5/9/14-5/10/14 Fri-Sat. Hiking For Water

A beautiful night & good sleep we left camp and put in good miles arriving at a place to take a break at 9:15, we'd done 7 miles in 2 hours. Good hiking in the cool hours. Our friend Col. Mustard was sleeping under a bridge as we hiked on by.  Our path would take us by Silverwood Lake which was big, and of course the trail took us around every inlet and curve on one side of the lake. 

 We saw some covered picnic areas and decided to head for those to rest in the shade and get in the water to cool off, rinse off the grime etc. we are both very dirty girls.  We read books, rested after getting wet and rinsing off, I powered up my solar charger some and we had lunch at 11:30.  Around 1:00 we decided to hike 1 mile to a ranger station for water and conversation.  We had questions about things we were seeing and wanted to touch base with them regarding the poodle dog bush which is very poisonous and we wanted a good way to identify it. 

We found out these are penstemon, a neon blue with pink in the throat, also a type of penstemon are the scarlet bugles we've been seeing. 

One ranger was very informative and interested in our hike.  He also gave us an orange and small can of pineapple juice leftover from his lunch!  A wonderful snack for us! 

We rested in the shade of their trees at a picnic table, got water for the next dry section and hiked out. We were assured poodle dog bush was not what we'd been thinking it was, we got a good description for later when it would be more prevalent. 

Hiking further we looked back at the lake, it looked so far away.  The next 3 miles were a climb of 800 feet and I was out of steam.  Peggy took the lead uphill and we finally found a campsite. 

This was our stealth site for the night, we were lucky to look uphill and find a relatively flat spot. I'm intrigued by the escarpment in the background of this photo. 

  The other hikers that had been passing us were congregated at a tiny stream by the trail waiting their turn to filter water.  We'd carried ours from the ranger station and could hike past them.   It was a great little spot but was going to be windy and we hoped the tent stakes would hold.  The next section is 22.5 miles waterless so we're talking about strategy for getting through it. We did 16.5 miles today. 

  The moon was 1/2 full and bright and it was windy last night but we were hiking by 6:15.  The escarpment I'd looked at last night was to be our uphill climb after crossing the valley first thing this morning. The wind & rain had sculpted some of the hills to look like the Grand Canyon in miniature, some very steep drop offs. 

There's a marine layer in the sky making it moist and cool, a very welcome change.

What we didn't know at the time was that we would be climbing up to the top of the high mountains in the background. 

I'm always grateful for the beauty on the trail, each flower is a surprise.

Once we got to the top of the closest hills and contoured down the other side we knew our destination was near. We were headed for the I-15 and McDonalds,  .4 miles from the trail. A very popular PCT hangout!

It was full of people, half were grungy, smelly, dirty PCT hikers waiting for their cheeseburgers, fries and all the trimmings.  We charged phones at any available outlet, washed our hands over and over, filled water bottles for the next 22.5 miles and ordered again!

Peggy and I found a man outside with a cart selling chilled fresh fruit with lime squeezed over it. Mango, pineapple, coconut, watermelon & jicama. 

It tasted lovely!

We're both very tired but had to start back on the trail, we'd hiked 9 miles by 10:00 and stayed at the McDonalds til noon, we needed to push on. 

The trail went under I-15 which was weird, walking into that dark tunnel. We began to climb into the hills after passing under then over railroad tracks.  

We hope to go 5 miles at least. 

Suddenly we heard train whistles, squeaking brakes and saw a long train passing right below us, we ran back to wave and get photos looking down on the train from the hills above. 

Lots of climbing and a steady wind I'm amazed as we climb higher what we can see as we look back. 

This is I-15 and the McDonalds restaurant.  Where we started this morning is even further away beyond mountains far to the right. 

We crested the hills and moved down into the next valley which is the valley where the San Andreas Fault lies, it runs right up the middle.  We rested in shade and started up the next set of mountains trying to make headway on the 22.5 waterless miles, we carried 4 liters each for this section. The packs are heavy and uncomfortable. 

We made almost 4 more miles for a total of 17.5 today.  I struggled with each mile after lunch feeling weak muscled and weary. But we found a place off trail in the scrub brush to camp, it's windy up here. The view is prime, we can see down the valley from where we've come and far beyond. 

To bed after 8:00,  the plan is an early start trying to make time in the cool hours hoping we won't need as much water.