Day 13 May 19, 2017

• Daily mileage 18
• Total mileage 235
• Hiked from 6:30 am to 5:00 pm

 Today was about going uphill in the heat.

I started my day at the Whitewater Preaserve which was a really nice place.  I guess it started out as a trout farm but was eventually converted to a day use park.  Day use for everyone except PCT hikers because we are special.  And we promise to be packed up and out of sight by 8:00 am!

Legend was up and serving coffee and pancakes at first light.  It was nice to sit around for an hour or so just chatting with the folks in the new bubble that I am now in.

Then it was off to do my day job.  Even first thing, it was fairly warm already.  The trail wandered up the Whitewater drainage for a while, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet.  Then the long, very gradual climb began   I climbed up through the Mission Creek drainage, never at a really steep grade, but almost always going up.  As I sit here in camp (by myself so far, but it is early) the elevation is 6,600 feet.  So yeah, a long grinding uphill today.  My thermometer read around 85F all afternoon.  Surprisingly enough, I felt really good for the vast majority of the day.  I could have easily gone farther, but I am all set up to get into Big Bear mid-morning on Sunday, so tagging on extra miles today made no sense.  And this way I can finish the last 1,800 or so feet on this climb in the early morning cool.

Looking back at San Jacinto from the Whitewater valley

Dry, rugged Mission Creek

There are times when you look ahead and ask how does the trail get through that?

The trail and I had a minor parting of our ways this afternoon.  It went into a really swampy area and it obviously emerged from the swamp at a different point than I did.  I am embarrassed to say that it took me about 30 minutes to find the trail again.  It was obvious that it had to be in a space of about 150 yards across the bottom of the gulley, but it was up higher than I expected.  I felt better when I talked to other hikers and 100% of them lost the trail at the same place.

I did not see a ton of people on the trail again today.  It would seem that I am on a different hiking shift than most.  I like to get up as early as light will permit and get going.  It would seem that most other hikers like to sleep in and then hike longer into the afternoon/evening than I like to do.

   

Home for the night