I was a bit slow getting up and out of my cold and soggy camp this morning. It’s remarkable just how wet it got, heavy dewfall is not something one often encounters in the desert. Especially when the ground is dry. It must have been the clear skies and subsequent rapid drop in temperature that just plummeted past the dew point and sent me into my sleeping bag as soon as the sun went down.
I brought along my newest gear item, an REI Flexlite Air chair, which weighs only one pound. I went back and forth quite a bit on the wisdom of this when I was making my gear list for the hike. One pound is a substantial addition to my pack’s base weight (everything but food, water and fuel), which is usually 10-12 lbs in the summer, and 12-14 lbs in colder temps.
What decided the issue for me was my vision of sitting out and watching desert sunsets while sipping warm drinks. I would extend this time by building a small fire in my Caldera Cone (a fire that is completely contained and leaves no trace) to ward off the night chill.
That plan didn’t happen last night–the dry grass made it unsafe to build a fire and it got too cold too quick to bother setting up the chair. I hope I don’t just end up toting it around unopened for the next 60 miles or so.
Early sun on Covington Flats
Although my camp was wet and cold, the flats are open, especially to the east. The sun hit early and the day warmed quickly. I rolled up my tarp wet and started walking.
I continued on the CRHT trending east. The trail dropped down into a valley that supports very large Joshua Trees. I passed a group of three hikers drying their tents and sleeping bags out on the rocks.
Good-size Joshua Trees and even a few pines
The trail then turned north for a long tedious and tiring climb up on to the plain adjoining the Stubbe Springs hills. My original plan was to follow a side trail up into those hills but instead I chose to stay on the plain and cut 4 miles from my route. I started late and the days are short (sunset is at 5pm) so it is a challenge to stay on track. Especially after a late start. Also I needed time if I was to do the chair-at-sunset thing.
One of the drawbacks of hiking JTNP in January is that it is too early for flowers, especially at the 4000+ foot level. So I saw no flowers and had to settle for a few tufts of greenery. Plus the nice Joshua Trees. The bird life is also sparse. I startled some quail, but am mostly seeing just sparrows and crows. 
One hawk audibly dove down to the ground about 50 feet to my left, and sat there peering down, as if waiting out a rodent. I stuck around for 10 minutes watching but there were no further developments. Hard to believe a hawk was trying to hunt a burrowed-in rodent, but I’m at a loss as to what else it might have been doing there. The site seemed too low and exposed to be a nesting site, if it was a ground-nesting hawk (no pictures as it blended in too well and was too far away). I’m sure it had very good hawk reasons, inscrutable as they may have been to me.
I crossed the Juniper Flats road, then cut up toward Ryan Campground where I had cached water nearby. After tossing the plastic in the campground dumpster I hiked a mile or so through the lengthening shadows, determined to stop by 4pm so I could have some chair time before it got dark and cold.
I lasted in the chair long enough just to play one song on my uke before the cold drove me inside. Maybe tomorrow will be a bit more balmy.
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