Up and at ‘em. We were up fairly early this morning and got packed to leave town. The plan was to call Dave, the trail angel, for another ride 8 miles out of town. Because we got his cell message for 30 minutes, we decided to hitch out instead and got a ride with the first car that went by (our hitching luck has been awesome). So at 9am we began the forest service road hike up Black Mtn. Road to return to the PCT. Our buddies were just behind us with another ride. We caught up to Opto and Squirrel on the road and stopped after 4 miles for a 45 minute break to catch up on AT talk and to visit. Soon we were hiking again, and Debi, Psycho, and Grilled Cheese caught up to us. We all walked together another 2 miles, then they stopped at a group camping area and were done hiking for the day. We said our goodbyes (sorry to see us get ahead in a way) but Phantom and Good To Go and I had miles to do.
We stopped for lunch at a picturesque spot along the service road at a picnic table with nearby views of the desert floor 7000 feet below and the San Gorgonio Mtns. 11,000 feet high beyond. Opto joined us for lunch; somehow we missed seeing Squirrel as he slipped by us. After lunch we hustled ahead to help Opto find Squirrel. Once we helped them get reconnected, Phantom, Good To Go and I started pressing to do miles down the long, long, long tortuous descent to the desert floor. Water was very scarce; I finally found a small puddle to filter some water for us. It became clear as the day went on that we would need to push for the desert floor to get to the next water.
It was my big day for rattlesnakes. I achieved a hat trick, sighting 3 of the critters on the trail as we hiked. The score is now Phantom 4, Rabbit 3. I was pretty jumpy and on my guard going through grassy sections of the trail after we nearly stepped on rattlesnake #1. On the 7000 foot descent we passed through multiple life zones. The wildflowers were stunning, looking up at the snowy peak of San Jacinto was equally stunning and smelling the wafting fragrance of sage kept me happy as we walked. Finally by late afternoon/early evening we were tired of walking and our feet hurt, but we pressed on until 7:30p.m. when we finally reached the water spigot and near the bottom of the 18 mile descent we made dinner.
The fellas went to bed (all of us are cowboying tonight in the heart of rattlesnake country…gulp) and I am catching up on the journaling as usual. It’s a gorgeous night; we can see Interstate 10 four miles below us, looking up I see the silhouette of Mt. San Jacinto and surrounding peaks, the moon is up and there are broken clouds. It is 75 degrees at 10 p.m. Our first hot night since the border.
Today’s mileage: 8 road walk plus 18 trail miles. Cumulative trail miles: 205.6. Staying at Snow Canyon Road at the water fountain. Good night.
