Man today was tough. Only got 12.5 trail miles covered, but ended up doing 15.5 overall with getting water off route.
The altitude was the first thing that hit me – for my east coast readership, altitude is a measure of how high above sea level you are, and mountains on this coast get so high it hits you like a freaking truck. The air is thinner so you have a harder time breathing, and it’s drier too so your water needs shoot up. Over 12 miles today between water sources I guzzled 5 liters, and was left wanting more – the usual pace is 1 liter every 4 miles. I even got a little lightheaded around siesta time after about 4-5 hours of hiking, something I haven’t experienced yet despite hiking in areas with even less shade cover.
The terrain today was also an ass-kicker. Easily the steepest graded sections I’ve hit yet, some feeling practically straight uphill. This included my second water source, a mile off the trail. When the trail is switchbacking aggressively and it still feels too steep? In for a tough day. This was compounded by the numerous blown down trees that I had to go under, over, and around depending on the lay of the land. There was also a section of about a mile that was so overgrown with bushes taller than me that I thought I might come out looking like I was wearing a neon green jumpsuit from all the pollen I was disturbing.
There were awesome views today over Palm Springs and some nice valleys on the other side of the ridge. Camping in a spot I can see both views maybe 20 paces apart – pretty special.
I had hoped to make a one-day in-and-out resupply in idyllwild tomorrow without staying the night – that would be a stretch now with 10 tough miles to go before I can hitch a ride. I’m gonna just take the 8 pct miles as a win and stay the night before (hopefully) crushing some miles starting early the next day if all my shopping is done.
The mountain I’ve been heading up towards is San Jacinto, which is pretty cool when I think about how far back it felt from that overlook on one of those early days. The trail goes near by but not over the peak, though there’s a route I could take that wouldn’t add too many miles that would let me get to the summit. Not thrilled about the idea of trying that with a freshly full pack but I’m going to keep an open mind and see how I feel in two days.
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