PCT 2024 Section G Day 2 – The Quest for Water

Goal for the day: Make it to the first source of water.

Since I had only managed 2.5 miles on the first day, that still left me 9.5 miles to go until the first source of water: Joshua Tree Spring

Fortunately, there should be more shade on this stretch of trail, but it’ll still get hot as the day goes on. So, I had a small bag of granola that only cost me 2 ounces of water and hit the trail early shortly after 6am after enjoying some color while packing up my gear.

I was happy that I didn’t have any thoughts of aborting the hike. I just headed north on the trail, glad to see some new terrain as I went.

I made use of the areas with shade, making sure to not stay in the direct sun too long. Short rest in the shade, short walk in the sun. Repeat often during the day.

The terrain was somewhat repetitive as I made my way across ridges. I passed Morris Peak and Mt Jenkins along the way. During planning, I did think about climbing to the top of these peaks as I passed. But upon seeing them, I decided that wasn’t worth the time and water it would cost me.

Over the course of the day, the more desert like terrain and plants started to slowly give way to plants I was more used to seeing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. But still saw a good number of Joshua Trees and blooming cacti of various kinds.

After over 10 hours of alternating shade and hot, scorching sun, I neared Joshua Tree Spring. But a quarter mile before the trail to the spring, I came across a creek trickling across the trail.

Water!!

O’ glorious source of life and Diet Coke!!

Wasn’t going to get the later on the trail, but I was very happy to have reached the first water on this part of the trail. Trail reports had indicated this would be here, so not a surprise. Welcome, none the less. I was down to a half liter of my original 7 liters, so I patted myself on the back that I had calculated my water needs correctly this time with some to spare.

I gladly started filtering water, drinking my fill and then maxing out my 3 liter water bladder with clean, filtered water. And I filled my 4 liter bag with unfiltered water to filter at camp (to save time). I also dipped my hat in the water and put it on. Ah… a nice way to cool down on the trail. Got my hat dirty, though. 😀

With the goal met for the day I could have stopped there, but decided to continue up the trail some more to find a good camping spot. After a quarter mile, I passed the trail to the spring, but with me maxed out on water, there was not much reason to descend the rough trail to the springs and campsites down there. The fact that there were comments about possible uranium contamination in the spring water also made me less inclined to bother. I did make a point of double-filtering the water from the creek, just in case.

My trail info showed several possible camping spots around a mile from the spring, so I kept going as long as I could. Even in the late afternoon, it was still hot along this trail with no shade. So when I found a nice campsite with some shade, I called it a day and setup my tent.

Since there were plenty of water up ahead I could have ramen for dinner, which needed 2 cups of water. After enjoying some sunset colors, I settled in for a much needed rest, fully hydrated.