Mile 127 to 145 Walden

There was a rumor of pancakes at Mike’s, but we decided getting an early start was the smart choice. We were up and moving by 5:45 and watched the sun rise over the rolling foothills of the mountains we would soon climb.

I feel it is getting cliche to say that today was the prettiest day on trail so I will just day the morning was very nice.

We are making our way to Idyllwild, which is a mountain town that is supposed to have a good vibe, food, and a movie theater. With that in mind, we started our climb, which would last for pretty much the whole day.

We reached the first water about 8 miles in and had to climb down to the creek because the water cistern was dry. The creek was slimy and had a metallic taste. After filtering, the water tasted fine though.

We packed out 4 litters and continued onwards and upwards. Today’s heat was something else and we soon found ourselves looking for shade. We found a lone pine tree and took refuge while we cooked our linner (lunch and dinner). I ate butter Idahoans and shrimp ramen.

Around 12:00ish we tried to sneak in some miles to cut the remaining 10 miles down. We got 4.6 before it was too damn hot and we had to find more shade.

We found a dope spot behind a big boulder and crashed. We pretty much passed out and moved as little as possible. B&B had their bags in the sun, which have thermometers attached to them. They were reading 110 degrees. Since they were in direct sunlight, I would guess the actually temperature was some where around 95ish.

We worked up courage and headed out just after 3 to tackle the remaining 5.6 miles. The remaining climbing sucked our energy and the sun was still burning down on us. My shirt was soaked and I was going through my water, but we new there was an unreliable water cache coming up in 3 miles. I was ahead of everyone and rolled into the cache to find it fully stocked even though it was reported empty 3 days prior!

We crashed again and I downed a liter and took another for the final 2.4 miles to the Walden cache, which has water, a lending library and most importantly cold Dr. Thunder!

I ate my second dinner, which was Nutella, chili ramen, and cashews. Everyone is completely smashed and I am about to pass out. The desert is one tough bitch.

Tomorrow we will wake at 5:00 and start a 21 mile day driven forward more by necessity than desire. The water sources decide your day and mileage. Let’s hope we make it.