Day 30-31: Cajon Pass

May 4-5; Mile 318-351

Day 30

Hoot hooooot; hoot, hoot.

I was awoken by the insistent calls of a great horned owl at 4 in the morning. With my earplugs lost somewhere in my tent, I drifted in and out of sleep as I listened to the owl serenade the whole valley. 

I left behind my empty tent spot and walked along an undulating track as it passed through fields of wildflowers. The trail dipped in and out of gullies so that it alternated between the shady north-facing slopes and sunny south-facing slopes. The path paralleled a two-lane highway for several miles, even utilizing the shoulders at times.

Before long I had my first view of Silverwood Lake. Its sapphire water glittered in the sun, the little sand beaches along its shore empty and inviting. The trail followed the shape of the lake, staying about 50 ft above the water. I could see a pavilion up ahead, tantalizingly close. I checked the map; the place I’d planned to stop was still over 2 miles away. As I continued on I came across three snakes in quick succession: a gopher snake, and two striped racers that disappeared down the slope in an instant. They’d moved as fluidly as mercury, and I was left watching in awe. About an hour later I finally reached the side trail down to the shelter, and I lay on my foam pad in the refreshing shade as hikers filed in from out of the heat. This was a popular spot for lunch since it was possible to order pizza to be delivered to the pavilion.

After 3 hours of hiding from the sun, it was time to venture out. The air felt like an oven in comparison. I walked along a road and under a highway before climbing away from the water. At least the bushes around me were tall enough to offer some shade; I was soaked through with sweat in minutes. When I reached the next water source 5 miles later, I sat against the cool rocks with my shoes off as the tiny trickle filled my bottles.

I set up my tent in a nice spot next to a massive boulder, and before long I was joined by Juniper, Cable Guy, and a few others. Tomorrow we’d make the short trek to Cajon Pass; after that, we’d spend the rest of the day climbing into the next sky island of the desert.

Day 31

After a month on trail, my hiker hunger had arrived. Thankfully there were only six miles between me and fast food bliss.

The walk to Cajon Pass was beautiful; the path followed the spine of the ridgeline and was lined with swaths of golden flowers. It passed crumbling cliffs and soared up to views of the snow-clad Mt San Antonio, before sauntering downhill toward the rumbling I-15 highway.

At 9:30 I reached the sign directing hikers 0.4 miles to McDonald’s. They were only serving breakfast at that point, so I opted to visit the taco cart nearby. Five tacos later I bought more food from the convenience store – an ice cream and two bananas – and after I’d finished those it was finally time to eat at The McDonald’s. I added 10 chicken nuggets, a large fries, and a chocolate shake to my bottomless stomach and spent the next two hours lying in the shade digesting. It was the first time on trail that I’d had to loosen my belt instead of constantly tightening it.

Hikers arrived in droves and settled on the lawn in the shade of a single tree. People looked forward to the McDonald’s at Cajon Pass not only for the calories, but as a chance to escape the desert heat for a few hours. Unfortunately for us the inside was closed for renovations.

By 1pm I’d already been sitting for over 3 hours, and so it was time to return to the trail. I passed under the freeway and through two tunnels with a trickle of evil-smelling water running through them, and then I was back among the flowers and bushes. I baked in the sun as I walked the rolling hills. At 2:30 I found a tiny scrap of shade beneath a bush and curled up to stop myself from overheating. The uphill stretches felt brutal, but when I checked the elevation profile map, I saw that I was still in the relatively flat section before the big climb ahead.

At 4:30 I reached the water cache and filled my bottles for the long road ahead. Once again there was a long, exposed climb without any water; I had 17 miles and over 6000′ of gain between me and the next water source, and it wasn’t even on trail. I signed the log book at the cache and talked to the other hikers there, two of which had started on the same day as I had! I hadn’t seen them in a few weeks.

Thankfully it was late enough in the day that most of the trail was shaded. I got to see a tarantula sidle across the trail, and then I passed a major landmark: mile 351, the halfway point of the desert. It had taken me a month to cover the distance, but I hoped the longer miles I was averaging now would put me at Kennedy Meadows – the start of the Sierras – before June. I finally reached my camp spot around 7 pm, and after finishing dinner I was treated to the prettiest sunset of the trip.