Wednesday May 6, 2026. Sunny and 40 degrees going up to 62.
Up at 6:10. Ate breakfast, finished packing, and walked to the front of the hotel to wait for our ride to the trail at 7:30.
I am carrying 3 liters of water today. We have between 16 and 19 miles today depending on how we feel. The first water is at mile 11. It’s all uphill for the next 3 days.
Trail angel dropped us at the trail at 8:00. She is headed into Palm Springs for an appointment and her path goes right by the trail. Kellie, infinity, Emmett, Matthew (Apprentice) also got dropped off. Brad and I headed out just before them.
Nice first 6.7 miles. Pine trees mixed with desert scrub and massive rock formations.
Steady climb up all day. We stopped at a trail junction at 10:50 and 6.7 miles to rest and eat in some shade. Water is .25 miles downhill and our tentative camp site is about 7 miles further.
We hiked .3 miles down a very steep hill to get water from a cattle trough. The climb back up is the steepest thing we will hike all day. We filtered and purified water and headed out at noon.
The last 3 miles were a very steep climb plus a full load of water. Very difficult. My feet are not happy. We stopped at 1:25 and 10.10 miles. Took my shoes off and did some foot stretches.
We have a minimum of 4.7 miles to go. Brad will likely want to go further. I think I’ll be pretty much done by then. There is another option 1 mile further that we might be able to compromise on.
Took a break at 3:05 and 13.13 miles. Feet hurting as normal. We have been looking down to the east at Palm Springs down on the desert floor for the past hour or so. We also got a good look at the Salton Sea back to the south east.
Stopped at Fobes Ranch Trail at 4:45 and 15.85 miles for the day. Very big ascents and descents today. Tempted to go the next 2.6 miles to Apache Spring, but the vertical climb is nuts and there are no switchbacks. I’ll wait to tackle that in the morning.
Infinity, Brian , Emmett, Kellie, Brad, and I all took a long break here. The others eventually headed to Indian Spring. They are almost out of water.
Margarita and Chinchilla also camped here tonight.
Had dinner at 6:30. Sun ducked behind the mountain early and it’s getting chilly fast. Tented on very sandy ground, so I hope the wind does not pull the tent stakes out and collapse the tent tonight!
In bed at 7:30.
I am REALLY not looking forward to the climb out of here tomorrow!
Technical Notes:
- Pop Tarts 340
- Coffee 0
- Slim Jim 175
- Skittles 125
- Slim Jim 175
- Propel x 2
- Ramen 460
- Tuna 90
- Water liters: 3
- Miles: 15.85
- Time: 8:53
- Up: 3714
- Down: 2628
- Calories consumed: 1365
- Calories burned: 3733
- iPhone battery used: 50%
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