October 16

Distance: 25.6 miles | Ascent: 4080′ | Descent: 3830′

Mile marker: 2055.9

Lunch: J – Korean beef (A), A – tomato pasta (B-)

Dinner: J – beef stroganof (A-), A – mac n cheese (A-)

---

It was cold last night. It might’ve been one of the coldest nights yet. When we woke up, our tent was covered in ice. We were in a little bowl surrounded by low hills and there was little wind. Maybe that trapped a pocket of cool air around us. Even our bear cans were covered in a layer of frost.

We dilly-dallied as long as reasonable to, hopefully, let our tent dry. But, even leaving camp after 8 am, the sun hadn’t made its way over the hill. We left with a sopping wet tent.

The morning’s trail was quintessential desert. There were only a bit of scrub, the Joshua trees, and an occasion cactus.

We saw a pair of planes, one much larger than the other. Alex’s brother, who is a bit of a plane nerd (and we mean that in a nice way), can usually identify plane types from even our grainiest photos and claimed the larger was a 747. The smaller could be an escort of some sort. Maybe the plane was carrying a diplomat!

We made it to a water cache with hundreds of gallons and stopped for lunch. A fellow with the pseudonym Devilfish manages this and other caches. We’ve never met him, but he must be a swell guy. It’s a lot of work hauling these bottles around, and he seems to manage caches both here and in southern Oregon. We heard he refuses to accept donations, as much as hikers try when they encounter him.

We had our big climb after lunch. During the climb, we left the desert and entered a pine forest that was reminiscent of NorCal. Perhaps it was the relative altitude? Or we went due west, so this was what shielded the rain from the desert we left? It was cool and pretty and not what we expected.

Partway through the day, we came across an intriguing black metal box, just sitting there beside the trail. It looked like some sort of Easter egg in a desert-themed video game. From a small hole in the back, we could see it contained waters and lemonade powder – items commonly left out for thru-hikers. So, naturally, we tried to open it. It had locks, but the keyholes had been drilled out. The latch wouldn’t release, and the lid wouldn’t lift. After an embarrassing number of attempts, we ultimately we gave up. We left feeling a bit like we imagine a bear feels when it fails to break into a bear-proof trash can.

There was a trail register, sitting inside a worn wooden box on a post. A clear sign it does not rain much here. Most boxes are metal.

We got to a spring just at sunset and ate dinner. Our meals are more or less based on where water is located. We’d rather rehydrate our food and eat at the water source than carry that water somewhere else. We’ll see how long that strategy lasts. However, this source was the last for 20 miles, so we stocked up for tomorrow.

We carried on in the dark. We had a little road walk on a dirt road. We were happy to do that in the dark and enjoy the scenery of the more regular trail during daylight hours. There was a 10 commandments billboard along the trail, just for hikers – that’s a first!

By our headlamps, we found our tentsite and settled in for the night. We’ll probably go back to desert tomorrow, but we really aren’t too sure. Maybe the desert is over already.