Upper Chariot Canyon

This is part 13 of the “Why We Hike” Series

April 19 / 17.6 miles / 3,770’ gain
Mount Laguna Campground to Upper Chariot Canyon

To beat the heat, we woke at 4:30am and were back to the trail by 5:30.

It really started out as a nice cool morning but the trail today is going to leave the beauty (and cool air) of Mount Laguna and descend back down into the hot desert scrub we “love” so much. I guess the saving grace is that it is spring and all of the desert flowers are out in full bloom – so you would go along seeing brown, brown, brown – and then…bright splash of yellow! Or red! Or purple! I also spotted a Horned Lizard.

Weaving our way down the lazily rolling trail, our packs were heavy with water and Kelly’s feet were still a mess so we took our time. By late morning Boy Scout had caught up and we also overtook Eric and Dave (the one we met at Long Canyon) and we all played leap frog with each other for the rest of the day.

Our first water supply was at the Pioneer Mail trailhead, luckily we didn’t need much yet and there was a water cache so we didn’t have to filter water from the scummy horse trough. We had been warned by a south bounder that the wind going over the narrow canyon top trail ahead was a little scary and she was right! The wind gusts would buffet us hard every time we turned a corner. Considering the shear 1000’ drop to the east, there were definitely some pucker moments.

After a couple of hours along that high narrow trail, we descended into a much hotter region and began to look for the Sunrise trailhead. According to the water report, there was the potential of an 18 mile stretch ahead without water so not missing this next good water source was important.

Whenever you are looking for something it seems to take forever – and Sunrise was no exception. We finally got to the source and decided to take a mid-afternoon break in the shade of a water tank and while I filtered water from a horse trough (yes you read that right – we were drinking water from a horse trough!) Kelly took a break in the shade. Boy Scout joined us as well as a couple of other south bound PCT hikers. Zach took full advantage of all stops to power nap, this was no exception.

Now our goal for this hike was originally Warner Springs (50 more miles) but we had only allocated a total of 6 days for the trip. With Kelly’s feet hurting and Zach performing poorly in the heat our daily mileage was well below what we had planned. So when we heard Eric say that his mom (Pat) is a support person for him on his hike and was meeting him at Scissors Crossing (18 more miles) we immediately asked if she could give us a ride back to the Jeep in Warner Springs. He used my Blackberry to send her an email requesting a 2:30pm pickup at Scissors Crossing. We now had a new goal with a very important deadline.

Even after the long break, the trail seemed immediately hot despite being late afternoon. Eric and Boy Scout had agreed with us that Upper Chariot Canyon looked like a good spot to camp and it was only 4 more miles. Most of those miles were rocky and leading steeply downhill into even hotter desert but the camp area itself was pleasantly green. By the time we got there Eric had already setup his tent which excited Zach to no end. He has come to recognize that a tent usually means it’s time to quit for the day – and Zach was ready to quit. Then Boy Scout came into camp later, prompting another exciting event for Zach. Being our last night on the trail, I proceeded to feast on our remaining food and even did some trades with Boy Scout – who brought by far the best-tasting food.

Continues here: Scissors Crossing