After another quick trip to the grocery store (vacuum sealed tuna and salmon, refried beans in a pouch, wonder bread, boxed pasta and rice, and lots of cookies) we headed to the ranger station to ask about the downed trees. Once again I found the ranger station utterly lacking. The answer I got was essentially "I dunno, there are blow downs every year." Let me put that into perspective in a commercial context, so that you can appreciate how bad some of these people are at their job:
"Excuse me, I finally decided to break down and read the Harry Potter series. Could you please point me to the right section?"
"Never heard of it."
"You...you're kidding. It was a huge cultural phenomenon. It was turned into a massively popular movie franchise."
"Hmmm... did you look in the gardening section?"
"No. It's not a gardening book. It's about a boy who goes to wizarding school."
"Hmmm... did you check biographies?"
".... It's fiction."
"Well we have fiction books."
"Yes, I know. That's why I asked what part of the store to look in."
"Sometimes I forget to wear pants."
"What? I don't ... I mean what does that have to do with...?"
"..."
"... I hate you."
So now you see how inappropriate their lack of knowledge is, thanks to that completely accurate analogy. For your info, there was a winter storm on November 30th that knocked thousands of trees down between Mt. Whitney and Tioga Pass. There, now you are more informed than the entire Kern Ranger Station.
Anyway my parents dropped me back at the trail (pictured). Before I get to the hiking let me mention one other item from the store. My mom gets credit for finding a huge rice crispy treat covered with chocolate chips and sprinkles. 400 calories! I'm looking forward to that.
The hiking was tough, as most of the day was uphill and my pack was heavier than ever. I now have my cold weather gear, bear canister, and ice axe, along with 8 days of food.
The scenery was mostly chaparral still, with large swaths of pine and a few oaks taking over as I got further north. The hike was basically three large uphill chunks, separated by brief portions that come down off the ridges to access water. I started by hiking 1800 feet up to the shoulder of Mt. Jenkins. The mountain is named for the guy who scouted the trail for this section and who, incidentally, co-authored the guidebook I am using. After Mt. Jenkins, which had sweeping views over the desert to the east, I came to a saddle and moved to wind buffeted western faces. The trail descended to Joshua Tree Spring where I stopped for a late lunch.
The spring has signs warning that the water is unsafe to drink due to uranium content. However, I know from extensive research that uranium leads to superpowers, so I tanked up. Actually, the guidebook states that there are only trace amounts, and that the sign is only there because of the extremely stringent requirements of the California Clean Water Act.
From the spring the trail went up 600 feet, then back down to seasonal Spanish Needles Creek. It was here that, very recently, a new species of plant was discovered, called the Spanish Needles Onion. From there I headed uphill toward the Spanish Needles peaks (pictured) for what seemed like well over 1000 feet.
I am now camped on a saddle, on the leeward side of a peak, enjoying a well maintained campsite that is sheltered in the trees. I made 20 miles today. Not bad considering the late start and heavy load!
