Alright, three days weekend, packed up the backpack and set out for the Sespe Wilderness for a weekend without people. Here was my itinerary:
Day one: Start with Little Mutau Trailhead, passing Little Mutau (no water, btw) campground, connect to the Johnston Ridge Trail to Sespe Hot Spring.
Day Two: Go to Alder Creek Camp.
Day Three: Coming back to Little Mutau Trailhead passing through Indian Cave and McDonald Cabin.
It sounded very good, wasn’t it? Well, it was a tough trip. First of all, the temperature over the weekend was in the 90s. AND, the trail coming back from Alder creek was none-existing. All and all, it was a bad trip, but, boy oh boy, it was fun.
The week before I left, it was busy week. I did not sleep enough, and the night before, I didn’t get home till 9:30 PM. I walked the dog, ate, packed the backpack, and didn’t hit the sack till 2:30 AM. So, on the day one, I woke up late, this and that, and didn’t get to the trial head till 2 PM.
At the trailhead, I met a couple named David and Kelly from Fontana, CA, with their dog, Tapony. They were very friendly, and they were camping at the trailhead for four days. They asked me when would I get back and said that if I didn’t get back in time, they were going to call for helps. I said thanks and head out for my trip.
At the two miles in, I went to the trail to McDonald Cabin by mistake. It turned out that the trial disappeared at half mile mark from the junction. I wasted one hour just going back and forth for trying to find the trail. Finally, I looked at the map and realized my mistake and went back to the planed trail.
At night fall (about 8:30 PM), I took out my main head light and saw that it was turned on in the pack and has ran out of the juice already. Before I left for the trip, I checked the website for my Black Diamond Spot, it says the run time is 50 hours on high (which was a lot less). And naturally, I didn’t bring any backup battery. Good thing though, I did bring a backup head light (Princeton Tec Scout LED Headlamp). Man, it was a cool little thing. It doesn’t has big, bright light, nor shoot very far, but, light weight (with 4 CR2032 battery, it weighs only 1.6 oz.), waterproof, and battery last very long (I hadn’t need to change it sense I got it two years ago. Then again, maybe I should and it would be brighter). That little thing helped me to find my way to my first campsite at midnight. Of course from now on, I will lock my Black Diamond Spot when it’s not in use.
The hot spring was very low and hot. I think it was because that the past winter season was very dry. This would be the first time I come to this hot spring without a soak (can't even put my foot in for 5 second). But, I did use a towel to wash my body a little.
Second day, I didn’t pack up the camp and leave till after 9 AM. And I was tired from over 14 miles walk the day before (and lack of sleep). The temperature was over 90 degrees during the day and I was cooked. By 2 in the afternoon when I get to the Alder campground, I just crashed and passed out. I woke up at 6 and finally had a little energy to filter water, set up the camp, eat, and relax a little.
Third day, I woke up at 5 AM and set out to walk by 6 AM. Because I was thinking that if I can get most of walking done before noon, I should be ok for the day. Boy, was I wrong. The Alder Creek trail only last 3/4 of mile east Alder Creek Campground. There was supposed to be a switchback on the right side of Gorge and it was not there, I think it was washed off by the rain. I had spent over an hour to just try to get to the top and found that there was no trail on the other side either. I had to give up and came out to the Dough flat trailhead and called my friend to give me a ride to my truck. That was a bumper that I didn’t get to see the Indian Cave (McDonald Cabin was long gone before, so it was no lost there) I think I’ll find another time in the fall or winter to come back this way, just setup the base camp at Alder Creek and use a day to bushwhack my way to the Indian Cave.
Back to the Little Mutau trailhead, David and Kelly were glad to see me, they said that they were worry about me out there all by myself. And now they didn’t need to call the rescue team on me. There always some nice people out there. All and all, I didn’t see a soul out there, not even a bear or deer, didn’t achieve my goal, almost died of thirst and exhaust, and I had a great time.
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