Back for this year’s installment of the Desert Trail, having spent an entire winter without sufficient physical punishment to humble me.
Looking at the map, I’m not sure I’ll get it here. Most of the walking is across basins and valleys, not a lot of steep climbs. But maps can only tell you so much. This is the Mojave Desert. Hiking here is always hard. If I don’t suffer today, then I will suffer tomorrow. Suffering is the only certainty in this place.
Although I certainly do hope to be able to find the caches I set out yesterday, and I certainly hope that the springs (and a river!) that I am counting on in between caches will a) have water and b) that water will be drinkable. Once again, eastern California is in a drought. The US Drought Monitor shows my route to be mostly through areas of extreme drought, occasionally passing through areas of only severe drought.
I parked my car on an old mining road in a grove of Joshua Trees about a mile from I-15 at Halloran Summit. It is not visible from the interstate which means that it should not attract attention from that quarter. On the other hand, if any jeepers or ATVers pass by, they will not have to worry about being spotted while stealing my catalytic converter or tires or generally vandalizing the car. It’s a chance I will have to take.
Starting off during another dry spring in the Mojave
I started walking at 8AM and made my first water stop at Francis Spring, some 10 miles on, at 1PM. The walking was pretty easy, mostly contouring around and through low hills. There was one lava escarpment I had to follow for a mile before finding a way down.
The trail is staying around 4000-4500 feet elevation. Even within this limited range of elevations, the higher places are noticeably greener than the lower. With so little rain, I think a degree or two of average temperature makes a difference in determining which plants make it and which do not. I also saw a few fox tracks, so it appears the drought has not wiped all of them out. Not yet at least.
Francis Spring – plenty of water but no shade
The spring itself was an unremarkable pond. There were no bushes or trees around it, which was cause for concern that it might be alkaline. There were also only a couple of burro poops. But the water was merely murky, warm and unrefreshing, not actively poisonous. I count that as a win.
Through more low hills
Stopped walking as soon as the sun was low enough to generate shade in a deep wash. My legs and feet are not in such great shape so no point pushing it. Better to focus on getting my mind in the right space, to get it synced into trail time. Watching bats flit through the twilight while sipping whisky is a good way to do this and so that is how I will spend my evening.