Day 40 - Robin Bird spring to road crossing on PCT mile 625

Last night was even colder than the night before, but I still managed to sleep OK. But this morning was really cold outside. We took our time, as usual, and left camp last. I hiked most of the day with my wind shirt on, putting on my jacket as soon as we made a stop to eat something. It seemed like it will start raining almost all day long, except that it didn’t really, for must of it.

The hike itself was pretty nice, most of the day, except for a small section of burnt forest. Our initial plan was to hike an alternate down towards Willow Spring, which was supposedly the last water source for 30 miles, until we reach Lake Isabella. But last night we heard that there is a water cache about 5 miles before Willow Spring, so we figured we’d fill up there and try to hike several miles further today. When we finally reached the road crossing with the cache, we met Steve, who is supporting his wife Steady, and doing trail magic along the way. We got sodas, snacks and tangerines, and also filled up about 2 liters of water each. The cache itself was empty, and this wouldn’t get us all the way to Lake Isabella, but Steve said there is another cache 15 miles further which should be full by tomorrow. We went further, hoping to get closer to the cache for tomorrow, and hoping we are right to rely on it. Then we met a section southbounder, called GoalTech, who took our photos for his blog, and told us there is a lot of water at the cache. So that put our minds at ease. We met Big Boots and Steady just at the second intersection with the spring alternate. They were planning to do 5 more miles, but Steady mentioned there’s a good camping spot 1.6 miles ahead. As we were heading out, the rain finally started, and I got pretty wet through my wind shirt. I knew it won’t last long, but we agreed we’d tent up at that 1.6 spot until the rain stops, and then figure out what to do. When we got there, the rain pretty much stopped. I set up my tent, looking for a rock to help me stake in the stakes, when Big Boots and Steady came around, and said they’d go 2 more anyway. Idan wanted to keep going (it was just over 15:00), and finally he convinced me to take down my tent and head on.

The next 2 miles were pretty easy, and we got here with Big Boots and set our tents just in time. Rudolph and Bambi came in shortly after. They were planning to get to the next cache, but the weather convinced them to stay, and they also managed to get into their tents just as the rain returned. We had our dinner inside my roomy tent, while the rain was falling outside. But now it has cleared up, and we even got enough sun to dry my tent. It might rain again during the night, but tomorrow should be warmer.