At the saddle we turned left and ascended about 500' on a firebreak.
The firebreak ended at a well-defined ridge (not sure if this section is considered Pleasant View Ridge or not). Here we picked up a clear singletrack, which revealed some recent animal visitations, but no humans--unless they walked on stilts with deer hooves for feet.
The trail followed the wide ridgetop with Little Rock Creek Canyon visible to the right.
An odd, homemade sign marked two miles.
And shortly thereafter we reached the View BM (6586'), which according to the USGS map is definitely part of Pleasant View Ridge.
In addition to the sweeping desert vista, looking in the opposite direction revealed Bare Mountain, among other peaks.
With fresh liquids and snacks in the belly, Henry and I continued up the trail, which grew a little fainter on this broad, near-flat section. After Point 7025 there was a 200-foot drop.
Henry felt like contouring around the right side of the next little bump.
Then we encountered a lot of thorns, though they rarely required whacking. Some cairns led us through narrow openings in the scratchy vegetation, which I managed comfortably in cargo shorts.
Immediately before Point 7515, a healthy thicket blocked the top of the ridge, so we skimmed across the east flank, utilizing whatever semblances of a path we could locate.
In the saddle east of 7515 we took a short break to admire the view of Waterman and Winston.
Then we headed up the gentler and opener, tree-shaded section to Pallett BM (PVR highpoint).
There was a USGS mark from 1930 among some rocks up there.
Beautiful pine trees provided shade while we ate lunch.
Unlike on View BM, there was no register at Pallett BM.
After a half hour or so, we continued traversing in the direction of Will Thrall Peak.
After Thrall came Burkhart Saddle.
From the Saddle we dropped northward via the Burkhart Trail, which in a few spots still held some avoidable ice. Though we couldn't resist the urge to not avoid it.
We also enjoyed the displays of rocks--not the numerous ones blanketing the footpath, but the ones beside it.
Eventually the scenic trail crossed Cruthers Creek.
Afterward, the Burkhart Trail ended at a fenced-off dirt driveway, where the High Desert Trail continued to the right.
This trail switchbacked up a ridge, adding several hundred feet of gain to the hike.
It then moved eastward, contouring in and out of several gullies, and providing great views of the Sandrocks area.
Our final junction was with the fire road down to Devils Punchbowl.
There were many trail signs at this spot. And one of them indicated that the High Desert Trail was now part of the PCT.
Which, I assume, means that Burkhart has also been pressed into service for the PCT. Since I'm not familiar with either trail, I don't know how recently this signage appeared. But it was the only PCT sign that we saw on either the Burkhart or the High Desert Trails.
Anyway, we then hoofed it over to the Punchbowl.
Henry then drove me as far up the bumpy Alimony Road as his low-clearance sedan could tolerate. And together we walked the remaining mile or so to my Honda Pilot.
I'll try to post a few pics this weekend.