Hiking the SoCal Section of the PCT as a Day Hiker in the winter may appear that you would miss out on the benefits of a thru hike. In this article I share four experiences while day-hiking the SoCal Desert of the PCT in the winter. I hope it will have a hiker thinking “Day Hiker…No Thru-Hike No Problem!”
I figured I wouldn’t get any of those magical experiences that PCT Thru Hikers receive each year by day hiking the desert section in the winter. I’m here to share with you that I was WRONG. By sharing a few stories hopefully I can encourage you that the “magic of the trail” is even available to us day hikers and even in the offseason.
In the summer and fall of 2023 my wife, dog, and I section hiked half of the Appalachian Trail on the East Coast. We lived out of a rented campervan and I hiked on and off the trail every day. This is much easier to do on the AT than on the PCT. We skipped non-dog friendly portions, and quite frankly, pieces of the trail we weren’t longing to hike (Pennsylvania’s Rocks + Aggressive Rattlesnakes section for example!) We walked to the mantra of “No Thru-Hike No Problem!”
As a result of us moving from Georgia to Maine during “thru hiker” season we were able to take part in a lot of the special experiences a thru hiker on the AT or the PCT (amongst other scenic trails) receives that are memorable.
Memories such as Trail Festivals, a Tramily, Trail Angels, Trail Magic, funky hostels, hitchhiking with ease, and caches of peanut butter to name a few!
It was an experience I will never forget and I will be forever grateful for. In fact hiking only 1,225 miles of the AT was plenty, and I was able to keep my career to fund the adventure.
Fast forward to the winter of 2024 and we were living in Joshua Tree California. We are out of the campervan but near enough to a National Scenic Trail that I am churning out pieces of it slowly and surely. I am day-hiking the desert section in SoCal from a bit before Idyllwild to a bit past Big Bear.
First things first…
It’s a privilege to go hiking on public lands. Especially while you are taking a trip, on vacation, or on a holiday somewhere you don’t live. Giving love and respect to the culture is vital and while we are at it…Leave No Trace and Pack Your 10 Essentials :)!
Now onto the long trails stuff…
Here are four stories from the trails that might have you think “I’m just a Day Hiker? Ah it’s okay because No Thru-Hike No Problem!”
Bigfoot
No, I didn’t encounter Sasquatch, or the more popular high desert local Yucca Man. (Ken Layne’s tales in Desert Oracle share a few of the Yucca Man sightings.)
I met Bigfoot the hiker (trail name) coming down from San Jacinto towards I-10 on a November afternoon. He actually kind of spooked me at first because I wasn’t expecting to see ANYONE else on the trail that day. But there he was. Chewing on a sandwich, sitting on a rock, and wrapping up several days out in the wilderness. He had chunked out a huge section of the trail earlier in the year and due to snowfall (I believe) he had skipped this piece. He didn’t think he would come back to do it but he missed the PCT so he chose to have one final hurrah of the hiking season.
We exchanged trail names and I briefly told him of my story on the AT that summer as he told me some of the tales with the 2023 PCT Thru-Hiker Class.
I was immediately ENERGIZED. I could feel the magic and the reasons I have come to adore these “big long endless National Scenic Trails.” We went different ways on the trail and I figured he would be just another story for me to share with another hiking diehard some day. But I found Bigfoot again as I finished my day hike back at the I-10 bridge near Cabazon. He decided he would skip this last section and get home to see his wife, but one thing was necessary to do so, a trail angel like me to give him a lift to his car up at Mission Creek.
I of course immediately said yes and we walked to my car and chatted the whole drive to Mission Creek where we said our goodbyes. Strangers to best friends in minutes.
I got to perform Trail Magic in the least likely of places, meeting someone I never would have likely met during this life, and it was the first of many reminders during my day hikes that the magic of the PCT was not confined to “thru hiker season!”
SPDOT “Snow Plow Department of Transportation”
Highway 18 as you head towards Big Bear California has a road crossing of the PCT with a parking lot. This is the best case scenario for a day hiker of the PCT (parking and no extra hiking to the trail). I arrived at the parking lot on a late morning in January. After the record winter snowfalls of last year I didn’t imagine I would be hiking the PCT in Big Bear this winter. But here I was, not even sure if I needed micro-spikes for the day (they never left my backpack.)
Warnings of the massive amounts of snow Big Bear can receive were everywhere though. As I got ready for my 16 mile day hike two crew members from the snow plow company responsible for keeping Highway 18 clear in the winter pulled into the parking lot. They were there to make sure the signs indicating that snow chains were not mandatory on the roads that day were posted. They were signs that can be easily moved because so often in the winter chains and/or 4WD are necessary.
As one worked on the signs the other one and I had lunch. I found that an early lunch at the trailhead keeps my pack weight low for the day (even day-hikers think like thru-hikers at times!) He told me tales of last winter up here. For instance when he surprisingly got snowed into the community and spent 35 days here in a motel with three changes of clothes.
They kept the roads open and cleared but he was unable to get home because of the record snowfalls.
Eventually he did get home and he had to “army crawl” into his house through a window because the snow was piled up over the door. The other crew member was working on a snow plow team and had a few week surprise getaway as well up in Big Bear. They joked when using the word getaway, since they worked around the clock and couldn’t alert their loved ones for a few days of their whereabouts due to not having service.
After I finished my lunch and they finished their work I headed on the PCT and they were off zig zagging around Highway 18. Another chance encounter and conversation, and another experience of the magic of so many individuals that make a difference in the lives of others with a seemingly ordinary task. It was a way to be reminded that the word Tramily and Trail Angels can come in many shapes, forms, roles, and sizes!
Family Picnicking in Whitewater
Whitewater Preserve has always been out of reach for me. It was closed from fire damage the first time I lived in the High Desert. It was closed from hurricane damage for the first portion of my second residence here. I had heard great stories about the luxury camping setups for PCT Thru-Hikers in this preserve of the SoCal Desert. (Running water, flushable toilets, etc.) All the stuff that non thru-hikers/backpackers deem trivial and mandatory we would deem luxurious out on the trail.
When I finally made my first appearance at the Whitewater Preserve I was immediately struck by the beauty. Yes the preserve is gorgeous. Also the PCT section from here is stunning but it wasn’t nature that had me spellbound. It was the community. Day hikers, dogs out on runs with their family, bird watchers, etc. Rangers talking to children, rangers doing trail work in the preserve, and oh the picnics!
There were a LOT of family picnics. Laughter, joy, sweat, and nature endorphins were abundant in Whitewater.
Traversing the popular areas of the PCT enable you the chance to talk to non thru hikers, which is part of the magic as well. The big pack is always noticeable (even on a day-hike) and people want to know what you are up to. It gave me the chance to see people enjoying a section of the PCT in every way but thru-hiking it. It gave them the chance to see me enjoying the PCT in a much different way than they imagined seeing someone do so that day.
“You are hiking how far?”,
“Where does your hike end? I didn’t know you could hike that far from here!”,
and of course my favorite jaw dropping faces when someone finds out this little dirt path near them goes to Mexico and Canada, depending on which way you head out!
I felt it inspired them and it certainly inspired me. And once again, the reminder that the magic of the trail comes in many shapes, forms, roles, and sizes.
Mission Creek Scouting America
I was back in Mission Creek. This time I wasn’t dropping someone off that I met on the trail. But rather I had the access code to the famous locked Mission Creek Gate. Run by the Wildlands Conservancy, Mission Creek is a popular day hike for my family and I. It runs into the PCT two miles from the “Stone House.” However to get to the stone house is a 1.6 mile walk from a big locked gate. We always noticed how many locks were on it and how it was always closed.
Low and behold you can request a day pass to drive to the stone house. This will enable you to unlock the gate on your own. I found this out in hopes of cutting some miles down to get to the PCT. I got my request approved and got my code for the lock. My wife and I proceeded to read the simple one page PDF about thirty times in two days.
As I arrived…the gate was unlocked! Wait, what?! How could it be?!
My anticipation of what was going on at the stone house rose as I drove back. (After locking the gate per the Conservancy’s detailed rules).
What awaited me shouldn’t have surprised me. Scout Troop 247 was busy leaving no trace. They were combing the property for any bit of remnants they saw on the grounds after staying the night.
Turns out the gate was open for them and as I shared the lock code (since I had locked it) the troop leaders and I were able to exchange stories and experiences.
One of them I am almost certain wanted to delay his car from leaving. Of course to go out on the PCT for the day with me. I spoke of the troop I met the past summer in Hot Springs North Carolina (a popular AT Trail Town.) Plus of my friend whose son was becoming an Eagle Scout. My friend’s son had been volunteering at my trash cleanups I put on in Ohio since he was eight. The troop leaders shared their work in the community. Plus the changes they were hoping to instill in these kids’ lives and the world around them.
I wasn’t a Scout and I don’t have kids (well human ones at least as of now). This was another crew I wouldn’t be hanging out with and learning from, let alone being inspired by.
The PCT brought me together with Troop 247. Just as it had with Big Foot, the Snowplow Crew, and the families from Morongo Valley and Desert Hot Springs. I met all of them on and near the PCT.
To believe I rekindled and found the same magic from the AT that I experienced on the PCT was surprising. While in the desert section and not the Sierras, in the winter, and as a day-hiker was more surprising.
Then I remembered that the trail gives you what you need, and what you seek.
So you are a Day Hiker? That’s awesome, because No Thru-Hike No Problem. The magic still exists if you look for it!
Thanks for reading and supporting Happy People Hike. Comment below with any questions about these places that I hiked. Or tell us your favorite hike on the Pacific Crest Trail!
Happy Hiking,
Mike R
