DAY 19: SNOW TO DESERT

miles: 22

Yes, I really said "22 miles", officially our longest day. We woke to freezing temperatures at 8,100 feet and ended our day with raging wind on the desert floor. 

I don't think I ever got warm last night. It was one of those sleepless nights where you wake up and want, so desperately, to change positions, but you know that if you move even an inch, you will lose all your body heat. I remained still, on my back, dressed in everything I owned. I feared turning over because it could let in a draft.

Frost. Found frost on the inside of our tent in the morning, as well as ice bits coating the outside of the tent. Were the frost bits stuck to the inside "exhilation frost"? Most things were wet, such as our sleeping bags, down coats, backpacks...

We packed up with fervor in order to avoid hypothermia. Last night had been beautiful and this morning was no different, however, with the low temps and high elevation, a thick, frosty fog had rolled in and was saturating us. 

Got moving quickly, got body temps up. I could not feel my fingers or toes. Somehow, it took an hour to regain feeling in my bog toes. I'd so much rather be hot than cold. I hate being cold.

Today was a day of major elevation loss. We were to lose approximately 5,000 feet over the next 25 miles or so. That is a lot of knee pain.

Aside from the knee grinding downhill, there was one large hurdle to overcome today, and that is "Fuller Ridge". 

Fuller Ridge is notoriously a "potentially hazardous" section for hikers. This is due to the high elevation, ridge exposure, trail, and typical early season snow/ice. In a "high snow year", hikers often opt out of Fuller Ridge, take an alternate route, skip it and come back to it later, or bring snow gear (micro spikes). Because we are hiking during an EXTREMELY "low snow year", we have nothing to worry about. Piece of cake.

Even though it wasn't treacherous, there was one aspect of Fuller Ridge that WAS daunting: the ice chunks that sporadically came crashing down from the trees every few minutes. The trees were rapidly dropping their heavy ice loads as they melted in the sun, and the sun was coming up very quickly.

The melting got pretty dramatic and alarming. As I walked, I covered my head with my hands, terrified of the huge chunks. 

We made it down in no time, the snow slowly began to disappear. 

A parking lot! Sun! Lunch at the Fuller Ridge Trailhead, where there were picnic benches, and plenty of sun, allowing us to dry out our sopping wet belongings. 

I moved on quickly, and descended into the eerie fog... Alone.

We all hiked separately for hours, at this point, slowly making our way down the mountain, watching the terrain change dramatically! Suddenly rocks, sand, reptiles. We left the heavy fog behind (above) and were in familiar territory.

Small lizards scurried everywhere. I'm talking at least one came flying out in front of me every 30 seconds. 

Passed the 200 mile marker. Wow.

Ben and I camped on a flat, sandy, ledge among some boulders. The view over the valley was amazing... However, the wind was INSANE. What is with this (seemingly) 400 mile per hour wind?? We  decided we'd rather set up our tent than cowboy camp with the wind bully. 

At some point in the wee hours of the morning, the wind ceased. Strangely, it was still in the desert. We have grown to associate the desert with raging wind, so this was slightly unsettling, but also a HUGE. RELIEF.