Day 11 - (5/06/12) - Occupy the Trail

Contents:  High Ridge Near Combs Peak to Mile 147 (18 miles)

Afternoon Edition:  Today was hot!  After a huge bowl of granola and a Carnation nutrition drink, I hit the trail.  I am definitely eating a lot better on this stretch having received a mail drop rather than resupplying at a convenience store.  I feel better!

After leaving the saddle and dropping down the other side, we started gradually losing elevation in the general direction of Anza (I think), the town we'd seen from the ridge.  By 8:00, it was toasty.  After 8 miles, I made it to Tule Spring where Karl, Nugget, Extra Credit, Kayla (now Smiles, totally fitting:  you hear the girl laughing long before you see her!) and I reconvened.  We ate our first lunch, collected enough water to get us to the restaurant tomorrow and with the exception of Smiles, rapidly lost motivation to walk.  Smiles took off and the rest of us did some serious procrastinating.  Finally, as the day was really heating up, we decided to put in a few more miles to the next potential but unverified water source, intending to hunker down there until after dinner.  

I'm currently sitting in the middle of the trail in the shade with no intention of moving until this evening.  I'm feeling better....I was pretty wilted when I first arrived but a slight breeze is kicking up and a few clouds are building.  An old lady in Warner Springs told Extra Credit that her bones were telling her it would rain in 3 days.  We remain a bit skeptical but ever hopeful that she might be right.  There is a slight trickle of water, and I just washed a pair of socks and underwear and rinsed my feet.

Evening Edition:  Karl, Nugget, Extra Credit and I finally folded to peer pressure and hit the trail late this afternoon.  As we were ascending out of the canyon we'd been resting in, thunder started rolling.  It was really neato.  Having spent most of my life in Alaska and Washington, where thunderstorms are quite rare, they still get me excited.  We only saw a flash of lightning, so we weren't too concerned safety-wise. Shortly after the thunder started we felt our first rain drops.  That old lady got it right!  The rain quickly increased in intensity and it wasn't long before we were also getting pelted by hail.  Naturally, my rain coat was packed in the very bottom of my sleeping bag stuff sack which was located in the bottom of the Green Bean.  I made a bee line for the largest tumbleweed like shrub in the area and proceeded to explode my pack under it in order to retrieve my jacket.  Lesson Learned!  Luckily, Karl came upon me in the less than ideal state and was kind enough to shelter me (and my yard sale) as much as possible with his Golite umbrella.

The rain soon abated and it turned into a wonderful evening.  We stopped walking around 5:00 in order to make dinner and then put in a few more miles before establishing camp.  I love the evening hiking and it felt extra special tonight because of the freshness from the storm.

I forget to mention that I saw my first scorpion this morning.  It was hanging out in the middle of the trail.  

In other news, we left San Diego County and entered Riverside County today, and I picked up my first LA radio station.  As rusty as my CA geography is, I think we might be making some progress!

I am still loving the trail.  I feel like it gets better every day.  The sense of community is truly magical, and I can't remember many other times in my life where I have laughed so much.