Monday, June 17, 2013
Hiking Uphill: 3,435ft
Hiking Downhill: 1,835ft
Distance Hiked: 15 miles
Post by Melissa:
Here is Nick filtering the Willow Springs water for us. The actual spring is surrounded by a fence to keep the cows out. Luckily there was a water spigot around the corner that we used to fill up our dirty bag before filtering. Water is such a rare resource out here...we were glad to fill up. This particular day we were worried about water and didn't know if we could rely on the Bird Spring water cache so I loaded up to full capacity (6 liters) and Nick also loaded up and also filled his dirty bag with water. He was carrying 9 liters!! We both moaned and groaned as we lifted our packs on. The weight was unbearable for Nick (poor guy)!!
Next we walked 1.4 miles uphill on a dirt road back to the PCT to resume our hike. Often times the water sources are not right on the trail and we have to take detours to get to them. These "extra" miles are not included in our mileage tracker because they are not PCT miles. So although the PCT is 2,650 miles long, you'll end up doing a whole lot more miles to get water, supplies, and see some "must see" natural attractions along the way (Mt Whitney, Devil's Post Pile, etc). While we were setting off towards the PCT we saw Trivia coming our way. He had missed the gulch detour and had to walk 2.8 miles roundtrip off the PCT to come to Willow Springs to grab water. 2.8 extra miles in the desert is brutal! When the sun comes up in the morning it immediately gets hot...those lost miles are precious.
Early on in the day we come across this sign letting us know we are in land of the Desert Tortoise. We both learned that the Desert Tortoise is California's state reptile (who knew?). Nick and I were both super excited and kept our eyes peeled to see if we could spot one. We looked high and low but never did see one of these amazing creatures. They probably knew I'd want to pick them up and play with them :-)
As you can see the landscape is really barren. Thank goodness for the Chromedome umbrellas to take the temperature down to a more bearable level. Don't get me wrong...it's still incredibly hot out here!
Not sure how this bus got out here but you can see how cooked it is from the sun!
Several miles into our hike we came across an older female hiker coming down the PCT southbound. We made some chit chat and talked about water and learned from her that the water cache at Bird Springs was fully stocked. We were sooo excited! Nick immediately dumped out 6 liters of water and I dumped 2 liters. Nick's back had been killing him from the excess water weight and he was delighted to lighten his load!
More hiking pictures...
Yay! We passed the 1,000km mark today for all those on the metric system. :-) Obviously a metric based hiker put this together to celebrate the accomplishment.
You can see the trail winding over the hill tops...
Are we there yet? It's hot!
More hiking pictures of our surroundings
I desperately needed a break and this was the only shade we could find. I wedged myself between 2 rocks and set up my rest spot. I made sure to check for snakes first!
After our break we march on towards Bird Spring Cache...
Yay! We've reached the cache and it's got plenty of water for us!! Whoohooo! A sight for sore eyes. The water is in direct sunlight and over 100 degrees but we are not complaining...we are thankful to have it!
We set up shop near the cache and then take a break, cook dinner, and Nick checks the maps to see what's ahead. Note the cool solar charger in the background charging our electronics. Nick is pretty proud of that thing...it works awesome!
During our break I remove my shoes, socks, and bandages to check the foot situation. It's ugly...
After our break we head over to the cache, fill up our platypus bags, and sign the small trail register and write a note to the trail angel thanking them. I believe my words in this register were "Thank you to the moon and back! You are a true livesaver"
This was a PCT sign near the cache. It's kind of sad to see many of the PCT trail signs have been vandalized and a lot of them from bullet practice. Not cool!
We are back on the trail now and the sun is low in the sky. We are facing a steep 1,500ft climb uphill over a mountain ridge. We see pine trees at the top of the ridge and we "think" that we could be exiting the last part of the desert.
On the way over the ridge we came across another trail register. We made sure to jot down our trail names and we enjoyed seeing those names of the hikers that came before us.
We are 2/3 of the way up the ridge and are saying "goodbye" to the Mojave desert with this photo.
Then we came over the mountain crest saw more desert and our heart sank when we saw more desert ahead. We later realized the trail skirted around in forested tree line. Whew!!
Hiking Uphill: 3,435ft
Hiking Downhill: 1,835ft
Distance Hiked: 15 miles
Post by Melissa:
We woke up early at Willow Springs and broke down our camp. I was grossed out to see that my hydration hose has been lying in some dry cow poop and my mouth bite was covered in poop dust. I brushed it off as good as I could and tried to rinse it with water before drinking from it. I wondered how much cow poop I have been ingesting and if it could make me sick...not too sure and really not much I could do about it if I did get sick.
Here is Nick filtering the Willow Springs water for us. The actual spring is surrounded by a fence to keep the cows out. Luckily there was a water spigot around the corner that we used to fill up our dirty bag before filtering. Water is such a rare resource out here...we were glad to fill up. This particular day we were worried about water and didn't know if we could rely on the Bird Spring water cache so I loaded up to full capacity (6 liters) and Nick also loaded up and also filled his dirty bag with water. He was carrying 9 liters!! We both moaned and groaned as we lifted our packs on. The weight was unbearable for Nick (poor guy)!!
Next we walked 1.4 miles uphill on a dirt road back to the PCT to resume our hike. Often times the water sources are not right on the trail and we have to take detours to get to them. These "extra" miles are not included in our mileage tracker because they are not PCT miles. So although the PCT is 2,650 miles long, you'll end up doing a whole lot more miles to get water, supplies, and see some "must see" natural attractions along the way (Mt Whitney, Devil's Post Pile, etc). While we were setting off towards the PCT we saw Trivia coming our way. He had missed the gulch detour and had to walk 2.8 miles roundtrip off the PCT to come to Willow Springs to grab water. 2.8 extra miles in the desert is brutal! When the sun comes up in the morning it immediately gets hot...those lost miles are precious.
Early on in the day we come across this sign letting us know we are in land of the Desert Tortoise. We both learned that the Desert Tortoise is California's state reptile (who knew?). Nick and I were both super excited and kept our eyes peeled to see if we could spot one. We looked high and low but never did see one of these amazing creatures. They probably knew I'd want to pick them up and play with them :-)
As you can see the landscape is really barren. Thank goodness for the Chromedome umbrellas to take the temperature down to a more bearable level. Don't get me wrong...it's still incredibly hot out here!
Not sure how this bus got out here but you can see how cooked it is from the sun!
Several miles into our hike we came across an older female hiker coming down the PCT southbound. We made some chit chat and talked about water and learned from her that the water cache at Bird Springs was fully stocked. We were sooo excited! Nick immediately dumped out 6 liters of water and I dumped 2 liters. Nick's back had been killing him from the excess water weight and he was delighted to lighten his load!
More hiking pictures...
Yay! We passed the 1,000km mark today for all those on the metric system. :-) Obviously a metric based hiker put this together to celebrate the accomplishment.
You can see the trail winding over the hill tops...
Are we there yet? It's hot!
More hiking pictures of our surroundings
I desperately needed a break and this was the only shade we could find. I wedged myself between 2 rocks and set up my rest spot. I made sure to check for snakes first!
After our break we march on towards Bird Spring Cache...
Yay! We've reached the cache and it's got plenty of water for us!! Whoohooo! A sight for sore eyes. The water is in direct sunlight and over 100 degrees but we are not complaining...we are thankful to have it!
We set up shop near the cache and then take a break, cook dinner, and Nick checks the maps to see what's ahead. Note the cool solar charger in the background charging our electronics. Nick is pretty proud of that thing...it works awesome!
During our break I remove my shoes, socks, and bandages to check the foot situation. It's ugly...
This was a PCT sign near the cache. It's kind of sad to see many of the PCT trail signs have been vandalized and a lot of them from bullet practice. Not cool!
We are back on the trail now and the sun is low in the sky. We are facing a steep 1,500ft climb uphill over a mountain ridge. We see pine trees at the top of the ridge and we "think" that we could be exiting the last part of the desert.
On the way over the ridge we came across another trail register. We made sure to jot down our trail names and we enjoyed seeing those names of the hikers that came before us.
We are 2/3 of the way up the ridge and are saying "goodbye" to the Mojave desert with this photo.
Then we came over the mountain crest saw more desert and our heart sank when we saw more desert ahead. We later realized the trail skirted around in forested tree line. Whew!!
The sun was setting so we decided to look for a place to camp in the trees on the windy ridge line. Nick found a good spot and as we were walking off trail to our spot we noticed Trivia was set up very close by. It was good to see him again and we exchanged a few words. We then quickly set up our tent, crawled in, and went nite nite :-)
Hi, I'm happy to know while reading this that you are out of the desert, I don't like heat, so I feel for you & the struggles you both had to endure here. The bus reminded me of the Into the Wild Movie, yikes!
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