6/5/17 – Forest, for a change

Day 43
Miles: 587.25 to 604.43
Today the trail took us through another burn and our friend Poodle Dog Bush was back, and its tiny purple blooms, as poisonous as they were, livened the scenery together with other flowers, orange and yellow. 

We haven’t stayed in the burn for long. Couple miles at most and then we walked into meadows and grove of oaks. Plenty of sites could be found here tucked in the shade of the trees. They were lovely sites with a view of the golden grasses swaying in the breeze. We took a short break here before continuing up the hill.

The hills today were not graded as graciously as other days. They took us straight up, which as long as there was a breeze, was all right but when the air remained still for more than a few second, we could really feel the hotness of the day and when the wind completely died out just before noon, the heat quickly robbed me of my energy. 

The scenery today was what kept me alive. Shortly after leaving the grove the trail led us into a forest of stately oaks mixed with mature pines. The forest floor was covered with lovely green grass and once in a while we walked past an opening with a beautiful view.

The change of scenery was most welcome, even though we knew it was short lived and we would soon walk back into the open exposed terrain of Mojave desert.

But at least for today we enjoyed the shade and presence of water. After initial 15 waterless miles we came upon a Robin Bird Spring and took a couple hour siesta there. Afterwards our stroll through the forest took us along several other creeks, some larger than others. 

Our plan was to reach creek about 5 miles past the spring. Everybody else was headed for it and even though it would be nice to have company, with so many people ahead of us, we were not sure how easy it would be to find a decent site and so when a sweet flat site caught our eyes half way there that had a decent stream nearby, we decided to call it a home for the night.