Mile 218.5

+ High: I finally walked alone.

- Low: need to say goodbye to Lisa, Tanya and Kate

• Best gear: Patagonia Down Jacket (kept me warm for sure)

Day 14

The afternoon on Deer Springs Trail was the hardest half day for me. I was not sure if it was full backpack right out of town or it was the the rapid  elevation change. I couldn’t believe I was so exhausted after only 3.4 miles of Deer Springs Trail. I manged to walk couple hours more and camped around mile 186. The wind was crazy at the top of the mountain at 9000 ft high. I got lucky that I found a spot right in the middle of bushes that I didn’t get disturbed by the wind at all. It was a shame that I didn’t go to the top of Mt. San Jucinto. I was too tired.

Day 15

Well, as you know, after the peak, you go downhill. From mile 187 to mile 205.7 was almost a straight line downhill. The elevation drops from 9000 ft to 1729 ft. It was crazy, but I also walked pretty fast.

Mile 205.7 was a water faucet, steady water source that we all loved. Most of our daily plans were made according to water source and nice campsites. Water source is, of all, the most important factor. I got to get to the water source. I succefully managed 19 miles today. When I got to the water faucet, it was surrounded by multiple great campsites. I was happy. After setting up my tent and finshing dinner, I felt pretty good and  still got time and energy to do a drawing of the mountains. It was really beautiful.

Day 16

I woke up in a great mood. The muscle pain from the downhill yesterday was gone. My legs and feet were in great shape. I was really happy about this.

From here on, there would be about 7 miles relatively flat terrain to walk. I was surrounded it felt like I was walking towards another mountain. I took out my phone and played “平凡之路“ by Pu Shu again and again, feeling like I was walking into the song. This was the first time I felt like listening to a song.

I passes by couple cool places, I-10 Oasis and MESA Wind Farm. I-10 Oasis has food and drinks. It even had beers. I took a coke and ate a banana. Delicious! MESA Wind Farm is a wind power planet. They opened their doors to hikers since 2002. We got to use their conferrence room to rest, to chat and to have a microwave
lunch. I was thinking about passing this stop but Thanks goodness I went in. I had my everything charged and had a lot of water and some fruits.

After the wind farm was uphill again. I wasn’t feeling too well so I decided to take a shorter day and aim for Whitewater Preserve as my destination for the night. This gave me 13 miles in the pocket.

This day was by far the best day of my trip. I enjoyed the scenes the most and I was not in pain anymore. Too bad that I was havigg a cold.

Whitewater preserve was a well maintained places. You could get to it by driving. It was in the middle of a wide river bed. For the first time I got kind of lost on trail, but eventually managed to find the right track. I got to the preserve pretty early. So I sat down and did my second drawing.