Today looks challenging. The main problem is that there are only two water sources. The first one is 3 miles away and 1.3 miles off the trail. No bueno. The second source is a bit of a stretch. It is 9.5 miles away and half a mile off trail down a steep side trail. We decide to skip the first water and go to the second one.
Under normal conditions, this would be OK. I typically drink a liter of water in camp. That gets me 4 miles before I need more. Another liter will get me to mile 8. So I will go a little further than normal with no water. Doable, right?
The early trail
We slept at 6300 feet last night – our highest altitude this hike. We are going up to 7000 feet over 5 miles. I am excited to get to altitude. The trail though is rocky and I am struggling to breath in the thin air.
I am very thirsty but I resist drinking. I have to make my water last and I am down to 1.5 liters already. The air is hazy.
When we are almost to the top, San Jacinto comes into view.
I am really gassed. The temperature is in the 70s, but the sun is really hot, and the altitude has taken my breath away.
Signs of trouble
The trail descends 1000 feet before it goes back up again 1300 feet to water. You can see an enormous lake in the distance. I wish I were there.
The trail is as poor as I have seen it. Rocks are everywhere on the trail, making progress slow. There are blown down trees across the trail. We have to climb over or under them. Keith is right behind me now. Keith is normally never right behind me.
At the bottom of the descent, we take our second break to eat a snack. We have been hiking for four hours. On a normal day we would have gone eight miles. We have gone 5. We lay down in the shade, our bodies flat out on the ground. Sticks and dirt are in my hair. I don’t care. After 15 minutes I rise and spur us on. I sense that I am getting dangerously overheated. I have less than 10 oz of water.
Trouble
We are heading up to the trail that will take us down to Apache Spring. It’s a climb of 1300 feet over three miles. I should be able to do this. But I can’t. I move at a snails pace. Every 15 minutes I have to stop. I throw my pack off and fall into any available shade. I can’t slow my breathing down and my heart is pounding. Keith says we should stop looking at the map and just stop as often as I need to. That’s kind of what we are doing anyway, so I agree.
As we lay in the shade, my chest heaving, we make gallows humor about how dumb this all is. Why would anyone do this to themself? It’s insane. Keith says it’s good to go through this as proof that you can. He is trying to cheer me up. He says hard times build character. I say that our character building days are over. Hard times REVEAL your character. So I accidentally motivate myself. What kind of a person am I?
Apache Spring
We make it to the top. It is 2:30. We have not eaten lunch. I drink the last swallow of my water and drop to my side as my stomach cramps. This is going to take some time. We drop our packs and put our water containers in Keith’s empty food bag.
I take snacks to the spring, hoping i can eat them with the water we will collect. We take electrolyte powder. The spring is half a mile down a side trail. We collect the water, I add the electrolyte powder and start slowly sipping it as I lay on the ground.
We stay by the spring for over an hour. I drink 1.5 liters and eat some snacks. But we have to go. Our campsite is still almost two miles away.
The road to recovery
On our way to camp we find the trail blocked with snow. Some people have tried to go around it, creating footprints that slide off the trail. There are track on the snow, but if you slip you are going to tumble down the slope under the trail. I hop up on the snow and walk in the same tracks that others have used. Keith barks, “But if you slip!” I reply from the top of the snow, “That’s why I’m not going to slip.”
The hike to camp is fine. The trail looks beautiful in the late afternoon.
In camp I drink more electrolytes. I have started to get some chaffing between my toes and my butt cheeks today. I clean these up and put a little Vagasil on them. Tomorrow will be more of the same. But if all goes well, I will make it to Idyllwild where I can rest for a few days.
Keith reminded me that he is halfway through his time with me. He is leaving the trail at mile 342. He was a big help to me today. It would have been really hard without him. And maybe that matters just as much as character- having friends you can rely on.
- May 17, 2023
- Starting marker: 159.7
- Ending marker: 170.1
- Miles hiked today: 11 (1off trail)
- Total PCT miles: 170
- From the Thru-hiker lexicon: Frog-tongue – when viscous spit fails to completely leave your mouth, but instead wraps around your face and attaches to your cheek or chin. Caused by dry mouth.
Glad you made it through to the spring! Hope the next days of hiking are less fraught.
Glad you two made it through, not sure I would have been able to do that without water for all of it. It’s good that you each spur each other on. Keith’s feet must be better if he is keeping up with you. Hike on!!
Water is a big issue where you are at. I understand
Jim