Fog down below at sunrise

A cool windy night felt good to us, snuggled in our sleeping bags.  But today promised more tough, hot hiking, so we got up at 4:00 am.  There was fog down below in the Anza Valley at sunrise, but it disappeared quickly, and pretty soon we were hiking in and out of cactus-enhanced chaparral in the early morning light, anxious to reach our “breakfast goal” of Tule Springs.  It was a worthy goal!  Ahhhhh!  A concrete tank had a spigot coming out with TWO hoses attached–one for water in your water bottles, the other for SHOWERS!  Yes indeed, somebody ran a hose up a cottonwood tree and attached a shower head!  We thought about taking showers, but were concerned because we knew other hikers could come strolling in at any time.  But we did use the shower to “sloosh off” as best we could without taking EVERYTHING off.   It felt really good!

Beautiful--just don't get too close!

After that, it was lots more chaparral, a pretty canyon with lots of grass, trees and a creeklet where we met a fellow thruhiker getting water (pump, pump, pump).  Then we were headed up and up some more to a very dramatic section of trail with great views and precipitous dropoffs.  I am learning not to be afraid of heights, but I am very cautious in all those spots where you have a 3 foot wide trail and then a CLIFF!  We did meet one very polite rattlesnake who didn’t even buzz,  but hurried away.  (Fortunately he wasn’t at one of those “dropoff” parts of the trail!).

Hikers' Oasis

Finally we reached the “Hiker’s Oasis”, a welcome water cache where we loaded up enough to get us through 14 steep, hot miles ahead.  We are learning to be obsessed about water sources–you have to be when you’re a thruhiker.   Just ahead lay a climb of 1,000 feet in 4 miles, and it was a hot day. 

Juuuust enough shade!

 But we chugged along till noon when we spotted a group of huge boulders just off the trail, and sure enough, they made enough shade to relax in and cook dinner (freezedried beans & rice).  I was also grateful that my sore ankle is better–many thanks to all our friends who love us and are praying for us!

Desert mountains up ahead, waiting for us

By 2:00, there was a nice breeze and we pushed on into some very dramatic topography.  They should make this a field trip for a geology class!  After going down into and up out of  Alkali Wash, we found ourselves walking along the edges of some amazing cliffs.  Looking at the height of these obviously sedimentary formations makes you realize the immense forces of water at work during Noah’s Flood.  Very sobering.

Late in the afternoon, we reached Highway 74, and there resting by the trail was a PCT hiker waiting for his friend who’d gone down the road to a restaurant for a hot meal.  We decided to have an early supper right then and there so we could talk and eat.  Turned out the hiker was Swiss, from Zurich, and he was known on the trail as “Swiss Herbert.”  He was hiking the PCT with an American friend, and said that other than the heat, he was having a wonderful time. He had not gone to the restaurant, because, in his words, “Ven I hike, I only eat ze colt food.”  His goal was to hike as much PCT as he could before his vacation was over and he had to go back home.

More dramatic topography!

Then Swiss Herbert’s friend arrived, dropped off by a “trail gorilla” who not only works on PCT maintenance, but also provides water caches.  He told us where the next one was–right across the road, actually, hidden by the monument to a trail worker who died while building the PCT.  So we strolled across the highway, stocked up on water, and headed for the Desert Divide.  We hiked as fast as we could till almost dark, following the trail as it wound among huge boulders.  We had just time to set up camp before it was too dark to see, and then we crashed.  Tiiiiired!

Tues. May 17    Miles today: 21.6     Total so far: 131.2   So. CA  Section B

I should mention that we had a delicious and lively dinner last night with 6 other thruhikers, all with tales to tell of their adventures so far.  Included were Josh & Anna, who began with us at Campo!  Bill and I agree that Warner Springs is DEFINITELY a place to stop–great food, pool–what more can you ask?

A glorious start to the day

Today we were back ontrail by 5:30 am, on a beautiful morning with high clouds.  Not far from Warner Springs, we came to another of the innumerable pipe gates that we’ve encountered so far.  They are great landmarks for helping us figure out where we are!  Breakfast was beside the trail with the sun breaking out from behind the clouds and silhouetting the mountains. 

We got lots of creek-crossing practice!

Soon we were at the green, grassy, vine-y jungle of Agua Caliente Creek.  It’s in a canyon with walls so steep that the trail has to zigzag across the creek 4 times.  We decided to take advantage of the shade to get one nice rest break, then it was back to the chaparral and a steady, rocky climb into the San Jacinto Mountains.  The wildflower display continued to be amazing.  One of the hikers at dinner last night is from around here, and he said the flowers are usually dead, dried up and gone by the end of April, but this year it’s been so cool and rainy that they just keep blooming.  My response to that (as a confirmed wildflower freak) is “THANKYOU, Lord!  I love this!”  When I am really hot and tired and the trail seems endless, each bend brings a new “set of beauty” from the flowers. 

A shady kitchen

The more we climbed into the San Jacintos, the more interesting the mountains became, especially the rock & dirt colors.  One of the hills was actually a light pink color!  We met Josh & Anna again at the turnoff to a spring where we all went to tank up on water.  For the next hour we were climbing with great views.  We stopped at noon to cook dinner in a nice shady spot with a perfect flat cooking rock.  Dinner was beef stroganoff with homegrown tomatoes and green peppers, accompanied by hot mochas. 

In the burn zone

But after that, we were hiking through a very barren zone where a forest fire burned everything and little has regrown–except the wildflowers!  It was sad to see so much destoyed, but wonderful to see that the first new regrowth was so beautiful. 

Josh 'n Anna got a personal water cache!

 When we got to one of our landmarks–the crossing of a road–we came to an “Awwwwwww-how sweet!” moment.  Somebody had left some full water jugs labelled with the names of Josh and Anna.  “J” and A” had scribbled thankyou notes on the jugs.   They must have awesome friends!

"Cactus flower" by Bill

From that point was the climb to our highest point today–5,595 feet at Combs Mountain.  The panorama from up there was incredible.  We could see the route poor Anza took with his men when they were trying to develop a trail from Mexico to San Francisco.  Moving on, now late in the day, Bill had fun taking a bunch of wildflower pictures.  I think my “wildflower thing” must be contagious!

We made camp early (7:00) because we were so tired.  My left ankle is really hurting and is puffy in one spot.  I am taking Motrin (known on the trail, I hear, as “Vitamin I”) to manage the ache.  When I lay down to write this, my feet were actually throbbing from a long day of hiking, but one good  thing is that my shoulders are no longer sore.  They seem to be settling in for the hike!