November 6

Distance: 23.3 miles | Ascent: 7740′ | Descent: 3190′

Mile marker: 2478.6

Lunch: J – chicken soup (A), A – chicken soup (B+)

Dinner: J – chicken teriyaki (B-), A – potato leek soup (A-)

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Up at 4 am, on trail by 4:30, we were determined to make it up this mountain today. We couldn’t hike by moonlight because it was stubbornly now behind the mountain. The sky got lighter to where we could ditch our headlamps. When sunrise finally came, we were lucky that the ridge to our east blocked the light for most of the early morning. But, this was short lived. The sun soon beat down on us. We were fighting a battle: as we ascend, it gets cooler, but climbing is hard work.

The flora soon became that wonderful high desert pine forest. We took a break in the shade to recover, but we still were only nearly half way there.

We took a few more breaks on the way up. It was relatively cool, but it was a killer climb on the short night of sleep.

At last, we made it to the north fork of the San Jacinto River. Why was the river all the way up here? Only God knows. We got lunch, napped, and celebrated our highest ascent day on the whole trail – and we weren’t even done!

After lunch, we repacked our stuff and rehit the trail. We were shooting for the next reliable water source on trail, only another 9ish miles, and a few campsites a few more miles beyond. After that climb, though, those miles were tough. And, those miles were not flat. We added more elevation as we bounced over a few ridges.

We got to the water an hour after sunset. The moonrise was intense and orange!

Too tired to go further, we camped at the water. We ate fast and went to bed quickly. We didn’t have any trouble falling asleep. This was our biggest day of elevation gain all trip, and our bodies were beat.