Miles hiked: 24.8.
Got up earlier than normal and was hiking by 4:15. The next reliable water from Walker Pass is in 30 miles, and I thought there might be a chance I would try to go all that way in one day. There were a couple less reliable sources along the way, and my plan was that if I could get water at one of them maybe I wouldn't need to do the 30. The trail crossed Hwy 58 and began climbing a cone shaped hill and I was headed right at the sliver moon rising over an eastern hill and through a lone Joshua Tree. After a few miles climbing the sun was rising and the trail was now maintaining a fairly constant elevation along the west slope of a steep tall spine of mountains that seems to run for several miles. Way off to the west granite domes stuck up out of the forested mountains and reflected pink in the sunrise. I was so happy to see that granite! A runner and her dog passed me and said that is the Dome Lands, part of the Kern Plateau. I heard or saw Stellar's, Pinyon and Western Scrub-jay this morning as I climbed and traversed through the appropriate habitats.
6 miles in to my morning the trail crossed a saddle back to the east side of the mountain/ridge. Again the view was down into the valley where 395 runs by he little town of Inyokern. I was able to get cell reception to upload some posts and try calling Libby, but didn't reach her and had to keep moving because the sun was really heating things up by now and I wanted to get as many miles done as I could before maybe having to take siesta.
Crossing back to the west side of the ridge, the trail now dropped 1,800 feet back down into the hot valley, passed the turn off for the first unreliable water source. I was already 13 miles in and had only used just under 2 of the 6 liters I brought, and I was also feeling good, so I skipped the 1/4 mile spur trail to this water. The next one seemed a bit more reliable anyway, and is right on the trail. I had a quick rest, with shoes off to let me feet cool down and air out, and reshuffled my water, then continued on.
The trail now proceeded to climb back up onto the same long mountain spine, regaining all the altitude it had just given away. I guess they routed the trail that way to go by the water I passed up, and also maybe to avoid some cliffy areas up high. The climb was plenty warm for me, in the low 90s. I deployed the umbrella, and stopped now and then when I found a favorable combination of shade and wind. The view west out into the Hwy 58 valley and on down toward Lake Isabella was fantastic; layers of mountains and hills, the valley with clusters of houses and green scattered across the gold and brown. The mountains here are so steep, and in places the trail seems to just barely cling to the loose scree. I passed the 1/4 point of the trail (!), then crossed out of one drainage and dropped down into another, this one the home of the next possible water, Spanish Needle Creek. A lot of the pinyons along this mountain have died (over 50% in some drainages), and as I made my way toward the creek I heard the loud crash of one of them finally falling a few hundred meters away.
I got to the water about the same time as All The Pretty Trees, sort of a strange guy I've been leapfrogging since Hiker Town. He has the tendency to talk just to fill the quiet space, and sometimes says things that don't make much sense. But he's friendly and fun to hang out with. The creek was just a trickle, so following the advice of the water report I headed upstream to look for more flow. Not far from the trail, right in the damp mud of the creek bed, was a beautiful rattlesnake a bit over 3 feet long. I called back down to ATPT and we watched it cruise through the understory and litter. Then I also saw what I'm pretty sure was a really pale Gopher Snake, up on a fallen branch a foot or so off the ground. It was really still, and I wondered if the rattlesnake might be a potential predator for this guy. It was great to see the rattlesnake. I've seen them plenty before, but haven't seen one yet on this trip. I was sort of feeling like my trip was missing something, but now I've gotten the full PCT desert experience, and just a few days before leaving he desert.
After getting water we hung out a bit with a few other hikers who'd shown up: Mac and Cheese (I love the couples names) and Professor. With some water, the pressure was off to cover 30 miles, so I had a couple-hour siesta while another round of afternoon thunderstorms worked its way through the area.
I slightly mistimed resuming the hike up and over the ridge again, and the clouds dissipated and the sun started blazing again before I reached the pass. I was huffing and puffing and sweating and pushing a bit too hard for my leg just to try and get up and over and out of the heat a little. I did get to see another rattlesnake though, this one a tad under 3 feet and right next to the trail.
For the most part so far on this trip when I've crested a biggish pass, I've been able to look out over the tops of the next several ridges that are all the same height as the one I've just climbed. Not so this time; now when I crested the ridge I was faced with another taller ridge in my path. The topography has assumed a general incline!
I was up in some pinyon and Jeffrey pine forest, again sidehilling along a steep mountain side, now looking down a side canyon to the Chimney Creek Canyon. According to my map, the mouth of this side canyon is guarded on one side by a mountain called Lamont Peak, and on the other by a mountain called simply Lamont. I wound along the ridge, passing a very windy saddle for one more look east down to the desert, then eventually camped just below Lamont.
My feet took a bit of a beating today, and a blister popped up on the ball of each one. I had lengthened my stride a bit today, and I think the added push off with my toes caused this. Also, I gave myself a little foot rub with some lotion a night or 2 ago; I wonder if the lotion might have softened my skin just enough for blisters to form.
I picked a spot to camp tonight that ended up having a fairly robust population of mosquitoes. It was so windy at the last pass, why couldn't I have just camped there?! I got a little taste of what I might be in for over the next week until I get my tent big net. Luckily I have a head net, so with my jacket and pants on and pack cover over my feet I can do pretty good in a pinch. Eating is a little tricky though. Finally after dark the little cretins went to bed, and I was able to sprawl out a bit and enjoy the great star show.
Birds:
Western Meadowlark
Rock Wren
Black-throated Sparrow
Pinyon Jay
Spotted Towhee
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Bewick's Wren
Northern Flicker
Bushtit
White-throated Swift - aerial copulation
Western Scrub-jay
Turkey Vulture
Gnatcatcher
Hairy Woodpecker
Black-headed Grosbeak
Western Wood-pewee
Stellar's Jay
Oregon Junco
Western Screech-owl
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