Day 2 Abrupt end to my Trip

Oct. 5, 2016
Day 2, 10.5 miles

I wake at about 6am and see that the stars are fading in the sky. I know I have to get up and get going. I have a decision to make and it's not one I relish. I am going to have to call it quits. I have made a bad miscalculation of my abilities and am in a precarious state. With no real meal last night I am weak. My muscles did not get the chance to be revived with much needed nutrition. I needed to take in about 800 - 1000 calories last night and I got maybe 100. In addition to that I now only have a 1.5 liters of water to get me the next 9.5 miles, completely exposed to direct sunlight, before I can get more.

My legs are weak and I stumble as I exit my tent. I have already rolled up my sleeping bag, mat and inflatable pillow. All in all it was a comfortable night sleeping as it was not very cold. Just really really windy. The wind has died down to just a breeze now so at least I don't have to fight it taking down my tent. I look for my lost stakes but never find them. Generally I will not need to use them all anyway but it still makes me a bit angry.

I struggle to get down an apple turnover for breakfast. It's all I can get down. I was planning on it plus two packages of instant oatmeal and a cup of hot chocolate. Don't have the appetite. I am really slow at breaking camp and don't hit the trail until about 7:45. I have a steep climb up to the trail from my campsite and I have to stop and get my breath about every 15 feet. I am about 50 feet down from the trail.

Finally I am on my way. It is already 15 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning. The north side of the mountain has very few trees at this elevation, 5100'. I left the tree line about 1000 feet ago. I am concerned about my water supply, only 1.5 liters with almost constant direct sunlight. It won't get extremely hot today but even at 75-80 degrees and direct sunlight while carrying 34 pounds on my back it feels more like 90 degrees. I relish every bit of wind in my face and dread it when the wind is at my back. The wind is out of the WNW and I am traveling mostly ENE. There are lots of switchback but my distance facing east vs west is twice as much on each switchback. I wish the wind were out of the east. It would be much more comfortable.

View from the day before just before exiting the tree line. Windmills very hard to spot.

I stumble a couple of times and know it is because my legs are weak from lack of nutrition. My pace is much slower than I want. I'm hoping that when I reach the water spigot at mile 204 of the PCT northbound that I will have cell reception. I know I cannot continue to my next destination in one day and there is only one questionable campsite about 7 miles past the spigot. That would put me at 16 miles for the day and I had planned on 24 miles to the Whitewater Preserve. Even if I make it that far I have put my body in a state where I would need at least a whole days rest to recover and resume again and would end up way short of my planned extraction point. Once I get a few miles north of the 10 freeway I will lose cell reception again and be unable to let anyone know where I am.

Another view during my decent on the second day. Very typical terrain.

Down, down, down I go. My legs are tired and my body wants to stop but I know I have to keep going. I wish I had stopped to camp at about 10 miles yesterday and I would be much better off, but also possibly in a worse water situation. I slow my pace so as not to sweat so much and also it is less likely I will stumble. My feet feel like I have gravel in my shoes. I take off my shoes and socks but there is no gravel. I must be close to getting a blister or two as I can feel the tenderness on the bottom of my feet. On and on I trudge getting more and more anxious about my water supply. I am pretty sure I can make it to the water spigot, but I am not sure what condition I will be in when I get there. I force myself to eat a snack at 1.5 hours into my trek and again at 3.25 hours into my trek. I am trying to save water mainly for getting down my snacks as it is really hard to eat and get down without water. With my last snack and 3.5 miles to go I drink my last 6 ounces of water from my extra bottle. I have no idea how much is left in my camelback bladder but know it is not much. It might only be one more swallow. I save it for when I am about 1.5 miles away and find I only have 6 swallows left. I know I will be able to make it.

Finally I can see the water spigot but know I still have close to a mile before I reach it. It is so tantalizing and I quicken my step only to tumble again. I slow down. As I am about a quarter mile from the spigot I see a work truck traveling up the road to the water plant above. I am hoping that I can get to the spigot before he gets there and flag him down to get a ride to the freeway but he's gone before I get there. Finally at the spigot I take in about 16 swallows, 8 at a time. I don't know why I am counting them. I then sit on the ground in the shade of a giant rock. I just sit there for about five minutes and rest. The cooler shade feels so refreshing. I get back up and take out my one liter bottle filling it to the top then drink half of it. I sit a little more and then pull out my phone and take it out of flight mode hoping I will have reception. Eureka, I have one sometimes two bars. I call my daughter but it goes to voice mail. I then call my friend Art who will probably be home and sure enough he answers. I ask him if he can come and rescue me and he says, "sure where are you at?" I have trouble telling him and ask him to google the Desert Water Agency and see if they have an address on Snow Creek Rd. He calls me back but can only find addresses in Palm Springs and some other outlying areas. I let him know that I am about 4-5 miles south of the 10 freeway and that next to the freeway is a small community about 4.5 miles east of Cabozon. I tell him that there is a freeway exit there with a hyphenated name with Haugen something and tell him I am going to eat lunch and try to be at that point in about 2 hours. He calls me back and says he found it on the map and will wait for my call.

I eat my lunch, the same as yesterday, Tortillas, Salami and Cheese sticks. I start my trek toward the freeway. The PCT trail actually follows about a mile of paved road here. When I get toward the bottom of the road I come to a small community and see a car leaving. I flag her down and ask if she can give me a lift to the freeway and she agrees. I ask where she is going and she says Palm Springs which is the opposite direction of where I need to go. I ask if she would mind going about a mile out of her way to drop me off. She agrees and soon I am at the Haugen-Lehmann exit. I thank her and exit the van. The wind is so fierce that it blows my hat off and it flies 40 feet from me before I can do anything but finally comes to a rest. I call my friend and he is surprised to hear from me so soon. It will be about 30 minutes or so till he arrives. I find spot under a lone tree to rest in the shade. There is some junk around and I find a piece of board and lay on it waiting for him to arrive. Soon he is there and I am safely on my way back home with a bit of a bruised ego but happy to be safe and with new lessons learned that will serve me well when I plan for next year.

3:40pm, now I'm home. It feels surreal to be home so early after all my expectation and anticipation. After showering I find that I do have a small blister just back of my toes on my right foot. That is what felt like a rock in my shoe. I come away from this with mixed emotions. I am mad at myself for underestimating my capabilities but now have a much better idea of how to ease into doing a long backpacking trek. In my previous backpacking, 10 miles was about my longest day ever and that was a few years ago. Most of my trips lately have been 4-8 miles a day. I guess I thought it would be easier at lower elevations but turns out not that much.

I am somewhat disappointed for sure but glad I learned these lessons that will help me in my planning for the future.

Happy Trails,

Russ AKA Colorado Kid