PCT Day 16

Miles 211-226

We left my dad and Amanda's house this morning after a night of showering, eating, and resting our sore muscles. The amount of dirt I track around is pretty incredible and that became even more apparent on the clean wood floors of the house.

Getting back on trail we hiked into section "C" of California. This starts a 135 mile section of the trail that runs from Cabazon on I-10 to Cajon Pass on I-15.

We started the day at Ziggy & The Bears and hiked through the valley between the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains. This picture is looking back at Mt San Jacinto.

Moving up into the foothills we were blown around by hard winds as we slowly ascended.

Eventually the trail led us to the Whitewater River where we saw new plants, sat by the creek and soaked our feet. The cold water was refreshing and the wind blew sand into our eyes, ears and lunches.

I try to be careful and scan the trail ahead to avoid snakes. I've always felt pretty successful. Then again, I've never actually seen a snake without someone pointing it out to me. Today I saw a snake; in fact, I almost stepped on a mean looking rattle snake. The snake noticed my foot only a few seconds before I stepped on it's face. It jumped, I jumped and I lept up trail past it's biting range and cursed for a few minutes.

There is so much life out here in the desert besides snakes. There are these caterpillars EVERYWHERE on trail today. They are fat, round, and adorable. Does this mean there will be a butterfly explosion in the next few weeks?

The San Bernardino mountains are treating us well. Look at this view to the west over the mountain range.

Tonight I'm camping in a low creek bed near Mission Creek. There are tons of other hikers around and I'm hoping that it won't get too cold during the night. I'm happy.