Day 24
Start: Mojave River Forks Dam
Finish: Cleghorn Mountain
Daily Mileage: 21.8
PCT Mile: 335.6
A pleasant night with no condensation, no wind, and it was quite warm. Cookie Monster and I were a bit warm in our bags if anything.
We got an earlier start today since we intended to do some longer miles and wanted to avoid the end of the day heat we struggled with yesterday. We immediately left our tree-lined river refuge and headed back into the hills to take the “scenic” route above the Mojave River instead of following it or the adjacent road more directly.
We frequently crossed streams coming down from the mountains which was another bonus. In general, there have been far more water sources than I had been expecting before the trip. Basically every potential water source plus more in between have been running, which greatly reduces our loads. This was one of the reasons I started my hike at the end of March instead of the more traditional April. Cooler desert temperatures and more water.
The hiking was quite easy, but the terrain was uninspiring compared to past days, and it got a bit boring after a while and I had to put on an audiobook for only the second time of the trip. The trail is currently transiting between mountain ranges, so it is a necessary part of the hike. Not every mile of a long trail like this will be magical. I’m also not one to skip around and cherry pick the scenic parts. I’m in it for the whole experience. Exciting and boring.
At the end of the morning, we approached the bottom of the dam for Silverwood Lake. An interesting part of the day for me was to see the enormous water pipes in a staging yard that appeared to be for moving water through the dam. Quite a sight for an engineer like me.
We walked right under the dam, then up and over the rim of mountains surrounding it and started a partial transit of the lake. The lake would have been nice, but there was a lot of trash around it which spoiled the experience for me.
We took lunch at a boat-in state park with pavilions and yet more trash strewn about. At least there was a picnic table and some shade.
Hiking on, we finished our time with the lake, and headed towards the next hills. The morning was cool and cloudy, but the sun came out in the afternoon to beat on us. However, the wind picked up which kept us cool enough for our next climb.
We wrapped our way up the next mountain range and noticed quite a bit of smog in the air. We are near LA now, so I guess that is the source. It is almost as bad as the wildfire smoke I’m used to back home, and I could swear I could even smell a hint of that.
Finishing our climb, my body was starting to notice the miles we were putting in today. We intended a longer 21ish mile day to set us up for the next couple days, and a couple times my joints complained. It was just passing however, and I know with rest tonight I will be fine.
We had several campsites to choose from around a flowing stream. It’s a bit windy with not much protection but I did the best I could. Cookie Monster hammocks which has been challenging at times in the desert and he couldn’t find a tree tonight, so he is among us ground dwellers.
Today was not the most exciting or scenic day of hiking, but we did what we needed to do to link up mountain ranges.
1 comment
nice to read your joints were complaining never happens when we hike together …