Paradise Valley Cafe road walk

imported
#1

Due to the fire-caused trail closure between, roughly, PVC and Idyllwild, how safe and how many miles is it to road walk from PVC to Idyllwild, at which point hikers can ascend Deer Springs Trail to rejoin the PCT?

Thanks!

Who Knows?

#2

According to Google Maps it’s 17.8 miles. 12.5 is on the Pines to Palms Hwy much of which looks like it has a pretty good shoulder to walk on. You could probably also walk Forest Road 6S04, which parallels Pines to Palms until just before Lake Hemet Campground. The scary part (for me anyway) would be the 5.3 miles that is on Hwy 243, which is a windy mountain road with very little shoulder to walk on. If you study the maps well, it looks like there is another forest service road (5S21) that meets up with a residential area that will lead you into Idyllwild, which would avoid a lot of highway walking. Too bad about the closure. That’s one of my favorite parts of SoCal. Happy hiking!

Garrett

#3

The area that will remain closed in 2014 can be seen on the PCTA blog at http://www.pcta.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/MountainFire-Forest-Order-13-18-Exh.-A.pdf…
Various routes and notes by “Hiker Jim” on the San Jac Rec forum can be seen on CalTopo at http://caltopo.com/map?id=7S5F…
Halfmile had an alternate route for the 2008 Apache Fire which went along Thomas Mountain, down by Lake Hemet, and made its way to Idyllwild via May Valley Road - but May Valley Road will remain closed in 2014…
It is my understanding that Halfmile will be scouting an alternate route that will get hikers off the highways as much as possible.

One can get back to the PCT on either the South Ridge Trail or Devils Slide Trail, too - getting more PCT miles under your feet, rather than using the Deer Springs Trail.

Jim (PITA)

#4

Sorry, the links were dropped - I will try again…

PCTA blog closure map: http://www.pcta.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/MountainFire-Forest-Order-13-18-Exh.-A.pdf

CalTopo - “Hiker Jim”: http://caltopo.com/map?id=7S5F

Jim (PITA)

#5

For what it’s worth, i did the highway walk in '08, and found it so-so. Not loads of fun or anything, but definitely worth the trouble not to skip and put a hole in your hike.

Like Garret said, the bottom, flat part is fine, pleasant even. There is a fire station that you could likely get water from, and some tree cover for breaks. Going up the top part on 243 is less pleasant. It was narrow but there weren’t corners where one didn’t have an escape route, so as long as one payed attention, walking facing traffic. One could always jump out of the way if the car swerved towards you. But for that top part, it’s not a breezy roadwalk where you have a lot of space.

Basically, if you are ok with road walks you’ll be ok with this one. If they scare you, you’ll be scared on this one. Better to take some version of the Apache alternate that Jim posts, or whatever other forest service and halfmile options you can come up with.

markv

#6

The worse part of road walks for me is that my feet definitely prefer a softer tread than pavement! :wink:
Looks like there are some decent possibilities in being away from the pavement much of the way to Idyllwild - then one can take the South Ridge or Ernie Maxwell/Devils Slide trails back to the PCT from Idyllwild.
FWIW, I also believe in having a ‘continuous hike’ on my trek - whether it’s all on trail or not…
BTW, the Powerhouse Fire closure in Section E will be extended, so the nobos, at least, will have some more road walking around that fire area, also…

Jim (PITA)