Day 12, The Descent

Part 1, The Desert, Day 12

The Descent

Miles: 20

PCT Mile: 210.5

Last night was freezing cold. I only slept a few hours as I spent most of the night shivering in my sleeping bag. Even with my warmest jacket and base layers I was cold, so I may have to look into this before the Sierras. I packed up and left by 6:30. The trail was so beautiful that I could barely hike, I kept stopping to take pictures.

It was still dark on the ridge I was on, so these pics don't tell the whole story, but I had a view of the entire San Gorgonio Valley. 

I met a hiker named G.G and we joked about these views were our reward for having to endure the snowstorm the previous day. She took my picture on this hanging rock overlooking the valley, and I made her get up there for a pic, even though she was afraid of heights. It was really funny.

The views were amazing, with the desert valley on one side and snowy Mt. San Jacinto on the other.

Today was a notorious descent into the desert. It was 15 miles, all downhill, completely exposed and waterless, while losing 7,000 feet in elevation. Backpackers generally hate downhill hiking because it's very hard on the body when carrying a heavy load, and 15 miles downhill was something I didn't look forward to, but it wasn't even the hardest part of the day.

I put my headphones in and powered down the trail. I'm really glad I brought my iPod, because when you hike for 14 hours a day, you run out if things to think about. I was singing along to myself and came across this:

Over 200 miles down, like a billion to go. These milestones are kind of fun though. Around this time, it started to get hot. It was windy and cold all morning, but the sun began to beat down the closer I got to the desert floor. There was no shade, and I hadn't eaten anything, but there was no place to stop. I brought 6 liters of water and was carefully rationing it, but with the relentless sun, I stopped, bathed myself in sunscreen, hydrated and continued down. I saw this guy:

No rattle, maybe a gopher snake?

I had been hiking down for 7 hours already with the desert still too far away, and I was light headed and baking hot. I knew I needed shade so I saw a rock and stumbled up a hill to it. There was inches of shade, but I sat down and took my pack off. Something told me to scan the area for snakes and I looked over my shoulder and saw this: 

This rattler was quietly inches away from my head. I moved so fast that I almost fell down the hill, and it started rattling, I could not believe it didn't bite me and how lucky I was. Look closely at the pic.

After this I was full of adrenaline, and I vowed to be more mindful of the areas while I'm in the desert. I still needed shade to wait out the middle of the day and I found a great spot.

Since I hate most of my trail food, I'm trying to get calorie dense stuff that actually tastes good, so I had salami with those cheese sticks and it was way better than the trash I had.

I was very proud of my spot, the best and only sliver of shade on the last 12 miles. I could have passed out I was so exhausted but I'd rather reach the desert floor, cross it and get it over with, do I went back out into the sun. 

I finally reached the bottom and found a bunch of hikers sitting around the water source, which happened to be a basic water fountain. 

Why they were all sitting there in the sun, I don't know, but I filled up my water and got the hell out of there. Crossing the desert was miserable. I felt like I was on some twisted vision quest, and the sun was frying my brain.

It was an ugly desert. There was nothing out there but dirt and heat. I imagine this is where people go to bury a body. 

I finally found shade, another freeway underpass, this going under I10, but I walked through and didn't hang around... It smelled horrible under there. 

I saw a hiker I know, No Trace, who said a trail angel house is 3 miles away so with no place to camp for about 14 miles, and needing water I headed there. 

White Water Trail House, located near Cabazon, CA, is a hiker house operated by an elder couple named Ziggy and the Bear. 

I felt weird walking into some random yard, but I was immediately welcomed and asked to sign in, then handed a cold Gatorade. It's pretty cool, there are tents, wash stations and bathrooms. I washed my socks, charged my phone and filled my water, and I guess I'm sleeping on the yard, because it's too late find a camp spot. A ton of hikers just came in, so it's really loud now, but I just need to take care of my feet and rest, though I doubt I'll sleep with all these people around. 

Sorry if this blog post is no Bueno, I'm typing it on my phone and it's really loud here. They say on the PCT you pay your dues in the desert, and I'd really rather move through it as quickly as possible.