PCT - Lake Morena to Noble Canyon DAY 3

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Start: Mount Laguna Campground
Finish: Noble Canyon Trailhead
Distance: 10 miles-ish

Our plan was never to finish on the PCT for a few reason. First, if we stayed on the PCT, we would be descending into the Anza Borego Desert. With the high temperatures of May, we had no desire to spend a day getting scorched by the hot sun with no shade. Second, a family member had kindly volunteered to help us shuttle to our car. If we came out in the desert, it would put us on the other side of the mountains and add about 1 hour of driving to that generous driver.

Instead, we opted to end our journey at the Nobel Canyon Trailhead in Pine Valley, CA. The Nobel Canyon Trail is quite long: 10 miles one way. This makes it hard to do as a day hike and we didn’t meet many hikers until we were near the trailhead. However, this trail is popular with mountain bikers. Many of them ride up a nearby fire road and make a return down the hill via Noble Canyon. The trailhead is at 3070 feet and we started from our campsite at around 5500 feet so it is quite a nice descent.

The first section of the trail is pleasantly forested and mostly shady. However, the bugs were obnoxious pests. The lower section is exposed and contours around the canyon before dropping to the bed of the canyon a few miles prior to reaching the trailhead.

The lower section is home to everybody’s favorite San Diego County reptile: Rattlesnakes. We saw 2 or 3, one right in the middle of the trail. They are not aggressive unless you try to pick them up. They don’t really like being touched 😁

Finally, we reach the Pine Vally outlet for the noble canyon trail and were able to set our packs on a picnic table while we waited for our ride back to Lake Morena.