Whew. Tough day at the office. We made a mistake not getting on the trail early. We won’t do that again in the desert. We began hiking around 8am and it was already hot. The first 3.6 miles down to the underpass of busy I-10 weren’t too bad. But once we began climbing around 10am, the heat and sun were brutal. We climbed very sluggishly, almost at a crawl up the steep canyon called Gold Canyon, past several miles of windmill farms. There wasn’t any wind where we were. By 11:30a.m. I was looking for shade…any shade, which wasn’t to be found. Finally I tucked under a creosote bush, hoping no rattlesnakes were enjoying shade there, and was able to find a couple of square feet out of the sun.
I was feeling nauseous, getting some sweat chills and knew I was dangerously close to heat exhaustion. The water in my hydration system was hot and that made it difficult to keep drinking. Good To Go joined me and we waited almost 45 minutes for Phantom who appeared to be really struggling in the heat. I figured we had only a few more yards to the pass through the canyon, then about 5 miles to the Whitewater River. All I could think about was making my body move to get to the river.
We trudged four miles to a washed out area of the trail in a sandy wash near the river. Stopping for lunch in the heat a 2pm was tortuous, but we were struggling to find the trail, hungry, dehydrated and all feeling sick from the heat. Finally we pressed on another grueling mile on sandy trail (we’ve had a lot of sandy trail today that is similar to the sand near dunes in NC that is difficult to walk on). When we got to the swift moving whitewater river, there was actually a little shade from the steep riverbank cut out by floods earlier this year from excessive rain. We dropped our packs, got in the water to wash off excessive layers of dirt, sand and grime. We did some wilderness laundry, washing socks, shorts and shirts. Then the three of us rolled out our mattresses in the sandy shade and took a couple hours of siesta next to the raging whitewter.
I awoke a little after 5pm to see Good To Go cooking an early dinner, while Phantom was still sleeping. We all agreed to cook dinner, then ford the river to the other side, filter water, and hike approximately 1.6 miles to a flat area to camp. Fording was both fun and challenging; the current was very strong and the water depth approached mid-thigh, so we took it slow facing upstream and using hiking poles for leverage. Once across, we stopped to filter water and clean sand out of our wet shoes. Then we pushed up and over a short but steep climb down to the next small valley surrounded by hills. Time to call it quits for the day. Today will be memorable for excessive heat and our struggle to hike in shadeless sun. Tomorrow promises more of the same as we continue to climb, eventually reaching crisp but cold and snowy terrain in the next couple of days approaching the ski resort town of Big Bear City.
I forgot to mention in yesterday’s journal that as we approached the bottom of our long descent from the San Jacintos, we could smell Burger King from at least 7 miles away. The aroma of burgers and cooking oil was in stark contrast to the sweet and pungent smells of wildflowers and white sage. We could only dream of the fast food since we were several miles away and not going anywhere near a town at the I-10 crossing point. Tomorrow morning we’ll beat the heat by getting up at first light (5am) and hiking early, then searaching for any shade available. We’re in the San Bernadinos now, and hiking along a section of the San Andreas fault today. I’m looking forward to cooler climates and TREES. Onward to Big Bear City. Oh, saw a roadrunner today. Another cowboying night with brilliant stars to gaze at before I sleep.
Weather: HOT, low 64, high 100. Today’s mileage: 14.4; cumulative mileage: 220.0.
