Although it was a clear night, the wind picked up at 10 pm. There were very strong gusts, but fortunately I was protected by hearty trees. In addition, I was cowboy camping so there was no worry about my tent.
Since I am separated from our group, I decided to get up at 4:30 to try to catch up with them. I was on the trail at 5 using my headlamp to find the trail. Unfortunately I couldn't spot their campsite, so I thought they may have hiked further last night.
The sunrise was spectacular. I could see all of the lights from Palm Springs.
The trail drops steadily towards the desert floor. About half way down this is the view of Mt San Jacinto.
The trail led to a drinking fountain, one of the reliable sources of water. I was down to less than one liter of water, so I finished it off and then took 3 more.
The trail headed to the valley floor and it started to warm up. It was supposed to be in the mid-eighties today. This is the view of the valley and the mountains that I will climb later this afternoon.
The trail goes under Interstate highway 10. I decided to stop at a popular trail angel's house that is just off the trail. They are named 'Ziggy and the Bear". I signed in, got some fig bars, restocked my water, and headed up the trail.
This area is very windy, and there were many wind turbines on the hills.
The rest of the afternoon I climbed the trail into the mountains. There were more wind turbines on the hills that made odd noises as the blades turned.
On the way up I saw this cute heart just before a climb on the trail.
By dinner time I got my first glimpse of the Whitewater River.
In addition, I caught up with Casey! She too had become separated from the group and had not seen any of the others since yesterday. We stopped for water at the river.
I made mashed potatoes and noodles for dinner.
We decided to camp here tonight at mile 220.2. (Did you notice I passed 200 miles?)
Great read thank yyou
ReplyDelete