they were very nice and gave us a late checkout), dropped off the rental car, ate at Bayou Bar B Que (see comments above), and started our cruise back to Phoenix in the Mini Cooper. The term “Mini” is very descriptive not only in the size of the car but also of the gas tank. About 30 miles outside of Blythe we noticed the display said we had 37 miles of gas left. We finally pulled into the first gas station in Blythe with “1 mile” of gas left. Hmmm….we almost had an unplanned hike.

Me at the San Francisquito Canyon Rd Trail head.
Here the signs are made of 1" thick steel.
Unlike PCT Signs in Deep Creek the bullet holes didn't go through the sign.