May 28. Day 27.

Guffy Campground to Mt. Baden-Powel (PCT mile 377.9)

Miles hiked: 13.5

The Fox Sparrow I was camped next to started singing at 4:50, but I had a slow morning, stretching, massaging, checking for broken parts, organizing all my stuff, and sipping coffee in bed. I didn't start hiking until 6:15. The trail here follows the crest of the narrow Transverse Range, and all day I was alternately looking down toward Riverside etc. or out over the endless desert to the east and north. The ridge slowly descended for about 10 miles, and I took my sweet time covering this distance, walking slowly and having pack-off breaks pretty much every hour or two. I was sort of stalling, so I wouldn't have time to hike a lot of miles. I made it to Hwy 2 by about 9:30 and had a long brunch, drinking 2 L of water in the process. I got to say hi to a nice man with a couple golden retrievers, and also saw Chatty Kathy (this is a guy, by the way) and Sacagawea. We talked about maybe staying the night on the top of Baden-Powel, and we leapfrogged for a little while until I took another extravagantly long break somewhere. 

I passed a little ski resort with its trail signs and chair lifts only a few feet off the ground; I guess it doesn't snow a whole lot here, but they must make the most of it. I saw my first deer of the trip, and there were plenty of Fox Sparrows and Green-tailed Towhees singing in the shrubs between sparse Jeffrey Pines.

After about 8 miles the trail began a steep descent down to a low pass in he mountains where Hwy 2 crosses again. My leg was feeling pretty good, with my new walk seeming to help and starting to become habit. But since it was still only about noon and I didn't want to go more than 15 miles today, I decided to have another rest. I stayed here for almost 2 hours, looking down a steep canyon to the west, stretching, then eventually cooking my dinner so I didn't have as much water to carry for the big climb that was about to happen. 2 hikers passed, Maestro and Slumber Kitty, and we chatted for a bit before they went flying g on down the trail. Sitting there for so long, the homesickness and loneliness were able to creep in a bit, and it was hard not to get up and walk to take my mind off of it. 

When I left it was just another mile to the road. I saw a beautiful King Snake crossing the trail, my first of the trip. At the road I read a little sign about Lord Baden-Powel, who was the founder of the scouting movement and Grand Chief Master Scout of the World or some such title. He's who the peak is named after. Over the next 4 miles I would climb almost 3,000 feet. Of course I would be taking my sweet time. The trail switchbacked right up the steep side of the mountain, through what to me seemed like complicated geology, and passing from Jeffrey Pines and what looked like whitethorn bush into what I'm pretty sure is the first Lodgepole Pine I've passed so far and Chinquapin understory. Chipmunks and Gray Squirrels hopped around. Violet-green Swallows swooped in and out of the trees. Yellow-rumped Warblers sang.

I took almost 3 hours (with 2 pack off breaks) to get to the top, happy to plod along and have my first day in 70 miles that didn't end with a painful limp. At the summit (9,399 feet) which was gained via a short spur trail off the PCT, there were what I think are Whitebark Pines all twisty and golden, and Chatty, Sacagawea, Maestro, and Slumber Kitty were all sitting up there hanging out. I plopped down with them, and we all ended up deciding to stay the night up there. We watched shadows grow and looked west and south where we'd come from and north to where we're going. The conversation and sunset were great, really nice after feeling a little lonely all day. 

I'm sleeping almost right on the summit, just a little off to the side where some low manzanita block most of the wind. I've clipped my sleeping bag to my food bag so it won't blow away when I absentmindedly get up to pee in the middle of the night. Down below on both sides of the mountains are the lights of the "real world".

Birds:

Fox Sparrow 

Olive-sided Flycatcher 

Mountain Chickadee 

American Robin 

Western Bluebird 

Clark's Nutcracker 

Violet-green Swallow 

Brown Creeper

Spotted Towhee 

Pygmy Nuthatch 

Mountain Quail 

Green-tailed Towhee 

Northern Flicker 

Oregon Junco

Yellow-rumped Warbler 

Black-chinned Sparrow 

American Kestrel 

Lesser Goldfinch

Brown-headed Cowbird 

Chipping Sparrow 

Common Raven

Stellar's Jay

Black Phoebe 

Anna's Hummingbird 

Western Tanager