Day 30, Mile 454.5 – Bears, Poodle Dog, and The Saufleys

After a wonderful stay in Wrightwood last week, we hiked out on Friday and climbed to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains. Named after the founder of the Boy Scouts, it’s a 9,400 ft. mountain and the highest point on the PCT in Southern California. It was a hard hike but very beautiful, with clouds lining the south side of the mountain ridge and a clear view of pines laid out before us to the north. We hiked down the San Gabriel Mountains in the afternoon and camped among some weekenders.

The next day was hot and involved a three-mile detour on the highway to avoid an endangered species habitat (that of the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog). Our spirits were not very high. But suddenly, Ashleigh stopped me and pointed, exclaiming, “There’s a bear in that tree!!!” I stopped in my tracks, quickly backtracked to Ashleigh, and looked in the direction she was frantically pointing her trekking pole. There, high in a tree about 20 yards from us, was a baby bear poking his head around the tree’s trunk to look at us!! It was amazing. Neither Ashleigh nor I had ever seen a wild bear, and here, only 400 miles into our hike, we were watching one climb a tree. Nervous and excited, we searched around for the mother, knowing you should never get between a mama bear and her cubs. We started shouting and throwing rocks in the direction of where we thought the mother was (to make ourselves known). We could hear something large in the undergrowth below the tree the cub was in, but we never actually saw the mother. As the trail wound past the tree, we saw a second cub in the underbrush just 30 feet from us. It was super adorable and exciting to be so close, but since we never located the mother, we quickly walked past.

The next few days were not very fun. After passing mile 400, we moved into a burn area and encountered long stretches of trail that were overgrown with Poodle Dog Bush. Poodle Dog Bush seed lay dormant along the mountain sides until wildfires, after which they sprout. It is a known skin irritant like poison oak, and in this section of the trail, it is everywhere. There were numerous detours around it (including an 11-mile uphill road walk, which was loads of fun), but it was still hard to avoid. It was exhausting – hiking through Poodle Dog territory requires constant focus on the ground (carefully identifying the plants in front of you before taking each step), and it slowed us down quite a bit.

Finally, we made it to Agua Dulce and the Saufleys, who are probably the most legendary of all the PCT Trail Angels. They offer laundry, shelter, cots, showers, mail (both sending and receiving), hiker boxes, loaner clothes, kitchen, computers (what I’m on right now) and almost everything a hiker could want. Their backyard is filled with large tents with cots in them. Other Angels come from all over to help them with their operation, which is insanely efficient. We are taking a much-needed “Zero Day” here and will be back on the trail on Thursday. There is a long stretch of very hot desert in front of us to Tehachapi and then on to Kennedy Meadows and the start of the Sierra. We hope to night hike a lot of it to beat the heat!

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The Wrightwood grocery store knows its audience

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This is what a five-day resupply looks like for the two of us

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373 miles down, 2,277 miles to go

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A 1,500-year-old tree on the ridge of the San Gabriel Mountains

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My Eagle Scout heart swelled with pride

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On top of Mt. Baden Powell

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Hiking the San Gabriel Mountain Range

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Baby bear!

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Baby bear number two!

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Mile 400! Our sign reads, “Shedder and Roo, we miss you! See you soon!” Shedder and Roo are two of our closest hiking buddies who sadly had to leave the trail last week due to a family emergency. They are meeting back up with us in Agua Dulce, and we can’t wait to have them back!!

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Don’t forget the Poodle Dog Bush!!!!

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Poodle Dog on the trail, in a section where it was relatively easy to avoid

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Poodle Dog Bush

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Along one of the Poodle Dog detours, we passed the area where, in 2009, a wildfire broke out, burning 251 sq. miles. It was later dubbed the “Station Fire” and took the lives of two fire fighters. This was the memorial to those brave men.

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We explored the burned out US Forest Service Station, which was close to where the fire started. The fire was determined to be arson, but no one was indicated.

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The cafeteria

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Sad salt shaker

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Oh, good.

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The Saufleys base of operations

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Tents at the Saufleys

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The Saufleys

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We ran into our old Husky friends

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One of the many dogs at the Saufleys

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Hiker packages at The Saufleys

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Hikers love power outlets

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Agua Dulce loves hikers! And we love Agua Dulce.

2 thoughts on “Day 30, Mile 454.5 – Bears, Poodle Dog, and The Saufleys

  1. Kristin

    I can’t believe its been 30 days already. I also can’t believe how far you’ve traveled at this point! I’m so proud of you both. I love hearing your stories and seeing the pics if your journey. Continue staying safe. Enjoy your zero day. Miss you and love ya. 🙂

    Reply
  2. LydThe "THAR'S A BAR!! THAR'S A BAR!!" Kyd

    That’s SO AMAZINGLY SUPER-COOL!! I, like Kristin, can’t believe it’s been that long already and hearing the tales (well, truths, truthbetold!) are so, so much fun, particularly with cute bear-pic accompaniment! Continue to bear-ware the mama bear, but bear witness to all bears and report back! 😉 XOXOX

    Reply

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