Day 19, The Trail Provides

Part 1, The Desert, Day 19

The Trail Provides

Miles: 23.12

PCT Mile: 328.5

That moon kept me up last night, as usual. If only something existed that i could use to cover my eyes at night, but that's not possible...I woke up every hour until 5am, then lay frustrated in my tent until 6am. Moons and canyons are not a good combo for sleep. I started at 6:45 and continued 3 miles to Deep Creek Hot Springs.

Even this early, I could just feel that it would be hot today, and as tired as I was, I wasn't looking forward to it. I could tell I was at the hot springs when I saw a bunch of people down by the river, and there was waste and toilet paper everywhere. I didn't camp here because I'd heard how popular a place it is in SoCal for weekenders and how dirty it is. My water report states: 

  "The USDA has issued a warning not to drink or dunk your head in the Deep Creek Hot Spring due to the presence of a potentially fatal disease and pollution from human waste."

When I saw the main spring, it surprised me:

The water was very hot and the pool was deep and looked clean. nobody was near the spring, so I stopped and dipped in for about ten minutes, it was sweet! Hopefully my skin doesn't MELT. I would have taken more pics of the area, but there were many naked old men wandering around, muttering to each other. I hiked on down the never ending canyon. 

There were dozens of great swimming holes below, too far away to enjoy, it was hard to keep my eyes on the narrow trail. I passed Geisha Girl, who had just seen a huge Black Bear on the trail minutes before I arrived. I was jealous. By this time I just wanted out of the canyon. I crossed over this rainbow colored bridge:

As I got closer to the canyon mouth, there was more trash and lots of graffiti on the rocks. 

Most of the graffiti was "r.i.p." stuff, I'm assuming for the homies who couldn't be here today. ( I just noticed my dorky shadow on the pic)

I found this mysterious hole. Can you guess what was inside it?

If you guessed trash, you're correct!

After 3 hours, I finally came out the other side of the canyon at the Mojave Dam. 

I found this tiny bit of water sitting on the middle of the desert. It looked too much like a scene out of "Breaking Bad." 

I was bummed by the desert view here because I was already hot and tired and didn't really want to bake on the desert floor, but the trail is the trail. I needed water so I followed the path behind the dam and came to my very first fording. A whopping 6 inches of Deep Creek:

The water felt so good on my feet, but after so many miles of seeing trash and such, I chose not to get water here. I was nervous about this decision, but stood by it. 

I crossed a road and saw something under a juniper tree about 200 yards up the trail:

A Water cache! This was just what I desperately needed, as there was no  good water for the next 16 miles. Also, the trash cans are crucial. Trash builds up fast out here, and it sucks carrying it. This really helped me out. I passed some strange pet cemetery:

Hopefully the animals don't come to life tonight and get me. Then some great things happened. This big, glorious cloud parked itself under the sun. 

It just stayed there for a long time, and it cooled me down. Then a wind picked up that would blow for the rest of the day. After roasting in that canyon, these events were very welcome. 

The best surprise was that the trail avoided the desert. It hugged the mountain side for 12 miles and provided great views.

I was hiking for a while with G-Had, who was trying to teach me poker as we hiked. To put a stop to this nonsense, I suggested we stop for lunch, so I sat with a few other hikers. The good thing about talking to other hikers is that you learn some tricks. I was eating peanut butter out of a packet and G-Had told me to put it on a candy bar. I looked at him as if a light bulb had smashed over his head. 

We don't fuck around out here. 

This was delicious. Why don't I think of these things? Another thing about eating in the desert, is that you must get used to having dirt on your food. It's already caked on you, but it will also, always, be in your food. Deal with it. The rest of the afternoon was nice, thanks to the wind. I was on cruise control for awhile.

What happens on the trail, stays on the trail...

Not bad actually. The trail finally descended down to a road. My body was killing me, but I needed water, so I moved on.

This water didn't look too tasty:

I spent a while hiking around something massive, but wouldn't find out until later what it was.

As the trail went uphill, I was so beat, but I saw a cooler... Trail Magic!!!!

This was just what I needed. Cold water and fruit! I ate some nectarines. They tasted like happiness. 

This motivated me to go the last few miles to my camp and water destination, it was already a big mile day, but this helped me push on. As I got to the top of the hill, I saw something very unexpected.

A gigantic lake! Silverwood Lake was so big, and normally I would have gone and plunged into it, but it was super windy. The trail followed around the lake for about 3 miles for me, and it was a beautiful hike.

I knew I only had about 2 miles until I reached a picnic area with water and bathrooms that I could camp at, but my feet ached so bad that I had to go to another place on my head just to make it. A peaceful, less dirty place. 

I finally made it and I ate dinner at a picnic table with No Trace and Unbreakable, a couple from Northern Ca,

and it was good stuff, they're veteran hikers and they gave me several tips. I'm so exhausted now and my legs are cramping. I apologize if this post isn't up to par, but I need to sleep, and it better happen tonight. I've also had some amazing comments and I love them, so keep reading and I'll keep writing.