Start: San Mateo Canyon
Finish: Rolling Ranchland
Miles: 22.97 / 276.27 total
Ascent: 4730 feet
Wow, so much condensation last night. Everything is soaked way more than in actual rain. Water was even beading up on my sleeping bag. Nothing to do but pack up everything wet and wait for it to get warmer out.
I briefly started up a 4×4 track to the crest of a ridge, and then spent the rest of the morning going cross-country. There was a series of parallel ridges that I needed to go perpendicular to, with no roads or trails going in that direction, so I just did it myself, down one ridge, across the wash, up the next. Rinse, repeat.
I had descended a ridge and was in a wash about to start uphill again, when there was a crashing to the side. A black bear was running up the wash in my general direction. I don’t think he saw me, and I shouted which caused him to stop behind a juniper. He peeked his head around the bush, saw me, and took off running uphill. I would expect him to be pretty timid with ranchers around. I was surprised to see him here around cows to begin with.
I have been keeping my food in a Ursack bear bag, but since it has been damp or rainy at night, I’ve been sleeping with it. I will have to reconsider that in the future. I have been seeing a lot of bear scat on trails, but not around where I have been camping. Oh well, a bear doesn’t bother me any. Running away is their normal reaction. I’ve seen a lot of black bears, and that is always their response.
I headed up the next ridge and ran it for miles down the spine. There was a nice canyon beneath it, but the sun was in that direction so there was no taking pictures.
The route changed it up a bit after the long ridge walk. It wove around washes and saddles following cow trails or cross country before I joined some 4×4 track which I would follow for most the rest of the day.
I had my supply of water I got yesterday afternoon. Through the morning I wasn’t looking for water since I had a gallon. In the afternoon it was full sun and there were no sources for quite a ways. I was rationing my water, which is something hard to do when you are hiking under the hot sun with no shade around. Nothing else to do.
I took a long break in the afternoon to bake the moisture out of my gear. It mostly worked. As I was leaving my break, a truck drove by. First person I have spoken to in 5 days, and first person I have even seen in 3. Even with all the 4×4 tracks I’m on transiting between areas, I have been seeing very few people at all out here. I haven’t seen another hiker since day 2.
I was on 4×4 tracks for a while, and pounded out some miles, to make up for the slower cross country travel. I also wanted to make miles to get to good water.
Saw some mountain lion tracks in a mud puddle. Definitely was here since the last rain, probably a day or two ago.
I did stop and grab a little water at a cow tire trough, but there were a lot of dead insects and bird feathers in it, so I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it. I would rather carry it and dump it later to exchange it for better water than not have anything at all.
The route headed across some private land. The guidebook said it was ok. I did see some ranchers working on something close to the trail, but I don’t think they saw me. I hurried past just in case.
Rolling hills for the rest of the day. I did come across another tire trough which is quite common out here. It was full of algae and such, but there was a cistern that supplied it with great looking water, so I filled up on that, without having to drink my other worse water.
I was getting tired at that point, but I was again in the land of no trees, shade, or other sort of cover. It was windy, and I at least wanted a bush to stick my tent behind. There were a few, but they were on slopes. After hiking a mile or two longer than I wanted, I just pitched on top of a hill on a flat spot. The wind did die with the sun which was nice, and hopefully less condensation problems I’ve been fighting with up high here.
I ate dinner looking back east. I could see my last 3 days of hiking laid out in a 90 degree section of the horizon. I could even see generally where I camped the last 3 nights. It is always amazing for me to see the landscape and know that I crossed that to get here, or I will be up that mountain ahead of me in a couple hours. In a car it is nothing, but to see the rugged mountains and attack them by foot is something that keeps me coming back.
Nothing too special today, but still a good day. Pleasant hiking apart from some water and rancher worries, and I made good progress.
