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And so it is, 265 miles in that i can proudly say i am 1/3 of the way to the end of Southern CA and the start of the Sierra's! The last week has been amazingly hot (it IS a desert though) and I imagine the next few weeks will be more of the same. Sleeping in a depression or valley, or worse, a low elevation dry stream bed, can mean temps below freezing (as the ice in my sleeping bag indicated) - but if you were to move even 50 feet higher, out of the depression, it could easily be 10 degrees warmer. Selecting a good campsite is an art form. Fortunately my sleeping system keeps me toasty even when covered in ice.
During the day i generally keep hiking through the heat, stopping for short breaks to change socks. I was expecting a drier heat, but find myself soaking in sweat often. Water has still been very plentiful, it's certainly a record wet year. I haven't had to carry more than 4 liters at a time, and on the hottest day yet, i followed a flowing creek for 20 miles and only carried half a liter at a time!
With record wet, so to comes abundant plant life. The desert is blooming all over and i've been taking pics of each new flower i see. Frequently the air is full of perfume-like aromas. Desert flowers and even the blooming cactuses.
I made it through the San Jacintos unscathed, although there was lots of snow to walk on and fall into. The infamous Fuller Ridge was pretty easy to get through, but getting to it required some map and compass work. With all the snow, the trail was buried, so you rely on the footsteps of those before you (presumably they had GPS) and sometimes they disappeared or turned around. I went through it all solo, which was a little worrying at times, but then the mountain range is surrounded by roads so it's pretty easy to find safety.
After the San Jacintos was a 40 mile or so strip of HOT desert AND the San Andreas Fault. I stayed a night at a trout farm that had running water, toilets, free camping, and a community star gazing program! Tres cool. The day after the trout farm was 20 miles of constantly gaining elevation 3000 to 8000 i believe) in a breezeless canyon with little shade. Fortunately there was at least water the whole way! At the end i was rewarded with the San Bernadino National Forest.
I should take a moment to say that the terrain so far has been a huge surprise. It can go from typical scrub and cactus to redwood and pine forest instantly. Hardly any transition. One minute you smell desert flowers, thd next vanilla and pine. In both the San Jacintos and San Bernadinos the centerpiece has been a giant, snow-covered mountain. Desert to forest to snow and back again.
And so, here I am just outside the San Bernadino National Forest. To the north i can see the Mojave Desert, which I will cross in a few hundred miles.
My feet are sore (bones ache), my hands have been deeply bronzed from the sun (not burned, just a deep tan) while the rest of me mostly white. Time for bed!
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Thanks to everyone leaving comments, it helps me to better cater this blog to my audience! Since I know there are children following along, I will be including a Kid's Corner section as often as possible!
Often I will be using my iPhone to update my blog, so forgive me when I only have a little to post - it's hard to type long entries with this thing. :)
Please be patient with regard to photos. I have taken 300 already, but it may be a few weeks (or more) until they're online.
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Okie dokie, it's been an amazingly hectic couple of weeks trying to get everything organize and packed properly. I thought I had enough time in my weekend, but in hindsight perhaps painting the doors and trim in our apartment wasn't the best way to spend my last few days. Then again, it did feel really good to do it (looks good AND I do love to paint).
Anyhow, tomorrow afternoon I'll be on a plane to San Diego and hopefully Wednesday morning I'll be on the trail! Hope I have everything I need - I certainly am carrying more weight than I was hoping to. Final numbers aren't in yet, but my pack should weigh around 16 lbs, which is including 3 lbs of camera equipment (oy!).
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Alright, here's the scoop. I don't have a lot of time to blog now, and I probably won't have a lot of time when I'm hiking, so don't count on this site to be uber full of comments and updates.
That said, I have finally purchased my air fare to San Diego and will be hiking April 26 or 27. Cha ching!
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