Mile 109.5 to 115.0. 5.5 total miles. Elevation start 3040, end 3235. High temp 77, low 46. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Sorry about the delay in posting. I’ve had spotty cell service out away from civilization. I awoke around 7 AM at the campground in Warner Springs. While laying in my tent, I heard chickens gobbling nearby, horses whining way off in the distance, and a family of pigeons clucking their way through camp. The pigeons live there and seem to feed off of the food that hikers spill.
Today was mostly a day of rest after banging out 20 miles the previous day. I went to the gas station and bought, and ate 2 king size peanut M@Ms!! Our group has been whittled down to 2, just myself and Zack from Queens, NYC. Oli from Switzerland hiked ahead with a girl that he likes and they’re planning on big mile days, so I doubt I will see him again. Tom has decided to spend an extra day behind to ret up, so I’m going to be ahead of him. One thing I’m learning is that people come and go on the trail. I may be hiking solo for an extended time, or end up in a group.
On a side note, I weighed myself at the Warner Springs community center. I’ve lost 11 lbs in 8 days!! I weighed 228 lbs before I started, and weigh 217 now. I also marked my belt with permanent ink marker before I started, and that mark already extends about an inch and three-quarters beyond where I fastened it the day before. I’m going to have to consume more calories. Strange enough, I haven’t felt lethargic nor hungry so far.
I ran into Joshua from Hong Kong, Kevin from Germany, and Logan from Minnesota, so Warner Springs was a small class reunion of sorts. I also talked to Braden and Julia (trailnames Duke and Dutchess). I have been crossing paths with them quite a bit the last few days. Rich from Seattle wants to hike with us over snow covered San Jacinto mountain. People have only recently been able to get through the San Jacinto mountain passes. Shoe spikes and ice axe are required as of right now.
Shortly after noon, I said good bye to my new trail friends at Warner Springs and began my trek north. There was a slight change of scenery north of Warner Springs. The trees now grew mostly up to 15 feeet high, but there were still flowers everywhere.
I’ve noticed that in the fields with all of the wildflowers, the forest has burned within the last 5ish years. There are very few flowers in the older growth forests. There is a tremendous amount of dead undergrowth in these forests. I’m afraid they will become tinderboxes fueling the next few years of forest fires.
I found a perfect campsite in a canyon cul-de-sac off of the Agua Caliente creek. This creek currently has lots of water flow. I camped in this canyon, surrounded by 100-200 year old trees, tall grass and the sound of the Agua Calente rapids nearby. This idyllic, peaceful evening is a stark contrast to what tomorrow will bring, which, unbeknownst to me at this time, will end up as one of the single most bizarre, strange days I’ve had in a very long time! Stay tuned! 😉
Great tease comment for the next post Soden! I got to know what happened!