Day 44
Start: Robin Bird Spring
Finish: Pinyon Mountain
Daily Mileage: 20.5
PCT Mile: 623.7
Our tents were pretty protected from the wind last night. It blew a bit, but then calmed down for our early morning departure. Cookie Monster and I were first out of the gate and back on the trail.
We started climbing through forest, and the woods soon became a gentle mixed ponderosa/manzanita forest. There were boulders strewn about, and the walking was easy. It was indescribably pleasant hiking. Peaceful, serene, and nicely shaded.
Heading down, there was a loud boom and I could feel the jolt of the pressure wave from a blast. It shocked me at first, especially being able to feel the blast itself. I couldn’t see anything, and I assume it was a dynamite blast to prepare the land for more wind turbines. We had passed a sign a while back that the wind farms were being unfortunately extended even further around the PCT.
Leaving the altitude that supported trees, we were back in the desert shrubs. However, there were a multitude of flowers this time. In the past, there might be a field of one type of flower, but here there were many different types mixed together, and some we hadn’t seen before. It was extremely colorful and fragrant, and lead to a great descent.
We came to a trailhead with an enormous water cache. I don’t think this cache was very necessary since we had recently passed flowing water and there was another cache 15 miles further ahead, but since it was there we made use of it. We had already done 13 miles at this point because the trail was easy walking and it wasn’t even noon yet. We took another break to kill some time, but headed on before the sun heated up too much more.
The flowers continued to paint our trail, and their unending diversity was amazing to observe. We had a descent and climb, but they flew past with so much to look at around us. In addition to the flowers, there were now rocky mountains around us like we haven’t seen yet on this trail. Overall, the trail was so much more dramatic and scenic than it has been for a few days, and it was amazing to walk through.
The climb flew past through the flowers and joshua trees, and we found a rare tree offering shade on the trail for an afternoon siesta. We were still great on time and closing in on our goal for the day, so there was no rush. We had a great mountain view for the break as well. We can now see a few mountains in the Sierra two or three times a day. They will be our continuing beacons on our dash their way.
We got to a road where we nearly camped, but I was hesitant because it was in a pass acting like a wind tunnel. We pressed on and shortly found a spot in a valley to pitch among joshua trees.
I can’t adequately express today in words or pictures. Cookie Monster, Lou, and I all thought it was one of the most scenic days on trail yet, and it was a nice easy hike as well. Nothing was a draw back today, just all fantastic hiking.
