Upon leaving Cabazon, the team could not have been more excited to be back in the desert without snow. The heat was oppressive, but we saw some amazing things. First, we saw a windmill farm. Zero had seen them before in Northern California, but Friday and Fire Marshall were in utter amazement. And the sound the windmills make were equally amazing. Although Friday thought they were eerie, Fire Marshall thought they were peaceful.
From the windmill, we trekked to the White Water Preserve. While the team did not have time to fully enjoy it the Preserve was a great oasis in the desert. They had a wading pool, and the river runs in streams throughout. It was the most unfrozen water they had seen in the desert.
The next morning we headed up the trail, following Mission Creek. The canyon we walked through was very narrow – and we were still able to see all the fire damage from a few years ago. We ended up following the stream and canyon, as the trail was washed out in sections. Friday had a bad spill, banging her knee against a rock – ending the hike for the night. So we camped along the stream.
The next day was a long up-hill to the Mission Springs campground. That night was a cold night – with the temperature plummeting into the 20’s - and the wind howling. It was a night and day difference from the desert to the mountains.
The next morning we got up and hiked twelve miles to the Animal Cages, where the team was meeting some Trail Angels. When they approached they heard a noise, that they thought was a bear. They were a bit concerned because they did not realize that the Animal Cages were there and thought they might be facing an animal in the wild. Turned out – it was a lion in a cage.
Fire Marshall and Zero banged out a 30 mile day to make up for lost time, while Friday nursed her injured knee and took care of much needed business for the team.
Zero made the mistake of opening his mouth and commenting on how uneventful the hike was – less than three miles from the end. And not more than 100 yards after saying that, he tripped over a tree root, fell, smashed his knee and took out Fire Marshall with him. Needless to say, we took a break and the last few miles got cold and were very painful for Zero. We attribute our success for the day to a sandwich some Fritos and the best candy in the world – Super Sour Gummy Life Savers! Without the day could have ended in peril. Now we are well rested, well fed and heading back out.
But before we do, we have to make sure to thank many of our sponsors. Everyone on the team is also thankful to the folks at Ahnu. They went above and beyond the call of duty to ship all of us new footwear at the drop of a hat. Thanks also to Katadyne for the water filters. They have performed wonderfully even given the sketchy quality of some of the sources we have had to pull water from. Special thanks to Granite Gear for coming through with our new dry sacks and for keeping our photography gear safe with great cases. Without everyone’s sponsorship and ongoing assistance, this trek would not happen.
More to come soon. Team Farsight.
And be sure to check out the Team Farsight 2010 page on Facebook.
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