Moon River...

May 15

There comes a time in every thru hikers trip when she or he takes a night hike. There are many reasons to night hike; avoiding the heat of the desert sun, trying to push for a big mile day, or to enjoy the full moon. I chose to night hike part of Deep Creek in order to sneak past a know wasp nest while they were sleeping.

The PCT follow Deep Creek from mile 298 to 313, for 15 miles. It is against the rules to camp anywhere within a mile of Deep Creek to protect the endangered Arroya Southwestern Toad. There are reports of a wasp or hornet nest at mile 310 where many people have been stung. My entomologist consult recomended passing this spot well before sunrise or after sunset. With no camping allowed the 12 miles before the wasp nest it was going to be easier to continue after sunset than predict how much time the hike there would take and wake up early enough. 

My friend Mateusz decided to take the night hike with me. I was glad for the company to keep me going and hold me to the regular breaks we agreed on ahead of time. We had both camped near mile 290 the night before and took an afternoon siesta at mile 298 to wait out the hottest part of the day in the shade by the creek. We started down the creek toward the wasp nest at 4 pm. 

We made really good time up until the sunset was over. The down sides of a night hike: limited visibility cuts the pace in half, you miss out on the scenery, the lizards are sleeping, and hiking the next day after little to no sleep is painfully difficult. 

We made it past the wasp nest just after midnight with no one being stung. We both discovered some positives to night hikes. In the cool of the moonlight, you do not sweat as much so you do not have to carry as much water. The flying insects are not out to pester you at night. There are also no 20ish young men pestering you with their stats for the day, bragging about their 'short' 26 mile day. My favorite parts of night hiking were the stars and the chorus of toads. I did not see any Arroya Southwestern Toads, but many toads accpanied me as I sang 'Moon River'

I also hiked my longest day so far at 21.5 miles. I will be taking a nice long siesta today.

San Georgino Mts

May 10

The hiking this past week has been challenging in many ways. I have hiked both my longest distance and my shortest. Leaving the San Juacinto Mts ay 9000 feet elevation, I hiked down 8000 feet and went 20 miles between water sources. Because I am not up to hiking 20 miles days yet, I dry camped between water sources. After the long descent I hiked 5 miles across the desert floor in the sand and wind at which point I started hiking back up to above 8000 feet elevation.

This spot coming out of the San Juacintos reminded me of a hike I did to Thorp lake with the Panza family many years ago. There were lots of buzzing insects on the blooming sage. Bees bees bees!

I love alternate sources of electricity and clean energy, but hiking past a field of windmills is erie. 

I entered a new map section. The majority of the trail was up hill in this section. There was an 18 mile stretch up Mission Creek that never gave a break from the climb. 

I want to know what kind of butterflies these horn tailed caterpillers turn into. They littered the trail at their own peril as most hikers were not as cautious of the small creatures as I am. I have been seeing lots of butterflies of many sorts, but they are much more challenging to photograph without sitting still for long peroids of time. 

Walking along the creek bed was a welcome change. Water in the desert is treated with respect. Some hikers will dip their feet in a creek, but even in the deeper creeks we are not bathing or soaking in the prescious water. Never do to someone downstream what you would not want someone upstream to do to you.

Many of the water sources are not a typical creek. I have found springs running out of pipes and drawn water out of cisterns. This was one of my favorite where a barrel was placed in the cave under the spring to catch the run off. 

The saddest sight I have seen is the animal cages at Preditor Instincts. There were many large animals in small cages within easy viewing of the trail. I was near the end of a long day and cried when I saw the poor living conditions of the majestic  creatures. Film companies probably do not take cruel living conditions into consideration when they make the claim "no aminal were harmed in the making of this film".

The stretch ended on a good note with the sighting of my first Joshua Tree of the trip just before arriving in Big Bear City. 

San Jacinto Wilderness

Leaving Idyllwild I hiked into the San Jacinto Wilderness. I was unable to hike 27 miles of the PCT through this range because the trail was obliterated by a forest fire last fall. This section of trail wad both incredibly beautiful and challenging. I love this place and want to come back to hike the rest if the trail once it had been repaired as well as explore other trails in the area.

 I wish I had counted the number of down trees I crawled over, under, or around. This one had been down for a long time, but with the recent wind storms there was a plethora of newly fallen trees and branches.  

In the evening I met Valentino and his rider Midnight Rider. I knew that horses also used the PCT, and had hoped to meet some of the equestrian PCT thru hikers. I was impressed by Valentino's agility after struggling to climb over the copious down tree. All Midnight Rider said on the subject of the dead fall was that the two of them simply took their time getting around them. I met them just before sunset as I was looking for a campsite for myself. They still had 4 miles to hike as Valentino's feed was waiting for them at a camp accessible by road. I wondered as they walked away, does she have a headlamp for Valentino or is his night vision far superior to humans? 

I later heard a story about the pair spending the night in a bathroom at one of the trail camps when an unexpected snow storm swept in. Valentino does not fit in the tent, so Midnight Rider used the outhouse as shelter for the two of them. I would have loved to have seen a horse in an outhouse! As of yesterday they were behind me, so I may get to see this couple again.

In Washington as you climb in elevation the trees get smaller and eventually you hike out of them. In Southern California as I climb higher up the mountains I walk into the trees. The higher I go, the bigger they get. While hiking at higher altitudes is more challenging, I look forward to the trees at the higher elevations. 

Life on the trail

In my youth I thought of the desert as a barren and desolate place, void of the diversity I was accustomed to seeing in the Olympic Rain Forest. Every day that I spend in the Colorado Desert I am more amazed by the abundance of life in such a dry and unforgiving place. 

The greatest concern of thru hikers on the PCT in Southern California is "where is the next water source and how much water do I need to carry between here and there." We talk about it when ever we meet. We search the internet when in town to learn if the creeks in the next section have dried up yet. We debate about the reliability of water caches left by locals. We want to rely on them so that we do not have to carry as much water on our backs, but worry they will be dry. 

Despite the low volume of surface water, I have not walked a mile that wasn't full of wild flowers. I have seen so many different types of wildflower that I have lost count. Around every corner I am greeted by lizards, birds, butterflies, ants, rabbits, snakes, or other creatures. I have seen more hummingbirds in the last week than ever before. 

Every day I love the desert more. Every day I see a new plant or animal that fascinates me. I love this life that I am living.