The morning begins with Storm and me heading out early. Took a couple pictures of “eagle rock” and kept rocking until the road to Warner Springs gas station at 109.5. The community center is closed to hikers during weekdays this year. I thought it had something to do with Covid, but some day hiker gal I spoke with said it was due to semi-naked hikers running around while the elementary school was in session across the street. Guess some Mom didn’t like it. It is too bad the place is closed to us, I had a good time when I stopped there in ’17.

Storm and I road walked the 1 mile to the gas station, getting there before 10. There a nice picnic table setup in the shade near the station. Bunch of hikers there already and a stream of others come in while we are there.

Lot of folks are picking up resupply boxes.  Endless and QB seem to have their resupply dialed in.  Queensland is (un)dialed.  He seems to have twice as much stuff as he needs and is ditching all sorts of things.  Unfortunately, there’s no Burbon.  Powerbutt (that’s her new proposed name) is also over-supplied and Bryan offers to take one of her custom dehydrated meals. Others are resupplying from whatever they can find in the gas station.

As for me, I just keep going back and buying gatorades, beers, and hotdogs. I still have plenty of Mountain house meals. Which is an interesting segway into the benefits of packing those meals. They are simple to pack, light, and (for the most part) inclusive of all the nutrition I need. I’m really sold on the mountain house meal program. It gets the job done with simplicity. Anyway, I buy a few kudos and candy bars for my resupply and am ready to go.

StormTrooper i also ready to bolt. After I take a lenghty break in the bathroom, I head out with StormTrooper. He wants to go back to our exit point on the road and hike the small section that I can bypass with a more direct route. He has to make up 2 extra miles which is fine by me since he needs some place to expend his energy.

I stay ahead of him until I reach a nice little sanctuary by a stream at 114.8. By now it is 1:00 and super hot. StormTrooper and I make ourselves comfortable and await hikers to entertain us. That entertainment takes the form of Gourmet who turns up a few minutes later. He’s a funny dude. After him comes Bryan who stays for a few minutes, then leaves to climb the hill behind us. Splinter turns up to regale us with his folkzy old-guy humor. The guy is almost 70 years old and still hiking like a champ.

Others come and go. Gourmet is getting all agitated because he wants everyone to stay there tonight. He full of reasons, like it is too hot, the ridge won’t be sun exposed in the morning, etc. Eventually I have to break the news that I’m leaving and start hiking. StormTrooper assures me he will be coming behind.
The climb out is just like I remember. The trail follows the stream up hill through a box canyon. While in the canyon, it is shady, green, and full of life. Top the canyon and you are suddenly back in the desert. Dropping into the next canyon and the process repeats, after which it is permanently back to the arid environment. There is a lot of up and down climbing eventually topping out at 4500 feet. The spot we picked out is near some water accessible a few hundred yards off the trail.

Patches catches up to me when I’ve almost finished the climb. We hike in together. We arrive to find Queensland and Bryan (aka Mr Crinkles due to his noisy sleeping pad) hanging around chilling. Bryan starts his dinner while I’m setting up my tent. He is cooking the dehydrated franken-meal he got from Powerbutt. He winds up over-cooking it and burning it into his pot. He is trying to choke it down feeling guilty that he somehow has to eat it because it was a gift. I spend the evening working his guilt, encouraging him to eat every nasty spoonful. So funny.

As the sun is setting Stormtrooper arrives and quickly sets up. He said Gormet kept working him to stay at the previous site. He was almost convinced but finally left at 6. That kid impresses me. He hiked the same distance that took me 4 hours in just under 3. I’m doing the math in my head and know it is just a matter of time before he leaves me in the dust.