DAY-2 REPORT: 5/20/12 Hwy.94 to Lake Morena (17.9 mi)

This sign says it all about this hike

TOTAL PCT MILES COMPLETED AFTER THIS HIKE:  20.2 Miles

Start temp approx 50-degrees, quickly warming up.  Forecast was for a high of 85, but temps for most of day were in the high 90's. We had a temp of 94-degrees in the shade at lunch time.  Breeze was on and off, nice relief at times but much of the time we would like to have seen more if it.  Start time for hike was 7:30am and finish was at 5:40pm (10-hours)

Steve's shuttle van at the start on Hwy 94

This hike was a hot slog sprinkled with little pleasures. Because of the temperatures being much higher than anticipated we ran into some difficulties in the last 5-miles coming out of Hauser Canyon.   It is far better to do this hike earlier in the year.

We had a total of 6-people on this hike.  Ourselves, our friend Rosalind, and Steve & Daniel who joined up with us through the Meetup Group we created for this adventure.  We all met at the entrance to Lake Morena County Park at 7:00am, jumped into Steve's van with all our gear, headed south through Campo to a small pullout along Highway-94 where the PCT crosses the highway, and then we were off by 7:30 on the trail.  It is perfectly safe to park a vehicle here for the day, as it's so close to Campo and the area is crawling with Border Patrol vehicles. 

Early on, climbing up to Hauser Mountain

The trail climbs steadily towards Hauser Mountain and we kept a fairly good pace while it was still relatively cool, but the heat kicked in within an hour of starting.  We were surprised to see so much water still flowing or trickling in the ravines, and the wildflowers were out in full force.  The entire way up to the southern lip of Hauser Canyon was a visual pleasure.  I noticed that we were going through our own water faster than I had thought we would be, and concern started creeping into my brain.  However, I knew that if worst came to worse we could filter-pump water out of the creek in Hauser Canyon to replenish.

The burn zone recovering nicely on Hauser Mountain

We had brought in our own pack 3.5 liters of water and 1-liter of Gatorade, 4.5 liters total.  This should have been fine if the maximum temperature for the day only reached 85 as forecast.  When packing our supply pack I know that I would have liked to bring more than 4.5 liters of liquid, but the pack had already made it up to 30-pounds in weight before adding our fleeces (that we wore in the car for the drive up.)

Atticus assuring that a collected acorn is still in his pocket

With each liter of water weighing 2.2 pounds, and with a Nalgene bottle weighing 0.4 pounds, the 4.5 liters of liquid and the containers constituted approx 11.5 pounds in weight.  We could have used 2 more liters, but actually we could have gone through a total of 8-liters easily on this hike.  That would total almost 21 pounds of liquid in the supply pack, which would have brought the final supply pack weight to probably around 45-pounds.  That is more than is comfortable to carry around in a day pack!

Starting to drop into Hauser Canyon

The decent into Hauser Canyon is a bit frustrating, because you traverse the canyon wall for a long time and it seems you are often going up instead of down.  The route is a bit silly, we think, but the trail might have to take this route because of private land issues.  We eventually made it to the bottom of the canyon and the creek, but right before we got there one of our hikers starting having exhaustion difficulties.  We found a really nice spot to have lunch in the shade, about 20-paces to the left of where the PCT crosses a dirt road after crossing the creek.

"We gotta go thataways"

The creek itself was a disappointment.  It was obvious by now that we would have to pump water, but the creek was was close to drying up by this time of year and there was  little more than stagnant looking muddy puddles left of it.  I abhorred having to pump from this water source, but we had no choice.  Where I finally found water to pump was a little farther downstream, in a deeper section of water around some boulders (I had to bushwack to get access, and had to brush through some poison oak to get to it... thank goodness I didn't wake up the next day with itchy rashes.)

Morena Butte in the Background, several hours away

Since the water source was so sketchy, I only pumped 2-liters of water.  We three were out of water as was another hiker, but two of us didn't need any so it seemed 2-liters might have been enough.  Wrong.  I should have pumped at least 4-liters.  Though more water might not have made much difference because what we needed for our troubled hiker was more electrolytes.

We dipped our headgear and tee shirts into the water to help keep us cool for the hike ahead, and for about 5-minutes that worked really well.  I would rather have had that 5-minutes than none at all though.

Granite going down into Hauser Canyon

As we had been dropping in to the south side of Hauser Canyon the trail up and out again looked quite formidable.  That climb is south facing so it was going to get the full brunt of the sun,  and be steep, long, & shadeless.  I thought it prudent to have a longer lunch break and spend more time in the shade recovering before heading up that trail.  Again, if it had only been 85-degrees, this hike up would have been fun, but it was probably close to 100-degrees of radiant heat by this time, we were low on water, and our struggling hiker was by then having very serious difficulty on the way up:  Full-on total exhaustion, overheating, cramping, and labored breathing.  Feeling the responsibility for everyone's well being , it started seeming to me like there was the possibility that we were going to have to coordinate for an emergency and possible rescue.  It's one thing to have all adults on the trail in these conditions, quite another to have one of us only 3.5 years of age. 

Steve taking a spell with Atticus

But we had a great team and even though little was said between us about the dire situation,  the attitude was very positive and there was plenty of non-verbal support in the air.  We had the right mental energy in our group, and our failing hiker found the fortitude to overcome body failure and make it out.   It's pretty scary when one of your group lays right down on the trail, in full sun, and says they need to just take a nap. 

Eventually Lake Morena came in sight, and thankfully the air was starting to cool down a bit as the sun got lower in the sky.  Our failing hiker seemed to get back some energy, and was able to keep up the last couple of miles... looking forward to the ice water in the cooler.  The rest of us were talking about our ice-cold beers in there.   I've bonked on some of my running races, and it's more than just a little frustrating.  Our bonker on this hike did a great job of finding the willpower to keep on going despite bodily rebellion, and I admired and appreciated the fortitude and positive attitude maintained.

Nice shady lunch spot along Hauser Creek

Those beers in the cooler went down well, and we were treated to an eclipse of the sun before we all headed home.  We are grateful to never have to do that stretch of trail again.  If we had done it in March, it would have been a pleasant hike.   Sick in the heads as we are, we still enjoyed the hike and its challenges, but there are plenty of other hikes we can do besides this one again.

Relieved to finally be going down to Lake Morena

One more thing about this hike that I can't fail to mention.  Adding insult to injury, the biting flies were a nauseating nuisance.  Big buggers that were drawing blood with their bites.   I think that they had just come out that previous week.  I hope that they disappear soon as I don't relish having to deal with them on the next leg of the hike that we plan to do in another 2-weeks. 

If it's a "forecast high of 85" again for the day of that next hike, well, we might wait to do that leg in late fall instead. 


Click HERE for our hike as recorded as GPS

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Thank you to everyone who joined us on this hike!  And thanks to Daniel for the photo contributions.  Looking forward to the next leg!