Day 11: Speed Hiking

Dry streamed  cowboy camp - Shady campsite
Mile 132 - 156
24 miles

It was still before sunrise when I left my cozy "cowboy camp" site in soft Sandy dry streamed below Combs Peak. The valleys to the west were covered in fog. One of many exotic plants along the PCT is yucca (hesperoyucca whipplei) with big white flowers and green fruits. I am slowly learning about the local plants from other hikers and from my booklet "the Chaparral shrublands of southern California".
Today my plan was to do a 20 mile speed hike to Paradise Cafe that has food, water and that closes at 3 pm.

My "speed hike" traverses a diverse landscape of shrubs, burnt areas, cactuses and big granite boulders. I am overtaken by Soars and very soon it becomes clear that going high speed in the scorching sun would be suicidal. So instead l slow down and take many breaks in shade of the boulders to conserve my water.

For emergency cases, some very kind and good people have set up a "water cache" in the middle of the long dry section. My supply is still OK plus before my trip l made a resolution on facebook that l won't rely on water caches, so I don't take anything and leave more water for other hikers in bigger need.

One of the few edible fruits found so far on the trail is the manzanita, a large bush with very smooth reddish-brown bark. It has a taste of dry sour apples.

Traversing an edge of a deep erosion gully, the trail reached mile 150 and continued to a low ridge with a clear view of Mount San Jacinto on the northern horizon.

At the crossing of a highway (first paved road in 41 miles) there are signs about the upcoming "Mountain Fire" closure. In 2013 a fierce fire raged on the mountain ridges and burned many square miles of forest. Parts of the area remain closed to allow forest recovery and prevent spread of invasive species by hikers. However the trail is still open until mile 162 and after that there is a well-mapped (and l hope also waymarked) detour. A couple of hikers decided to hitch and skip the detour walk, but I'm determined to walk all the way.

The trail enters a fairytale landscape of huge rocks, boulders, and pine trees. And there are pools of water in the rocks to wash my dusty feet! The sun is lower and the heat of the day is over. I find a shady spot for sleeping under one of the pines in soft pine needles. I am glad l did the speed hike. I have half liter of water left, and the next water source is only 3 miles away.