June 4, 2016 - Got a good night sleep after that horrible day yesterday. I don’t think I fully hydrated because I never had to pee during the night.
I left camp just before 6am with 3 liters of water and drank it all before I got to the next water some 7 miles down trail, wanted to make sure I drank enough water. The next water source which would be the last reliable source for 42 miles. I had heard rumors of some water caches but you can never rely on them. However people were saying you could count on these.
The first mile was uphill and very buggy. It was already starting to get warm so I was thinking I was going to have a repeat from yesterday. Then I entered this nice pine forest and the temperature seemed to drop, it was nice. It was like that all the way to Landers Meadow.
I was thinking to carry out 9 liters but talking with the others there they seemed to think with the 3 water caches ahead would be good for a liter or 2. Therefore I ended up taking 6.5 liter which was way better than 9 but still heavy.
Left Landers Meadow and walked through the forest thinking it was going to be like that all day, that I’ve left the desert behind. I was so wrong. Pretty much the last 25 miles was in upper desert conditions, hot, sunny, cloudless, sandy and no water.
Overall the desert part wasn’t as bad as I thought. I took my normal late morning/early afternoon rest. I got moving again around 3:30pm. I found the perfect spot on the side of the ledge but I started to lose my shade as the sun shifted.
Everything was going well even with the heat. My trusty umbrella really helped hiking in those sunny areas.
I came to one of the water caches but debated on whether to take any, I was really hoping not to us any of the water caches as it feels like I’m cheating. However I decided I would grab some at the next one. On the way to the cache I had this horrible 2 mile uphill in this very dry and deep sand. It felt like I needed to take 2 or 3 steps just to go up 1. I was glad when that was over.
Made it to the cache just as the sun was starting to go over the mountains. There were several other hikers there when I arrived. I tried to take just what I needed, 2 liters. Those last 21 miles I had only drank 4.5 liters so it was possible to make it that full 42 on just the 6.5 liters but I knew that wasn’t smart. There was also some trail magic in a cooler, I took some chocolate.
I took off last in the group as the sun was setting, just watching the sky turn a nice red/orange glow. The last 4 miles was all uphill, about 1500 feet of climbing.
I was able to make it to camp without using my headlamp but it started to get dark towards the end.
I set up as fast as possible since I’m normally in camp a lot earlier. I tried my best not to wake up any in camp.
The night sky was amazing which makes night hiking enjoyable. Not only do you get to see the stars, you also have cooler weather.
Tomorrow I’ll head into town to resupply and probable stay there the next day just to rest up. I haven’t taken a zero day yet but I can tell my body is needing it.
