6/4/14 Wednesday. Around the Granite Mountain. 6/5/14 Thursday... And Back Again.

14 miles

We had purchased yogurts & bananas for breakfast in our room then we walked to town to catch the Transit that would take us to Onyx.  From Onyx we would hitch hike to Walker Pass to begin the trail north. 

The bus arrived at 6:30 am and we were dropped at Onyx by 7:30. The 2nd car that passed us (we weren't there 5 minutes)  stopped and picked us up!  Two young girls from Wisconsin, Jess & Brooke, were driving their rental car to a town close to the Sierras to start their hike to Canada.  They'd decided to skip the desert and get right into the mountains.  It was fun talking to them.

Hike safe and enjoy yourselves ladies!

Hiking by 8am we had a steep climb of 2,000 ft in 8 miles so we got right to it. Careful to take rests, food & water breaks we kept plugging along and made pretty good time.  It grew hot and we wanted to get past ledges with scree slides before we rested.  At 1:30 we arrived at a saddle with small meadows, purple flowers and trees. We rested in the shade during the heat of the day. 

Along the trail I saw tiny footprints (could be a mouse) with a line drawn between the prints (could it be the tail dragging behind?) We always enjoy the fact that animals use the path of least resistance and that's the PCT!  We also saw drag marks out of a hole in the trail, a snake lived in there and was out for hunting. (I'm guessing).

We are headed for Joshua Spring, we need 2 L each to dry camp tonight. We lost the 2,000 feet we'd gained today by climbing down steeply to the spring. 

Joshua Spring was a steep climb down off the trail about 1/4 mile, when we got down there, having left our packs up at the trail, the water was just a dribble. The trough was full of nasty algae and flies were all over the place.  By holding my thumb just right over the pipe I could get a trickle of a flow.  We filled 2 L each and it took awhile.

This spring is known to have uranium in the water but if we filter as usual it won't hurt to have 1-2 L  (just not a lifetime of drinking it). 

We reached the trail again, hot and sweaty and rested until we cooled down. Two miles further we found a group of trees in a shallow dip and set up tents.  I noticed the mosquitoes were out and they're biting me.  It was a hot desert today and I was so hoping to be done with it! 

6/5/14 Thursday. 16.5 miles

We started off this morning at 6:10 with an 8 mile up, down then another nasty uphill climb.  We found a spring 6.5 miles from camp that was running nicely and filled 2 more liters.  We met Trailblazer there and exchanged trail information, he's carrying a huge amount of water and drinks every 20 minutes when his watch buzzes. Everybody has a method that works for them. 

We put our umbrellas up and Peggy went ahead to meet me in the upcoming saddle where we planned to rest out the hot afternoon. 

At the saddle this was our view of the far off desert.  

The frustrating thing was, it's the same view we saw from the mountain top yesterday.  We'd only gone around the mountain and it had taken us 24 hours, down 2,000 feet to water and back up again!  Sometimes the trail doesn't make sense to me!

Resting until 3:30pm we started down to Chimney Creek and water.  It was a long hot afternoon and the water was very welcome.  We got enough water to equal 4 L each,  crossed a dirt road and made camp in the trees which were such a welcome sight.  It was dark so there is no photo of our campsite. 

We've decided to get up at 4:00 am tomorrow to hike while it's cooler and get up the next 8 miles.  The hills and the heat are a challenge for me but I find it really helps to get an early start.  In the cool morning I don't need as much water either. 

There are 2 potential springs tomorrow as well as the Kern River which is near Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierras.