The Adventures of...: Day 36-37

Day 36, 28 miles, endpoint PCT mile 631

We left our cozy wooded campsite with Smiles and Uke and walked a few miles in the cool early morning forest. It didn't take long before we turned a corner and were suddenly faced with a completely different landscape: a vast, barren, brown desert valley lay before us, with the inescapable thread of the PCT winding down through the middle of it all.

I had hoped we were done with the desert and were on the upward march to the Sierras. But the desert was not done with us. In fact, it had a huge "eff you" in store for us before we finally would leave it for good.

We hit a water cache and a cooler of goodies as we set off towards sand dunes, joshua trees, and prickly brush. The coolers, the best yet, must have just been stocked, and included pop, Gatorade, Capri Sun, and Josh's choice, Starbucks frappacino. We sat on lawn chairs under our umbrellas and waited for Smiles and Uke to catch up; we probably looked pretty strange, but it was a great break.

After our drinks it was on to the bleak landscape ahead. The temperature soared and we started hating the sun with a passion. We took a detour off the PCT to get to the closest water source, a spring next to a murky pond. It was four in the afternoon and still scorching, so we found a place in the shade and camped out for awhile. We were especially in no rush to leave because after the spring it would be 31 miles until the next water. 31 freaking miles. A full day and a half. No water. 31 miles. Thanks, desert.

After dinner we packed up and hit the trail again with Smiles and Uke at about 7:30pm. We felt we had to take a big chunk out of the 31 miles at night when the air was cooler. Our packs were loaded with water and we wearily left the spring, went two miles down a sandy road, and rejoined the PCT (the water detour added about one extra mile).

We hiked under headlamps and stars until close to 1:00 in the morning. Apparently snakes like the cooler temperatures, too: we saw three snakes on the trail in the dark and heard one rattling in the bushes at us. We had started the day hiking at 6am, so by 1am we were all exhausted. We are camped on a plateau with no idea what our surroundings look like. Tomorrow is just a few hours away.

This was one of the easiest places to get water yet!

Carla and the Lupine.

Cold drinks!

A brutally hot walk.

Trail views.

Headed into the night!

Day 37, 20 miles, endpoint PCT mile 651

We forced ourselves out of the tent as the sun rose, knowing we had an upward climb to make and the longer we waited the hotter we would be. I was tired. The area was not much to look at; I have a feeling we did not miss much in the night. We were below a rocky, greenish brown mountain surrounded by smaller hills and high desert chaparral.

We hit the mountain and began switchbacking up. We topped out at 7,000 feet and then began with rolling hills. The most exciting point came when we rounded a turn and were suddenly confronted with distant, hazy snow-capped mountains. The Sierras. All we have to do is walk there.

It was another hot day so we took a three hour shade break during the peak of it. At 4pm we pressed on for the final 10 miles to Walker Pass, where our first water in 31 miles would be. I was exhausted when we finally got there, but perked up when I saw a canopy with other hikers underneath. A former PCT hiker had set up in the Walker Pass campground and was providing dinner, soda, water, and cookies. We got the tail end of dinner and had some pasta, salad, and Pepsi. Thanks, Jackalope!

We have 50 miles to Kennedy Meadows and should make it there in two and a half days. So. Close.