Section D
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| Gary, Chris, Myself & Marvin at the Summit of Baden-Powell |
Vincent Gap (Mt. Baden-Powell) to Islip Saddle – Nobo
Miles: 12
Hiking with: Tennis Friend Dan C., Health Club Friend Marvin D., Father-in-Law Gary, & my son Chris.
Lodging: We spent the night at the
Cajon Pass Best Western.
Shuttle: A Dual Sport Bike (Kawasaki 250) that I put on the back of my Excursion & shuttle myself!!!
Dining: We ate at the
Fisherman's Market in Banning on the way in and at the
Grizzley Cafe in Wrightwood.
Start: Vincent Gap. The PCT crosses the road at this point.
End: Islip Saddle. The PCT crosses the road at this point.
People along the trail: About 40 -- a record!!! This included about 10 through hikers.
Description: We left Phoenix Friday mid afternoon and stopped in Banning at the Fisherman's Market for dinner -- they just about know my name by now. We spent the night at the Cajon Pass Best Western. I was rather surprised the manager said they do about 15 thru hiker rooms a night. They even had a food dump/share box for hikers at breakfast. Most of the thru hikers I talked mailed their packages to Wrightwood....which is 3.6 miles and 2,400' elevation drop detour to pick up their packages.
Saturday we drove up to Vincent Gap where I dropped of everyone & took some pics then I drove onto Islip Saddle, parked the car and drove my motorbike back to Vincent Gap. Everyone started hiking when I dropped them off except my son Chris. Chris is a quick strong hiker and we caught up with the other after 1-1/2 hours. The trail is consistently steep the whole way up with pine trees shading you all the way. I can see why this is such a popular local hike. At the top there was a monument to Lord Baden-Powell....founder of the Boy Scouts of America (and also the first census taker of India to include all classes of people). The hike down also had a moderate amount of shade but it was a cool day so even with the sun shining we never go hot. The up was about 4 miles and the down 8 miles. If I lived in the LA area I would make this a regular hike -- a great workout. We decided to return home early on Sunday and so I deferred my hike planned on Sunday.
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| Dan C. with a thru hiker. |
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| The Crew -- Dan C., Myself, Chris & Marvin. |
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| Chris just starting up the trail. |
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| A gnarly tree along the path. |
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| Wow -- a patch of snow close to the summit. |
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| Junction sign about 1/2 from the top. |
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| Gary, Chris, & Myself at the Summit. |
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| Dan C. resting on the Baden-Powell monument. |
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| Trail graffiti on the way down. |
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| Chris. |
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| Gary and Dan C. on the final descent to Islip Saddle. |
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| Yahoo -- mission accomplished!!! |
