Get Outside and Explore
Today I would be hiking another short section of the PCT, bound for Pacifico Mountain, elevation 7104 ft. It was my first time hiking from the trailhead at Mill Creek Summit, to the peak. I knew there were several other peaks, a short distance from Pacifico, such as Granite Mountain, and Roundtop. Hiking to Pacifico Mountain is no easy feat, since it has over 2300 feet of gain. There is a PCT hiker friendly campground right at the peak.
The hike began downhill from the newly opened Chantry Flats parking area. It has been closed since last year, when the devastating fires wiped out the area. The parking area sits around 2150 feet, and the falls sit around 1700 feet in elevation so I would be hiking deep into a canyon along a sun exposed path. There are a series of flood control dams and spillways throughout Big Santa Anita Canyon, along this hike. A man named Wilbur Sturtevant established a trail camp here in 1893. The cabins such as Robert’s Camp and Hogees Camp were built in the early 1900’s here.
I visited Sequoia Park in July of 2023, and travelled on several scenic trails, staying at Lodgepole Campground. The trailhead to Tokopah Falls begins at Lodgepole Campground in Sequoia National Park, just after crossing over the Kaweah River Bridge towards the rear of the campground.
So here we were, at the South Fork Trailhead, just three days before we would leave for the High Sierra Trail, doing a shakedown hike. We were starting late, and that was my fault. But I wanted to go ahead with the shakedown hike anyway, since we were running out of days to do this, before the Sierras. I wanted to have one day to recover before we headed up there. We arrived just after 4pm, and had just a few hours of sunlight left. The parking lot was completely empty of cars, which was not what I was expecting.
Within Joshua Tree National Park, in the California desert, there are thousands of these strange trees, for which the park received its namesake. There is a campground here called Jumbo Rocks, which is popular for camping, amongst the enormous boulders. Joshua Tree is popular with climbers who go bouldering, and there are 12,000 named climbs… Continue reading Jumbo Rocks Campground
Serafina Hikes 