On my 29th day on the PCT, I ate a Trail Magic Breakfast Burrito at Landers Camp in the pine trees, hiked east to Kelso Road where I filled up at the water cache, then hiked ever-onward across what had become a high desert wasteland, with only Joshua Trees for shade.
From PCT mile 610.1 to 625.5 Total: 15.4 miles 5/7
It was icy cold when I woke up in the valley at Landers Camp. Luckily, I didn’t have to make breakfast, so packing up everything was relatively easy. I timed it right, so that I was ready for Old Yeller to arrive in his truck at 6:30am.
Everybody in camp converged on his truck when he arrived. Thru hikers are a hungry bunch, and breakfast burritos were a treat worth waiting for. Or getting up early for. It was a build-your-own burrito buffet, with all sorts of spicy add-ons and sauces. Me, being a spice-o-phobe, kept my burrito on the mild side. He even had a big pot of coffee on hand, as well as some bourbon to add to it, to really take the chill out of the icy morning air.
We hung out for a while and listened to more of Old Yeller’s stories. I stood near the fire, which was a treat that I hadn’t had yet on the PCT. Very nice, and I didn’t have to make sure that it was out later on. In fact, I was one of the first to leave camp, as I had a long day. Plus, I knew that hiking would warm me up better than anything else. I broke the ice by thanking Old Yeller, and several of us threw him a few bucks as a donation, because eggs are expensive, and so is bourbon. A few others joined me, and away we hiked.
The PCT headed almost due east for about twelve miles, and it entered the rain shadow of the Piute Mountains. The trees began to vanish as it descended into the Kelso Valley. Along the way, I got some fine views of Mount Langley in the distance, as well as Olancha Peak. I pointed out the western ridge of Olancha Peak to my fellow hikers, and told them that the PCT passed over that ridge. Vicki and I hiked that section (north of Kennedy Meadows) back in 2020 during the pandemic, when the PCTA stupidly tried to cancel the thru hikes of everyone. There weren’t a lot of folks on the trail that year, but the ones who hiked it were determined to succeed. Good for them! It was a great year to be backpacking out in the wilderness, and I would know.
The five mile hike to Kelso Road went by rather quickly. This was one of the two huge water caches maintained by Trail Angels on Section F, a section known to be one of the driest on the entire trail. Back before the caches, there was a 42 mile section of trail without water of any kind, unless you hiked miles out of your way to a cow pond on someone’s ranch. Now, thanks to the 200+ gallon caches, that stretch was a thing of the past, and the distance between water was reduced to fifteen miles, which was totally doable. I have a feeling that the ranchers liked it, too, because it helped maintain their own privacy at home. Thanks, Trail Angels!
Every so often, some local hooligans drive by and shoot up all the water jugs, so there were directions to get water nearby, but it hasn’t happened much lately. I filled up all of my jugs, and my backpack was brutally heavy once more. But this was the good kind of heaviness.
After Kelso Road, there wasn’t much out there except Joshua Trees and cacti, and shriveled desert plants. Sure, there were patches of wildflowers here and there, but mostly it was dry as a bone, even in the wet year of 2023. Just the same, I had to hike it, so hike it I did. I was glad that the weather was still cool and breezy, because the sun was beaming down and there was very little shade, unless you liked hunkering down next to a Joshua Tree.
I made good time hiking across that desert region. The trail went up and down, but it was smooth and cruisey. Eventually, I came across Dove Spring Valley Road, where there was a picnic table up on a high saddle with a great view! What kind of maniac would put a picnic table all the way out here? We’ll never know, but I was grateful. When I arrived one of the others from Lander’s Camp was taking a break and I joined them, but they didn’t stay too long as they wanted to make twenty miles that day. Nah, I’ll stick with fifteen for now, I said. It was early afternoon, and I only had three more miles to hike that day, so I sat down for a good long rest. And, as long as I had a view, I turned off Airplane Mode on my phone to see if I would be lucky. Line of sight is a powerful thing. Yes! I had cell signal! I immediately called Vicki, as I had been missing her terribly, especially at night. She answered and we both agreed that solo hiking had one major downside: That you’re solo. But that’s life, and I made my choice to be out here. It was beautiful, even here in the desert. I told her that I could hardly wait for two more days until she met me at Walker Pass. She agreed. After we returned to San Diego I would wait at home for a while, until the snow melted more in the SoCal mountains. We were both happy about that.
More hikers arrived, and when they turned on their phones, my signal dropped to nothing. Sad but true. I decided that this was enough of a reason to keep on hiking, so away I went. There were several possible campsites up ahead, and I was hoping to find one that was sheltered from the breeze, which was supposed to pick up significantly overnight. I didn’t want any more noisy shaking tents, thank you very much. All I knew about the one I chose was from comments in the Far Out app. Some people said there was wind protection, while others said no way. It must depend on the angle of the wind, I figured. But I would have to see it for myself. So on I hiked.
I arrived in camp, and put down my backpack. There was at least one protected spot in the lee of a regular wall of Joshua Trees. Very nice! While I was getting out my tent, I heard some voices. It was the Tramily, all hiking together again. They didn’t stay long at the picnic table, I’m guessing. They also said that they wanted to get another five miles hiked that day, in order to reach McIver’s Cabin tomorrow, and then Walker Pass early enough to hitch a ride into town for a resupply run. I asked them to pose for a photo, because I doubted that I would see them again. And then they hiked onward.
After that, I finished setting up camp and lay down on my air mattress for a while. The air was cool but the sun on my tent made it warm. Almost too warm, so I left the doors wide open. That let in just enough breeze for comfort.
The sun descended and the shade arrived. It started getting cool again, so I got dressed in my warm night clothing and cooked up yet another meal of chicken ramen with freeze-dried chicken chunks. It was tasty enough. Then I followed it with some Cheeze-Its that I had been saving for later. And a good drink of red Gatorade (from powder) to help with rehydration. With the cool weather that day, I still had plenty of water, and would have no trouble reaching the next water cache tomorrow. It felt good to be so water-rich, even though I had to carry it all that way.
As I went to sleep I told myself: Just one more night in the tent alone, and I’ll be back in my own bed once again. This thought helped me get to sleep as darkness fell and the breeze blew by above me, cold in the desert night.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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