Day 13

PCT mile 193.1 to 218.5 to Whitewater River Preserve (0.5 mile off)

PCT miles today - 25.4. Of note: 6000 ft descent!

Woke to gorgeous sunrise looking down over Palm Springs and miles of wind farm.

This is the TRAIL ANGEL MAGIC DAY!

Hiked 6000 ft down a very windy descent to the hot desert floor below passing lovely flowering cacti, adorable bunnies, and lots of different colored lizards. Impressed by the wind farm spread below us. No better place for this wind farm - difficult to stay vertical at some times when gusts attacked. No water during the descent, but arrived at the rusty water faucet at mile 205 and filtered a couple liters for trek ahead - which looked miserable - 4 miles walking through sand and heat. Who could have guessed that soon we’d be walking eating cold honey crisp apples and full of oranges.

Interesting walk in 6” deep sand, glaring sun and beneath buzzing high voltage power lines and transformers. We rounded a bend and saw that a trail angel had set up his cartent and table on a road crossing in the middle of nowhere. He was handing out cold drinks, fruit and grilled hot dogs. The high winds made it difficult to talk. The young man (college student) completed the PCT thru hike in 2019 and his trail name is Hang Time. VERY sweet young man and excited to provide anything we needed. We ate and drank a ginger ale (delicious!), listened to a few stories he shared of his time on trail, said our goodbyes, and headed off across the sand. The trail angel magic on the PCT at the most unlikely places stuns us.

As we hiked toward HWY 10 we saw the longest train either of us have ever seen - 5-10 miles long. Never ending. Very unusual surroundings. As we neared the HWY 10 underpass we saw and heard a few people yelling and clapping. Sweet! Mama Bear and the infamous Mike (of Mike’s Place) and another hiker were there in an oasis of shade/food/drink/comfort. As we approached the area Mama Bear (trail angel) handed us ice cold wet cloths she pulled from a bucket of ice to wipe our face and hands and then served us anything we wanted - she even had ice cold Watermelon and grapes. Actual chairs for us to sit in (treat). The best. Such a lovely and generous soul! We chatted for a few minutes over the roar of the cars, trucks and the same train rumbling overhead and then ‘Broken Arrow’ arrived to a similar round of applause. It’s a tough, hot, windy crossing after the gorgeous mountain above - perfect place for Trail Angel magic. ❤️

We reluctantly left Mama Bear’s comfort and headed into ‘Twilight Zone’ territory - bizarre desert walk past abandoned cars, suitcases of discarded clothing and a housing area laid out with sand covered crumbling roads, but no houses.

As we climbed what felt like endless rolling desert hills we both ached to see the Whitewater River. It remained hidden until the last 0.5 miles before the trail spur to the Preserve. The sound of that rushing River was so inviting. The preserve is closed to visitors, but open to PCT hikers. We took the 0.5 mile spur to the most beautiful nature preserve we’ve ever seen. Beautiful buildings, landscaping, ponds, waterfalls, and grounds. Even an open bathroom for hikers! We selected a spot and pitched our tent for a very windy night. Sunday night - no ranger or other hikers joined us. Felt a bit like we were trespassing. There was a large crystal clear pool about150 yards by 30 yards. We learned later that there was a trout farm here in the past.

Really interesting hiking day.