Cold, Hungry and Lost

It's taken some time but we think we have a plan. We will jump ahead 200 miles to ridge crest, then walk the 50 miles into Kennedy meadows and resume the trail as previously planned. This replanting will put us back on track to complete the trail before mid October, hopefully keeping us out of harms way I cant say I'm going miss the dehydration and struggle to find drinkable water, some of its been pretty nasty and this current section is the worst so far, but par for the course, the purists will turn their noses up at us but this is our adventure and we'll adventure it how we choose. Now time to add pictures for the last blog entries..

Miles: 10.32 Start time: 8:32am End time: 1:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 77.1F / 67.7F / 62.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 36.1% Injuries: none to report Today we had a mile and half hike to water, which was good since we had maybe half a litre each after the evenings thirst, the desert makes your pretty thirsty all the time, the air just sucks the moisture out of you while you breathe The water source was a trickle, but it was clear and cool and definitely awesome. There were about 10 other hikers there taking a break and guzzling water, as we do when we get to water.  The bees were all around, sipping at the water too, probably taking bathes and having a great time, they didn't bother us at all. After we gathered our water we moved on, and finished the climb to the top of the mountain, and were rewarded with a view of the desert floor we are heading towards. It looked hot and dusty lol, but they all do from a distance. We kept walking around the mo...

Miles: 7.8 Start time: 10:56am End time: 3:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 89.2F / 63.2F / 50.0F Relative Humidity Avg: 41.7% Injuries: none to report Today started out cold, we were in a bit of a valley and all that blowing cloud from last night chilled the tent and filled it condensation. So we had to dry out the fly later in the day, and by later in the day I mean when we built the tent in the evening.. It was a late start today, neither of us slept well, and we only had a few miles to go today to set us up for our next water target.  Water is definitely the deciding factor in a lot of our decisions, it is humbling and when we return to the world the ease of access to water won't be something we take for granted anymore.. The terrain today was pretty casual as well, gentle ups and downs, and the trails had plenty of non pct hikers out, it is Memorial day weekend and being a long weekend we expected plenty of people out and about, and we weren't disappointe...

Miles: 3.6 Start time: 1:42am End time: 4:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 59.8F / 58.5F / 56.6F Relative Humidity Avg: 37.1% Injuries: none to report Today was a short walk, we got dropped off by an uber at our destination and walked a total of 3.6 miles to the next reliable water source, which is a spring on the side of the trail.  The ride into the mountains was very pretty and we are grateful to be able to see the sights from multiple perspectives. While it meant we had to skip trail we are very happy to see that endangered frogs were being protected. We got a good look at the desert floor we are heading towards once we descend the mountains in angeles forest (just above LA), the desert floor is better known as the Mojave.. One of the hottest places for us yet I'm lead to believe, lucky for us we will be engaging with that monster in June and not July (summer) Currently we are tucked into the tent, as the clouds are blowing by at our level, might be a heav...

Hey there internet of things, I thought I'd make good on a blog for the last few days. We spent it in cajon pass, I believe pronounced with the j sounding like y.. The motel was pleasant enough, nothing nearby to speak of though, three gas stations with a subway, McDonald's, del taco embedded in them. Slim pickings for food but we, I, needed the break from walking to let this knee heal, and so far so good Several times a day we alternated between the hot tub and pool, which was ice cold, I don't know how these California pools get so cold.. But it worked wonders on the inflammation Other than that days were spent on minor hiking chores, planning our next leg, enjoying running water..the little things We decided that the conditions for the next section were kinda perilous, and we would get a ride around the section and look to return later and complete it if the conditions improved.  The primary issue is water, or lack thereof.  The 27 miles out of cajon ...

Miles: 10.8 Start time: 7:28am End time: 4:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 77.6F / 68.4F / 58.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 41.3% Injuries: none to report We had a pretty good night at our secret camp site, a lot of bugs though we're trying to eat us but our trusty tent mesh didn't fail us, thankfully none of them figured out how to crawl thru where the zippers meet, something tiny could possibly squeeze in there, there were dozens of flies, a few spiders probably wanting to eat the flies, the usual.. Our first stop was the deep creek hot springs, home to rare but sometimes fatal bacteria allegedly, so we naturally avoided the hot pools, but we did rest up a ways up the river where the running water was lovely and cool.  We ended up staying there for about three hours, ate our tuna burrito, washed some clothes, enjoyed the soothing sounds of running water, it was lovely We headed back out after midday and for most of the day it was pretty gentle ups n downs, ...

Miles: 16.59 Start time: 7:28am End time: 5:05pm High / Avg / Low temp: 82.6F / 74.2F / 69.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 31.0% Injuries: none to report What an adventure today, started at an ok time, we were waiting for the interlopers to move on so we could go on about our business with a semblance of privacy, while we are aware that we share this trail with 5000 other hikers and countless day hikers etc, it's still a definite buzzkill when we have to camp in close proximity to others, definitely our problem, most other hikers seem to have no problem being all up I each other's business, which is mind boggling to me, all this space..might as well enjoy the distance from others that is usually impossible to get in the usual rat race In other news we passed mile 300 this afternoon, maybe not as momentous as mile 100, this is certainly a record for both of us in distance and time spent in the wilderness/desert, even with days if we are pushing 30 days in the tent, ...

Miles: 9.34 miles + 2.3 side trail Start time: 12:13pm End time: 5:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 88.0F / 75.0F / 65.9F Relative Humidity Avg: 21.4% Injuries: none to report A false start and a lil meandering lead to a longer than expected stay in big bear, but it was a lovely break, and gave our muscles a full four days off to recover from the abuse we've given them, in preparation for the abuse forthcoming as we attempt some back to back 20 mile days We departed the hotel room and had a BLT, with avocado, and the nearby restaurant, and again dialed for a ride, this time one was accepted nearly instantly and within 20 minutes we were at the trail head ready to go It was a 2.3 mile climb up to meet the pct, and it was full of gonks, oh well, the weekend brings out all kinds, and at least they are trying to enjoy nature? We had planned to make it to mile 287 today, and expected it would take us till around 6pm to make it in, we got our mileage, and even ar...

We renewed our room booking today for one last day, we didn't sleep well last night and decided to hit the snooze button on hiking, but we are totally heading out tomorrow.. Really.. This time for sure.. Towns can totally be a black hole with no escape though..

The thursday departure plan wasn't successful, I miscalculated the mileage we needed to complete, and we spent over an hour trying to get a ride to the side trail we needed and had no joy So we decided to drag out the stay in big bear seeing as I failed at math, seemed like a good reward We had ben and jerrys, a few mixed drinks, Mexican food,  watched dead pool 2, then went to our room and soaked in the hot tub Life is so hard, we'll see how leaving Friday goes

Our last full day in big bear today, we had some chores to do, grocery stores to visit, bags to pack, gear to clean, sunburn to nurse, just the usual We saw a disguised cell tower And a mandate for water restrictions Thursday we head out around noon to hoof it eleven miles to a water source, should be a fairly comfortable few days, will be higher mileage, closer to twenty each day, but a gentle decline seems to be what the elevation charts indicate.. They are notoriously misleading though so we'll see Well we have othello to play, so we'll catch you later

We woke today too early, sleeping in is becoming next to impossible.. Thanks trail schedule..thanks a lot.. After fussing around in the cabin a good while we eventually went a wandering and ended up at the kayak rental place, and snagged two kayaks for a paddle around the lake.  It was a bit of a windy day, there were whitecaps and a fair amount of chop, leading to plenty of water being splashed into into kayak, and onto us.. Was great leaving the dock with a totally soaked tush The lake was pretty, with a backdrop of the mountains we'd soon be hiking over, a solar observatory on the shoreline, and the occasional fish leaping lid of the water for whatever reason It was really lovely to just float today, and paddle for fun, with no agenda or requirement, I also enjoyed a significant amount of sunburn on my moon-tanned legs, I should have known better than to sit in the sun for two hours all exposed, even if the overall temp was cool with plenty of water splashed, no matt...

Miles: 3.5 miles + 0.25 side trail Start time: 7:50am End time: 9:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 53.5F / 50.6F / 47.8F Relative Humidity Avg: 33.3% Injuries: none to report Our interlopers last night were pretty noisy until about 8pm, which was rough on us since we crashed early and they arrived late, such are the problems of camping at popular trail magic spots, we decided to endeavor to not stay at places that could be crashed by large groups if we can help it, we regretted not walking the extra 2 miles to a smaller clearing, no matter, they were loud in the morning to, we got up and moved out as soon as we could, not even eating beforehand, just to get away, it didn't help that they were fast hikers and overtook us after a bit, one had the.. feigned courtesy to say, hope we weren't too loud.. Which they clearly were aware they were, jokes on them though, we have a hot tub tonight We walked on and in no time at all made it to our side trail and after much fuss...

Miles: 6.6 Start time: 10:24am End time: 2:18pm High / Avg / Low temp: 65.4F / 56.3F / 50.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 31.7% Injuries: none to report If you thought we started late yesterday, oh brother, today was way later, partly because we knew we had a low mileage day today, partly because it was freezing all night.. The weather prediction as a lil off, surprise surprise, and it dropped well below freezing last night, I know this because our tent is a number of degrees warmer inside at night, and it dropped below freezing inside the tent (per our temperature logger, the almighty kestrel), so there was a lil shivering, much regret at the 3am bathroom (haha bathroom as if ) run, and a fair bit of broken sleep, otherwise the camp site was lovely, nice flat spot, morning sun to warm us up, all the icey water were could drink, life is good We departed, and immediately headed up hill, but it want to much of a climb, and while the sun was out it was pretty cool all day, so...

Miles: 10.6 Start time: 7:54am End time: 5:10pm High / Avg / Low temp: 75.7F / 64.2F / 56.2F Relative Humidity Avg: 31.8% Injuries: none to report Today started out a lil slow and we didn't get of our camp until 7:54, not the end of the world as we only planned 10miles for the day, which was a bit of a struggle bus with the elevation gain today, about 5000 ft if memory serves We had a gradual, and at times not gradual up hill all day, the first five miles eased us up to 6000ft, the next five miles was punctuated by steep climbs with descents to let us climb the elevation again, up to 8000ft, which is pretty much the top of the elevation for the next miles we have to do, with ups n downs of course for good measure We saw a fat nope rope, believed to be a gopher snake after yakking with another hiker, and two bearded dragons, a rabbit, other assorted lizards, birds, bugs, and loads of ants, I'm convinced this mountain range is one giant ant mound T...

Miles: 10.9 miles + 0.6 approach trail Start time: 6:42am End time: 4:15pm High / Avg / Low temp: 89.8F / 81.8F / 71.1F Relative Humidity Avg: 34.7% Injuries: none to report Today started with sprinkler shenanigans at the oasis at 11pm last night, the signs in the preserve clearly stated that Thursday nights were meadow sprinkle times, and tuesdays were the trees.. So we ..having a watch with a day of week function.. felt confident in our decision to leave the fly off our tent and watch the stars, knowing we were camped at the far edge of the tree line and safe from meadow sprinkles.. Jokes on us though, and every other camper there, the tree sprinklers went off and we were all scrambling half naked to put the covers on our tents before all our gear, down sleeping bags included, got drowned.. Fun times, while our gear escaped most of the water the same can't be said for us, we got sprayed a few times as the demon sprinklers made their multiple passes of our home Othe...

Miles: 8 miles + 0.6 side trail to camp Start time: 3:31pm End time: 7:18pm High / Avg / Low temp: 87.0F / 80.4F / 75.4F Relative Humidity Avg: 31.0% Injuries: none to report It was with mixed feelings we left the hotel today, we were excited to get to the trail but it was so nice to have access to a hot tub and pool, and flush toilets of course But hit the trail we did, not before bacon and lunch though We observed a significant change in scenery again today, we are at lower elevations, not even 4000ft, but it is still different than the lower regions we've crossed before, it was still fairly barren, but the ground was soft and felt largely like loose gravel for the most part, so it was more like waddling on sand than anything else, which sounds nice, but it makes walking at any speed hard as your feet are constantly slipping, while we had a few losses of traction there were no slip n falls We walked past a huge wind farm, and as you'd expect it was pr...

Today was another scorcher: the desert floor, and another day we are happy to be indoors, we did spend time in the pool though, and hot tub, which was awesome, we also used our sun umbrellas to avoid the heat stroke Thursday we head back into the heat, in the evening though so hopefully it'll be cooler

Today was a short one, we woke at 4.49am to a 4.5 magnitude earth quake, with an epicenter very close to where we made camp last night, fun times, we heard the rumble before we got rocked in the tent, no harm done and it was definitely a unique experience for us, tent quakes.. Otherwise it was a fairly restful night once we started to rehydrate from the prior days exertion, we got up at the usual time pretty much and packed up under the blazing sunlight, it had already begun to scorch by 6:45am, as we had signal we read that there is a heatwave in the area until Friday, as if it isn't not enough, well played desert We decided that we'd seek shelter out of the desert flats and let this heat pass while we recovered from yesterday, we are getting more in shape but the toll from yesterday was high on our bodies so it felt like the smarter choice, on the plus side im down 23lbs from my starting weight, with whatever muscle composition changes had happened, so that'...