PCT Day 61 – Joshua Tree Spring
11.7 miles, near 663.8
• Happy summer solstice! Longest day of the year. We have daylight from roughly 5am-9pm, which is plenty to get a good 20 miles in
• We had to take one bus from Kernville to Lake Isabella, and another bus from Lake Isabella to the Walker Pass trailhead. We had enough time between buses to get froyo. I don’t really like froyo though, so I picked up a Twix ice cream bar at the store.
• I had one of those “head rolling on your chest” naps on the 45 min bus ride.
• Carie is going to take a break from the trail for the next section and hang with Claira. They have the Subaru and will meet us tomorrow at a campground.
• My knees always feel it first after a town day or two. First couple miles today were ridge walking up and all the way back down a mountain.
• We covered some decent mileage, given we started late at 130pm. Our camp has a spring that is rumored to contain traces of uranium, but we were able to fill up from a seasonal stream less than a mile back.
• I had a hard time setting up the tent, it’s looking pretty pathetic. I happen to have a neighboring duplex tent brother that is very taut and well constructed. A little jealous, trying to take pointers for next time.
• The group is spread out for sleeping, but we rallied in one spot to eat dinner. We marveled at Sean’s Nutella tortilla swirls and cooked food while watching the sun set on this solstice. There’s a soft glow of orange and red on the horizon around 9 before we shuffle off to bed.
• This is the first night I’ve camped without Carie, I have a lot of extra room in the tent. I wrapped my bear bag in my sleeping bag liner for extra scent protection.
