PCT mile 585.8 to 605.3.
Miles hiked: 19.5.
Wow! Another day of cool weather in what can often be a stretch of miserably hot trail.
I had been planning to just let myself wake up whenever, since I was feeling so sleepy yesterday. But when I got up to pee at 3:30 I noticed the cloud cover was totally gone, and fearing it might end up being a hot day I set my alarm for 4:30. Once back in bed it took a while to get back to sleep because I had a minor panic attack when I realized that now that I'm skipping resupply in Independence, I won't be able to get the bug net for my tarp until Vermillion Valley Resort, all the way up at mile 870-something. This will mean at least a full week of hiking through potentially really bad mosquito country. I finally got to sleep once I convinced myself that I would probably be able to camp pretty high and in windy spots most nights in the higher southern Sierra; I probably won't end up needing the net until further north anyway.
Ended up sleeping a bit past the alarm after all and got walking at a quarter to 6. There was peak across a small canyon from my campsite, made of what looked like some sort of lava flow, that was lit up in a subtle orange as the sun rose through distant eastern clouds. The trail traced the edge of another wind farm, this one win older, smaller and louder turbines than I've walked through before. Then we entered a burn area with not much more than the charred trunks of pinyons. It seems like this area was grazed after the fire, and I wondered if that might be hampering the recovery. The one herbaceous plant that seemed to be successful in this burn was what I think is a poppy.
After a few miles I was back in unburned pinyon and juniper, with bluebirds and ash-throated flycatchers and Rock wrens. The trail was now following a ridge around the west side of a beautiful big flat-bottomed valley. My map doesn't extend far enough to show it so I don't know it's name, but it looked like the sort of place that would have a magnificent wildflower show at some point in the spring.
Around mile 595 the trail made a quick couple hundred foot climb and dramatically went from the pinyon/juniper habitat into a beautiful Jeffrey pine and oak forest. The transition seemed to be around 5300 feet. The trees were big and the understory open with occasional shrubs. There were granite boulders in clusters here and there, and the whole scene reminded me a lot of the lower elevations in the Sierra. The bird community changed with the trees; now I was hearing And seeing White-breasted Nuthatches, Violet-green Swallows, Mountain Chickadees, and House Wrens.
Shortly after that climb I had another morning siesta at 11, both to sleep and to take care of my aches and pains. The muscle near my shin is dramatically better today, with less swelling and increased pain free range of motion. I think wrapping it periodically in he ACE bandage I got I Tehachapi is really helping, as is the slightly slower pace I've been sticking to. Unfortunately the area of aggravation seems to have moved down onto the top of my foot, to the tendons that do all the toe control.
After siesta there was a bit more climbing, then the trail crossed over to the west side of the ridge with views down into some little hamlet somewhere north of Tehachapi. Presently the trail joined a dirt road and I came to the mile 600 mark, with the numerals at this one made of rocks and pine cones. I saw Pattern Seeker and Chief (first met them in the BBQ joint in Tehachapi and have been leapfrogging them since. We chatted a bit and Chief took my photo by the "600".
From there it was just a couple more miles to Robin Bird Spring at mile 602. I got there around 3 and had a nice long rest including eating my dinner since I planned to go on a bit further and dry camp. This spring is also well maintained with a little pipe delivering water pretty quay d a fence to keep cows out of the spring area. A whole flock of Lawrence's Goldfinches were hanging out at the water, at times perching 10 feet from me. I chatted a bit with Jaws and King Toot, 2 former Marines. The veterans I've seen on this hike all seem to have a certain quietness that suggests they know so much more about the world than the rest of us.
About a quarter to 6 I finally got moving, with the goal being to make it a 20 me day. My foot really hurt for the first hundred meters or so, and I was actually a bit worried about it. But then things seemed to loosen up and I found a stride that didn't hurt, and I ended up making almost to the 20 mile mark. I was feeling pretty good when I got to where I ended up camping, but the map showed a ways of steep sidehill traversing coming up and it dint look like I'd find a camp spot for a while. There are more clouds tonight and I've set up the tarp again. The desert continues to surprise.
Birds:
Western Scrub-jay
Western Bluebird
Hairy Woodpecker
House Finch
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Spotted Towhee
Northern Flicker
Rock Wren
Lark Sparrow
California Towhee
Mourning Dove
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wrentit
Black-headed Grosbeak
Western Wood-pewee
Violet-green Swallow
Oregon Junco
House Wren
Brown Creeper
Mountain Chickadee
Acorn Woodpecker
Stellar's Jay
Purple Finch
Lawrence's Goldfinch
Lazuli Bunting
Pygmy Nuthatch
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