Last night was one of the best night’s sleep we have had on the trail so far. We were down in the creek bottom, but slightly higher than Wolf and Ivy, so if there was a flash flood, their screams would wake us up with plenty of time to save our stuff. Other than that, we had a level, soft, sandy spot with bushes protecting us from the wind. I’m a white noise person for sleep and a field of 300 windmills is the best source of white noise you can have. Much better than a mountain stream, although comforting, has unexpected water consequences for old men.
We had been asleep for a while when I was woken up by someone shining their light on our tent. It was wavering like they were sweeping the light back and forth across the creek bed. I tried to wake Bunny up, but she didn’t care (too much Benadryl). I would have to handle this myself. If I needed backup, there’s always our “ace in the hole,” Wolf. I put on my glasses and started crawling out of the tent to discover the moon shining directly on me with a windmill in its path deflecting the light.
I don’t think I woke up again all night. I must have sleep walked/peed because I was dry when I got up to start the coffee at 7. My wife feigns sleep every morning until her breakfast is ready. Today was no exception to the rule. I gently woke her with a cup of coffee and her favorite hand made trail breakfast—brown sugar/cinnamon pop tarts. She’s a lucky gal.
Guess who wasn’t first out of the gulley. Wolf and Ivy said goodbye to us a few minutes after 8, but we were already out of the tent. Bunny was thinking today would be a good day to switch back to shorts and short sleeves, but I talked her out of it. After all, we are in the middle of a wind farm and all the turbines are spinning. As soon as we emerged from the protection of the creek bed, we were blown away. The wind didn’t let up for the next 7 miles until we had climbed up and over the first ridge.
Tangerine had told us there was a water cache just a mile from us, but we had our heads down and must have missed it. We both ran out of water before the next creek. It never got above 50 degrees the whole time we were crossing the wind farm. We had each had two cups of coffee for breakfast so we’ll be fine.
We thought we were crossing multiple ridges today. Instead, we climbed up the first ridge and then just skirted the desert valley the rest of the day. We could see snow on the San Gabriel Mountains to our south. This is part of the section of trail that we skipped and have to make up if the snow ever melts. It seemed like we never lost sight of the wind farm until we dropped down into our camp for the night.
Water dictates our days through the desert. We chose this camp tonight because there might be water about a half mile down stream from where we camped. Ivy and Wolf were already set up and chilling out. They had been here since 1:30. We arrived a little after 2. This is the earliest we have ever made it to camp in nearly 3 years of hiking. After we set up the tent and I found the water, we didn’t have anything else to do until we ate, so I took a nap. Who’d have thought of sleeping in the afternoon?
We woke up (Bunny claims she was working, but I clearly heard snoring in our tent) at 4:30 to have supper with Wolf and Ivy. We talked for awhile until the wind picked up and forced us into our tents. As soon as we got settled inside, the wind stopped. It was already nearing hiker midnight at 6. It’s very difficult to fall asleep when it’s still light out AND you’ve napped for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It looks like a double Benadryl night.
EFG