TRAIL JOURNAL
/ May 19, 2022
Section C of the PCT is all about the San Bernardino Mountains. They sit ‘behind’ Los Angeles looking kind of majestic. The first few miles of Section C run up Cottonwood Canyon alongside an access road. Section C doesn’t start out that majestic, but there *is* a backwards-looking view of the very-majestic looking San Jacinto. Cottonwood Canyon wasn’t Andelain, but there were still plenty of cool things to see. And I knew that since the trail was going up, it wasn’t going to be too long before the view ahead improved.
As part of our new blister prevention effort, we stopped after only about 5 miles to dry out our feet and drink water. I was still getting over my cold, so even though the trail was fairly flat, I needed the rest too.
We found a bit of shade from a shrub, and I noticed a ‘Dr. Seuss’ cactus. I call it that because it looks like something he would draw. As the trail moved up out of the canyon, there seemed to be more and more of them. The land was starting to remind me of Arizona. I had done a few short hikes there last year, and I saw lots of different cacti. This time I noticed holes in clumps of pear cactus that looked like they could be burrows or nests.
As we climbed up along the ridge, we could see that the terrain was also starting to change. There was more rock and different colors, like red, white, and dark gray. The different colors made these layers in the view and I thought it was very cool looking.
After another 5 miles we came to a very new looking sign welcoming hikers to the Whitewater Preserve. We needed water, and I think Dad wanted to give me another break, so we took the detour… I’m glad we did!
- Magnus!