Day 37: Hot Spring Vibes

I got up early to try to catch my rocket launching… but it scrubbed. Not uncommon. While walking back to my tent however I ran into Mike who I’d met in Big Bear. It turns out him and Mountain Goat had zeroed here yesterday but were already in their tents when Hello Kitty and I arrived late that evening. We all hopped back into the hot spring and hung out for a bit before they headed off. I was leak checking my sleeping pad a little later when Bear Pop rolled in.

A Western Tanager! Probably the most colorful bird I’ve seen out here.

The entire morning and much of the afternoon was spent here soaking in these wonderful hot springs and chatting with the various day hikers who came in. I met an especially interesting group of guys, one of whom ran a business selling ants to universities and collectors??? He was incredibly passionate and knowledgeable and as a minor nature nerd myself I was all too happy to let him chatter and soak in the information. The only annoying part of the hot springs were the ground squirrels. They had learned that bags often had food in them and were absolutely brazen in their efforts to get to that food. I had success keeping my food right next to where I was sitting along with a trekking pole to scare off any wannabe scavengers but a proper bear hang also worked using some rope I had picked up in Cedar Glen for this exact purpose.

The wonderful hot springs as I was leaving them. Three pools of different temperatures scattered scattered and hidden behind rocks and tree.

Hello Kitty left with a day hiker he had met to get a ride to Cajon Pass so that he could fix his glasses and Bear Pop and I finally headed out around 4pm. I only walked about 2ish miles out from the springs and made camp along the shore of the creek but Bear Pop went ahead. My ankle felt much improved from the slow day and the soaking. It was a really nice day.

I love the look of this canyon.

Day 38: Out of the Valley

I got up early, around 5:30, to once again try to see my rocket launch but just like the previous day it was scrubbed. At least this time I had enough cell signal to look at the livestream and didn’t have to satellite message my mom for updates. It was actually quite nice being up that early though, I’ll probably do it again.

Posing with the distant mountains.

I walked along the side of the canyon but a few miles in it opened up into a valley. I passed a large dam here and walked a bit into the spillway to have some fun with the impressive acoustics there before moving on.

The dam was a little eerie but the echo in the spillway was CRAZY.

A little further on I crossed a river on an extremely wobbly stick bridge. The last step was more of a controlled fall than a confident stride but I made it across and onto dry land. The couple that were just behind me were not so lucky. One made it across but the second fell into the shallow water and kinda got stuck, requiring the two of us to pull him out by his pack straps.

Pretty sure this is a Variable Checkerspot. As the wildflowers begin blooming, the butterflies are sure to follow.

The terrain reverted to typical desert foliage afterwards. I’d really been enjoying the river’s proximity and its effect on the foliage but I suppose it was an atypical section. A pair of day hikers passed me while I was on break and I saw them again at an off-trail plateau. The vibes were a little awkward however and when I looked back at them on a slightly later viewpoint I’m pretty sure they were up to some hanky-panky. I admire that level of confidence but I think their judgment in going for it 20 feet off of one of the busiest hiking trails was a little lacking.

It’s nice to see the sunset for a change.

Bear Pop showed up a little later with a story about seeing a bobcat the previous evening! It explained the odd footprints I’d noticed in the sand near my campsite the previous evening. We hiked together for the rest of the day and stopped to camp not far from a small creek.

Day 39: (Not) Seeing my Rocket

I woke up early again to try to catch the rocket launch but this time everything in my tent was absolutely soaked in condensation. I’d left the rainfly off the previous evening to look at the stars but its clear that was a bit of a mistake. I was able to walk a little uptrail and get good signal and watched the livestream and this time she flew! I couldn’t see the rocket unfortunately as it was a decent bit past sunrise and thus way too bright. Double unfortunately, the rocket had an anomaly at stage separation and didn’t make it to orbit. Pretty big bummer but sometimes that’s just the process: try, fail, adjust, try again.

Giving me the side eye.

The rest of the morning was super slow as I wanted to dry all my wet gear before hitting the trail. It took a while for the sun to crest the hills we were camping on and so it was 10am when I finally got onto trail, my latest start yet. The morning was all hiking around Silverwood Lake, first on the valley side next to the dam, then around the lake edge. We had been hoping to swim in the lake but alas, getting closer revealed it was a lake full of algae and garbage. I ate lunch at a small picnic area with a few other hikers then walked on and took an afternoon break at Rio Baranca Valle group campground where the park service blessed me with a working power outlet. More hikers accumulated here, taking advantage of the available power and running water. I later learned that this crowd had grown and people had set up camp to spend the night, ordered pizza, and gotten a bit loud, only to get kicked out by the park ranger.

The lake was pretty but sadly full of trash snd algae.

I’d planned to walk a few more miles so Bear Pop and I headed out around 5, dodging that whole affair. The next section was a pretty decent uphill but chatting during the hike made it go quite quickly. I got to my planned stopping spot, a small stream, but the area was a pretty steep hillside and there were no campsites available. We ended up having to go another 2.5 miles, hiking through the golden hour and into nightfall, before we found available space. My ankle was hurting again at the end of this which made me a bit nervous, it had been healing but felt re-irritated by this end of day push. I don’t like hiking this late but there really was nowhere to camp and I didn’t want to be the guy who set up in the middle of the trail.

A quail strutting its stuff. They’re pretty skittish so I’ve heard them a lot but only seen a few.

Trail Stats:

Catholes: 14

Stops to filter water: 40

Resupplies: 7

Hitches: 9

Zeros: 7

Crys on trail: 6

Blisters: 4

Gear repairs: 6