|
San Ysidro Mountains B4, Chihuahua Valley Road / Lost Valley Road - Tule Canyon Truck Trail | 
|
| Fig. 1. Left: Martin's paintbrush, Castilleja applegatei ssp. martinii. Right: woolly Indian paintbrush, Castilleja foliolosa. Note the long green leaves with wavy edges for C. applegatei and its curving, only moderately-hairy stem, compared to the short densely-white hairy leaves with non-wavy edges for C. foliolosa and its stiffly-erect, white-hairy stem.
Pictures taken 13 April 2015 by Fred Melgert. Click on the pictures for larger versions. See also a number of pictures from 13 April 2015 by Fred Melgert. | ||
| Segment | Segment Start | Segment End | Segment Length | Elevation (feet) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min | Max | Range | ||||
| B4 | Chihuahua Valley Road / Lost Valley Road, 5060 feet | Tule Canyon Truck Trail, 3620 feet | 10.0 miles | 3580 | 5600 | 2020 |
|
This section covers roughly mile 127 to mile 137 from the Mexican Border by our count (mile 128 to 138 using the PCT Data Book; see notes on accuracy of mileages).
Topo! gives 9.3 miles for this segment. The PCT Data Book gives 10.0 miles. We've adopted 10.0 miles. The one-way hike from south to north has a total elevation gain of 715 feet, and a total elevation loss of 2155 feet see the profile below. The one-way hike from north to south has a total elevation gain of 2155 feet, and a total elevation loss of 715 feet. A round-trip hike of this section is 20.0 miles, with an elevation gain and loss of 3580 feet. | ||||||
Introduction
Survey Dates
The Trail Plant Checklist
Introduction
See The Flora of the Pacific Crest Trail: Overview for an Introduction to these plant checklists, and B. The San Ysidro and San Jacinto Mountains for an Introduction to the San Ysidro and San Jacinto Mountains section.
This pleasant hike winds its way through rolling chaparral hills. It passes by Combs Peak in the first part of the trail which begs one to come back to climb it another time. The vegetation is fairly diverse and the views of the upcoming terrain are delightful.
Section B4 begins at a saddle which is the drainage divide between the coastal drainage and the interior drainage of Coyote Creek headed to Borrego Springs. The Chihuahua Valley Road / Lost Valley Road crosses the PCT at that saddle.
There is quite a bit of confusion about the names of the roads are in this area.. The saddle where this segment begins is ~11.2 miles east of SR79 along Chihuahua Valley Road / Lost Valley Road. The name of the road at that point is different in different sources. The PCT books call it "Chihuahua Valley Road", but Google Maps calls it "Lost Valley Road". In any case, this Lost Valley Road, accessed from Chihuahua Valley Road, is not the same as the Lost Valley Road near Warner Springs. See PCT Lost Valley for detailed instructions as to how to access this saddle.
The access road at the end at Tule Springs required a 4wd when we did this section.
| 
|
Fig. 2. Left: Trail Map for the PCT Section B4, Chihuahua Valley Road / Lost Valley Road - Tule Canyon Truck Trail, from USDA Forest Service Interactive Map. Right: Elevation profile from B4, Chihuahua Valley Road / Lost Valley Road - Tule Canyon Truck Trail, from south to north. Click on the pictures for larger versions.
Survey Dates
| Date | Surveyors | # Species known on trail cumulative from all surveys to date |
|---|---|---|
| 8 March 2014 | RT Hawke | 101 |
| 13 April 2015 | Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen | 108 |
In addition, there are ten species vouchered from the trail or nearby, mostly collected by Bill Sullivan. One species was confidently identified from a photograph taken from this trail.
The Trail Plant Checklist
The Plant Checklist is currently available in three different formats:
- Illustrated Family Order List from Calflora, with two thumbnail pictures for every species (118 taxa). You can change the format of this list by clicking on the Format link at upper right. This allows a sort in family order instead of scientific name order, or to sort by bloom start month. Check Show photo service links and then click on Display to get links to all Calphotos et al pictures.
- Species in Order Along the Trail, with links to Jepson Manual Treatment and Calphotos (118 taxa)
- Species Seen on or near the Trail in a Family Order List, with links to Jepson Manual Treatment and Calphotos (118 taxa)
- Species Seen on or near the Trail, along with species vouchered from this general area, in a Family Order List, with links to Jepson Manual Treatment and Calphotos (not done since there are few vouchers from this general area; use the preceding checklist instead)
Separate condensed print versions of just the checklist names are available for all except for the Calflora thumbnail picture version.