Now that was a full day. Started with six liters of water from my faucet since I didn’t want to rely on water caches. Made good time to the I-10 underpass, which was pretty cool!
The I-10 underpass is at the San Gorgonio Pass, which is the lowest point on the trail until the Columbia River Gorge! That meant I had to climb. And as I climbed, so did the temperature – got to a high of 94 today. I made good time though in getting to a lovely late siesta spot called Whitewater Preserve.
Whitewater Preserve was a lovely little oasis with options to charge electronics, drink potable water, relax at shaded tables, and even camp if one were so inclined. I hung out for about three hours and ate an early dinner, mostly just to stall as I waited for the heat to break.
That’s going to be the trick over the next several weeks – getting up earlier and earlier to hike while it’s still cool, resting during the hot part of the day, and hiking until it gets dark. Gotta say, worked pretty well today! 18 miles with moderate elevation gain, and probably tacked on 1.5mi round trip to the preserve.
I’ve got a stellar campsite, but I took a couple vids that will tell the story:
Lastly, a couple pics:
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