Same procedure as usual, alarm set for 5h and snoozed it for 30 more minutes. The camp was half empty when I finally left at 6h15.

 

The new underwear I bought yesterday is amazing! Nothing scrubs anymore and my sore legs can finally heal again.

 

 

The first 7 miles were ok and I made myself breakfast at 9h30 next to the last watersource for the next 11 miles. I took 5 liters because I didn’t want to risk anything in the heat of the day.

The next 10,5 miles were just going uphill and the heat was gettin unbearable. So I took a lunch-break at this magicl place 🙂

 

 

After an hour where I should have put off my shoes I had another 5 miles to cover before hitting Mike’s place. The landscapes are majestic, they change so fast and they are all beautiful! The desert where nothing grews was only 10 miles away and now you’re walking trough a forest and everything is green.

As always the last few miles seem to be endlessly long…

At around 15h I reached Mike’s, an amazing place full of random kindness. There is cold beer and coke, fresh pizza, pie, a ping-pong table, darts,…

 

 

 

 

Again, everthing is free, but as written at the entrance, without donations those trail-angels have no way of maintaining their places.

ALL of the people arriving behind me saw rattlesnakes on the trail, all of them… And I still haven’t, I gonna have to pay more attention because sometimes the snakes don’t rattle at you.

The plan for tomorrow: alarm set for 3h to get 25 miles by lunchtime and maybe hitch to paradise cafe or just have an early camp setup to avoid the heat. Lets see if this works with getting up that early…

Almost 🙂 at 3h10 I got out of my sleeping-bag and because I didnt slept in my tent and everything was prepared, I was hiking by 3h28.

Nighthiking is the only reasonable way to walk trough the desert. By the time the heat set in around 9h00 I had already hiked 10miles/16km and I was able to take some nice pictures of the sunrise 🙂

 

 

The watersource I relied on was hard on the limit, I took the least amount nessecary to get to Mary’s Watercache. By that time the heat did reached its peak and the last 6mi/10km were just uphill without any shade.

 

I saw it comming that my I would have to drink the suspicuous water from the creek. At some point about 3mi/5km from Mary my Camelbag surrendered and I told myself to try to get to Mary without one more sip.

 

Hiking at 30 degres, uphill with no shade, hat, buff, longsleeve, gloves and long pants with only my eyes out I trotted there and the distance didn’t seemed to decrease.

 

But the trail provides, I sank down on my knees and kissed the watercache in the middle of nowhere and look a liter to get myself safe to Mary’s place. The trailbook which was laying on the watercache was a great way to see when my friends passed this place. They are placed all around the trail and I make sure to sign everyone so friends on trail know where I am and there is a trace if something does happen to me.

2 hours later I arrived at Mary’s Oasis how she calls it. 2 Picknick tables in the shade, ice-cooled lemonade and water, a toilet and a big cistern for a full water resupply have been offered by her. No tip-jar this time!!!

 

I had 2 lunches over the 3 hours I was there. After 15h00 a few more hikers tumbled in and at 16h00 I decided to continue for 3 more hours.

As always these last 2-3 hours hurt the most… I set up my tent, took 2 videos with my drone, got into my tent, ate inside and went to sleep at 20h00.

Alarm set to 4h00, 18 miles to the fire closure, 3,5 to hike out to a highway and then 15 miles of hitchhiking into Idyllwild. I might want to take a zero there or a nero, but we’ll see when I’m there 🙂