5/2 – Day 25 – Cooper Canyon
Last night was very windy and cold. I did not sleep much. I got up before my alarm so probably at about 5:30 am. It was darn cold. I headed out on the trail at about 7:15 am. Some nice, but smoggy views of downtown LA. The wind was high, near the aptly named Windy Gap, I am sure the gusts reached 50 mph. Dropped down to Little Jimmy Springs, and got some good water and had a snack. Accent caught up to me there. At 1:45 pm arrived at Eagles Roost picnic area. I met Trail Blazer a veteran hiker who started at Campo in February and was heading back south to hike the San Jacinto because he could not make it through a month ago because of too much snow. He will turn 70 in a couple of days. It’s now 2:40 pm, time to hit the trail, perhaps I will camp at Cooper Canyon campground.
I reached Cooper Canyon campground at 5:30, had dinner, and then moved on at 6:45 to make up some ground. Well, I allegedly hiked on a closed trail today and I was afraid it would give be bad karma and it did. I headed out from Cooper Canyon campground on the dirt road I thought was the trail, hiking hard and fast uphill until I saw a PCT trail sign which went off the dirt road to the right, went up a little more, and then started down. It felt wrong, as if I was going in a circle, and indeed after an hour I ended up back at the Cooper Canyon campground. All I could do is laugh. I turned around and headed up and up and stopped at 9:15 pm on top of a hill. It’s a bit cold, but I hope I sleep well.
Click the link to see where I am located: http://fms.ws/BwAlO/34.35299N/117.93506W