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The variety and abundance of flowers increases as you head north. In Southern California the desert flora waits for rain before producing flowers and if you arrive in a wet spell you can expect to see the desert bloom. In a dry spell, however, there will be few signs of flowers. As you head north you will see plenty of flowers in the damper meadows.

Animals and birds

Some of the animals you will see are mentioned in the Wilderness Hiking section of the introduction; others will be featured in the map sections.

Birds have generally evolved separately in the Americas, and Europeans will find few species with which they are familiar. Migration patterns are mainly north-to-south rather than east-to-west and the greatest species-overlap is among waterfowl and waders (shore birds). Notes on the birds you are most likely to see appear in the map sections.

What the walking’s like

Southern California

The distance between Campo and Kennedy Meadows is approximately 700 miles. The terrain is varied, with rolling hills and mountains rising to 9000ft separated by sections of desert. This is an arid landscape with desert vegetation at low altitudes and chaparral (brush) at intermediate altitudes; only in the mountains is it cool and damp enough for forests to thrive. The PCT goes right past Deep Creek Hot Springs in San Bernardino National Forest, possibly the best wilderness hot springs in California.