Mission: Creek

Written at mile 266 – Big Bear

Mission Creek is now an infamous part of the PCT. Once, it was a simple portion of the trail, winding its way along the creek, up through its canyon. That is no longer the case. 

In 2023, the remnants of Hurricane Hilary destroyed and washed out these 12 miles. It has left behind a beginners course of route finding. I LOVE this type of “trail.”  Choose-your-own-adventure by looking at the shape of the earth and understanding the surroundings is very primal. 

This is for sure a beginners course in route finding as I simply follow the creek for 12 miles, and then pick up the intact trail. 

The walls of Mission Creek’s canyon are painted with desert browns, reds, and tans. Each rock is both solid and potentially loose. The creek is cutting its way through this rock, leaving canyon walls larger than most buildings in Dallas. 

This whole area is incredible. It’s very, very exposed. So while hot and sunny, the creek’s water is cool and therapeutic to my sore and inflamed ankles. 

Oddly, this stark canyon starts out in what we trail people call a “vortex.”  A vortex is a place on trail that you can accidentally get lost in and stay for a very long time if you aren’t careful. This vortex was the Whitewater Preserve. It is a paradise within the surrounding desert. Lush grasses, trees, and of course water permeate its grounds. They are restoring frog and other desert species while maintaining the grounds. It is open to the public and has real asphalt roads. I stayed the night there and got lost in the whispers of wind throughout its trees. It was a very quiet and peaceful place offering lots of shade and a large field to sleep. A very different and opposite experience from the harshness of the desert. 

While traversing the creek, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks. A beautiful, and rather large, fox appeared. It dashed across the creek into some bushes, never to be seen again. Its bushy coat was both red and brown, leaving it easy to see against the muted and bright riverbed, but difficult to see in the brown bushes it escaped to. 

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I’m cowboy camping for the third time here in Mission Creek. The first two times I was too exhausted to enjoy it and simpiy slept my way through the night. This time, I’m writing with the backdrop of the rushing creek, the desert plants crinkling in the breeze, and the landscape of our stars. 

The stars always make me feel calm. They humble me in an indescribable way. They quiet my mind and at the same time, give me a sense of energy. They are so mysterious to me. I can’t stop looking at them. 

Tonight, I’ve seen the usual: airplanes, satellites, the actual stars, and a sliver of the moon. I’ve also seen the unusual: an open cluster named Coma Cluster; the Big Dipper; and so far, five shooting stars. 

Since I was a kid, I have looked to the skies with a yearning to see something I couldn’t explain. Yes, X-Files was an important part of my formidable years. Tonight is the night.  

A blink of faint light caught my eye near a star named Porrima, in the Virgo constellation. It blinked randomly. Every 11 seconds, up to a minute. At first I thought it was stationary. Eventually I learned it moved ever so slightly. It didn’t necessarily move in a straight line. Nor did it necessarily move in a curved line. And after a few minutes, it stopped, never to be seen again. How neat. 

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I completely changed my diet while in Cabazon. I have had nuts in my oatmeal and a Salmon packet + Ramen dish at least twice a day. My snacks now consist of pumpkin seeds, walnuts, dried fruit, peanut butter pretzels (soooo goood), and yes, chips and Snickers are still on the menu. 

I am a totally normal and different person. The “ballet” of hiking is starting to come back. I don’t want to rip everyone’s limbs off. I have energy throughout the day AND evening. 

I guess Pink Floyd was right. If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?

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The last 2 miles of Mission Creek are actual trail, and are still considered to be washed out. They are a difficult, but not impossible, 2 miles. These 2 miles happen to ascend enough to make you feel like a billy goat all while providing a trail that at times feels like you’ll slip off. There are logs to crawl over, rocks and boulders to traverse, and cliff like sections where you have to leap because the trail is literally a gap of 5-6 inches. 

Much like the San Jacinto climb, at the end of this 2 miles I am rewarded with a peaceful and calm trail. A peaceful camp to call it a night. Water. All the things to make you forget the atrocities you’ve endured. 

From here, the trail is completely mellow and cruisy, all the way into Big Bear Lake, for 20 miles.  These types of miles allow my body to stretch out and crush. As I’m fantasizing about the next town, and only 4 miles away, I come upon the strangest sight. 

A man, named Lt Dan, had somehow driven his Tacoma directly onto the trail. He was providing trail magic!!! Beer, Mexican coke, carby snacks, sugary snacks, chilled strawberries and blackberries, were all available to eat. He had chairs, charging stations, and shade for us to enjoy. He had done the trail in 2016 and was full of stories and good laughs. 

He said the trail had changed so much since he had done it. The biggest change to him was that during his time the trail was really gear-competitive. Most people were actively competing to see how ultralight they could be. Lots of judgement and cliques centered around what brands or how heavy your pack was. Whereas now, it’s truly a hike-your-own-hike experience. (I’m almost a month into this and I’m still seeing people with 50+lb packs, and some with multiple books)

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Pepperidge Farms

1. Manatauk – delicious chocolate chip cookie. Standard issue. 
2. Nantucket – the Manatauk, with “strong” sea salt. My favorite of the two. 
3. Milano – lemon and white chocolate. While I do like these, I feel the white chocolate takes away and mutes the lemon. Though the white chocolate brings a bit of moisture. I would prefer a standard lemon cookie.