DAY 26: RATTLESNAKES

miles: 20

Yesterday I forgot to mention that I saw my first rattlesnake. I do not have any photos of these snakes, as I was too scared to get close enough to photograph them.

Here's how it went down: I was alone. I was walking very fast, taking photos, very distracted. I stopped to take a close up photo of some flowers that were head-level on the path and I looked down and I was about to walk over a baby rattlesnake. YES, a baby. It hadn't noticed me yet, because I had been standing there fussing with my DSLR camera for a while, so I had been silently hanging out there long enough for it to slither out. When I spotted it, I took about 500 steps back, almost falling off of the cliff. It was just staring me down as I tossed rocks in it's general direction from about 100 yards away. Didn't budge. I sat down, he wins. I decided to wait for Sour Cream and Ben to catch up, but by the time they did, it had slowly (so slowly) slithered away.

Today - 2 more rattlesnakes.

We got an early start to avoid the heat of the day, and continued our contoured canyon traverse. It got hot quickly. I came up around a bend and Ben was having a stand-off with a large, dark rattlesnake. It was coiled but not rattling and we noticed that it's rattler seemed to be broken/torn off? We attempted to throw small pebbles his way to get him to scoot, but he didn't budge for a good ten minutes, long enough for Carrot to come up and get a look herself.

Eventually he moved on. Meanwhile, we'd later realize, Angela was having her own encounters with other rattlesnakes that day.

We reached a giant dam and were momentarily disoriented and lost, but managed to find the trail again. Only a few yards later, we found ourselves crossing a very inviting stream (I believe it was Deep Creek still) and we couldn't resist the opportunity for a foot soak. Suddenly, it was raging hot outside and it wasn't even 10am. We contorted our bodies and packs into the shape of the dappled shade of some shrubs near the water. I began laying out my foods, everything precariously placed in my lap and on the sand around me. I was starving. This is when I heard the sound of leaves rustling a few feet behind me, in the bushes. It was a rattlesnake who had not yet seen me, but was moving incredibly fast through the leaves, as straight as an arrow. I flipped, he saw me, he coiled, he hissed, I tried my best to not drop every bit of food I was eating in the sand, and shot up - running down the bank. He remained there, coiled and angry in the bushes, near the only speck of shade, for the duration of our lunch. Eventually I gathered enough courage to creep back up to the bush (I had no choice, there was zero shade) and sit with the snake. He was not within striking distance, so as long as I didn't make any sudden movements/sounds, we could exist together, peacefully, watching eachother carefully.

Literally, ate lunch with a rattlesnake.

Oh, and a jeep with a smiling couple came roaring through our lunch spot, driving straight through our water source. Great.

The dread set in. We had many miles to go that day and knew this would be a hot one. We braced for the long-haul and set out around noon (worst time to hike, EVER). Lost the trail too many times to count, scrambled up snake infested stream banks, walked through the creepiest/most foreign landscape ever (it looked like Georgia), and made our way to an uphill climb, finally leaving the strange, pseudo-industrial area.

Ben was up ahead, Angela behind me, when I saw and heard Ben's reaction to something. He was happy? What could it possibly be?

TRAIL MAGIC.

AT THE BEST. POSSIBLE. TIME.

Shepherd and Shadow were at the Hwy 173 crossing waiting for hikers so they could cook them up a hot dog and give them a root beer float. I don't think I've ever been so audibly and visibly excited. There were chairs, there were snacks... oh. my. god.

Sour Cream had been there for a while waiting for us to arrive so we could hike together. It was a very nice break. THANK YOU SHEPHERD AND SHADOW.

Also: a water cache!!!!

That was just the boost we needed to get the rest of the way, and by the time we took off, it was slightly overcast, so it was much more comfortable!

... but pain set in. My feet were killing me today. I'm not sure if it is because the gel inserts I got back in Idyllwild were destroyed, or if it was that I had done too many 20 mile days back to back, or if it was that I hadn't stretched enough? I was wincing with every step. Ben was also having excruciating knee pain and Angela was basically immobilized by her blisters.

SO.
HARD.

We all sat down to have a break before the last 5 miles and it was very grim. Sour Cream and Carrot were incredibly encouraging and supportive of the three of us. We would hike less than we intended that day to give us a break...

NOTE: even though we are in a lot of pain, and I am expressing my sincere concern for our injuries, we are in NO WAY interested in quitting. This, actually, is not an option and is NOT on our radar in any way. I just wanted to make that clear so that you all know that only a severe emergency can take us off of this trail. We will work with our pain and understand that it will be ever-present, we just need to figure out how to best deal with it. This entire trip seems to be pain management.

We are pow-wow'ing on what to do next.

It was a low moment. Ben and I even considered hitching to Cajon Pass that very night, but we moved on.

Made it to Silverwood Lake Recreation Area and WOW it was a pretty lake, but seemed like it was being trashed by the visitors...

Dark came, and Ben and I were searching for our crew in the dark.

Found them by headlamp! They were camped at the boat inn down on the lake. Gorgeous camp spot, where we assembled our dinners on the picnic table together like a family. All the while, being bit by ants.

I'm so tired if being bitten... By ants. They are FIERCE. 

Miss you all at home.