May 31st – Memorial Day
The morning started with a lovely walk across a rolling plain dotted with tall trees and an occasional creek and a couple of large meadows. Walking along with Tigger for a while. We stopped for breakfast after an hour and half and many of the hikers who had camped at the springs the night before caught up and cruised on by.
About a mile past our breakfast spot an obscure forest service road leads 1/3 mile off trail to an unnamed spring, the last source of water for about 7 miles. For getting water from off trail sources it is more efficient to have one person go and the other stay and watch the packs. I went, so the Carrot could rest as we were planning a long day.
It turns out that next to the spring is a forest service campground and several hikers had gathered like vultures around this one RV. Or maybe it was more like a pack of hungry wolves circling the weakest member of the herd. This RV was the last remaining member of a large group that had met and camped there for the Memorial Day weekend. And they had a lot of food left over which they were fixing and handing out to hungry hikers: eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, tri-tip steak, sea bass, coffee and pears. Well I had to find out where the water was anyway and it would have been inhospitable to say “no”, so despite having just had our own breakfast gruel, I stayed a short while. But knowing that the Carrot would be unhappy to have missed such a feast I ate quickly and fixed a “to go” napkin full of food for her.
Back on the trail, we waddled along as the PCT quickly descended into desert again. Our cooler days are over and we were back into some serious heat with no shade.
Because of the heat, our water consumption was rising and we were glad that we had taken a couple of extra liters. The water cache at Kelso road was a very welcome sight. A southbounder had let us know that there were over 40 gallons and several credible sources stated that the person maintaining the cache checks it every other day, at least. Still we were prepared for the only alternative – a 2 mile (each way) side trip to a muddy spring, used by cows. Fortunately we were able to get water at the cache and within a mile or so found enough shade beneath a Joshua tree that we had lunch there with Sisu, Raru and Wicked.
The rest of the day continued with long hot, shapeless climbs up and down, through the desert ridges separating the mountains from the lower Owens valley.
Following a long mid afternoon break in the comforting shade of a rare tree, we hiked on with a moon rising nearly full. After 27 miles, our longest day yet, we arrived at Bird Pass, racing darkness to reach a vital water cache, and reaching some wonderful trail magic provided by a trail angel named “Computer”. He had soft drinks, fresh fruit, carrots, Danishes, pudding, all of which added nicely to our dinner.
When we arrived, it was almost dark and the only other hiker there was Radar who had taken a “zero” day there due to illness. A few minutes later, Mouse and Tigger came in and we all found refuge for the night from the wind in various sheltered rocks. Thin clouds raced across the sky, the moonlight creating prisms of color. Much later on, close to midnight several other hikers stumbled in.
