Carolen is having muscle spasms in her back. Pack weight is causing some issues. Today we are treated to more views of Mt. Whitney as we walk into the Walker Pass area. I am so excited to potentially get rid of all my trash! Hoping that the Walker Pass campground has a trashcan. Maybe there will be a picnic table too.
Soon we can hear highway 178 so we know we are close. Then we can see the campground and there is a picnic table with an awning just waiting for us to crash! There is also a porta-potty bathroom with a trash bag we can put our trash into. YAY! Then we need to find the water source since the campground does not have water. We follow the instructions in the PCT water report www.pctwater.com to get to a cistern in a cow pasture that's just off the 178 from the campground. That was quite an adventure! Ingrid and I sleuthed around the pasture trying to find this thing but it was hidden in a bunch of cattails. We could hear but not see it. We found it and the water was pouring out of a spigot from a cistern that was fed by a spring. Clean water, right? No. There is so much cow, horse, mule shit around these sources that filtering is necessary. You should always filter! There are actually warnings about a higher number of hikers getting sick in this section than normal. When you think "spring", you may think you don't have to treat or filter but don't make that mistake. I filtered a crap ton of water and also did a ziplock laundry of my socks and underwear. I fastened them to the outside of my pack to dry. It was so hot and windy, they were dry by the end of the day.
Carolen has made the decision to get off trail. She pushed her SPOT button and her husband will come get her at these GPS coordinates. She has a preset message that tells him it's not an emergency but she wants to be picked up. There is no cell service at Walker Pass. She walks with us to cross the 178 highway and finds a nice Joshua Tree to set up under while she waits. We leave her and start the long climb out of Walker Pass.
We climb the remainder of the day. We are shooting for mile 657 and the last place to pitch a tent for awhile. We are gaining some altitude and will camp at about 6500 feet. The winds are high again and we are grateful when we make it and see that the area is enclosed a bit with trees. We can see Ridge Crest on the desert floor below. I have another sleepless night with the wind howling. Ingrid can sleep through anything. But I have a clean pair of underwear and socks to put on! It's the small blessings.
Photos can be found on my Instagram @tinahikes
Author of Lola Hikes the Icy Mountain
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