April 26, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 315.1) to bushcamp (mile 338.4)

Miles: 23.3

We woke up at our usual 5:45 and started hiking at 7:15.

The trail was mellow in the beginning, hugging the hillsides and meandering in and out of the sunshine.

We walked through bushes buzzing with bees, shady turns with bunches of poison oak and sunny patches with butterflies playing tag and lizards scooting out of our way.

Andy’s blister caused him pain but after 15 min the pain turned numb- as long as we kept walking. He had searing pain when he took weight off his left foot but after learning that the hard way he didn’t didn’t do it again. He is a trooper though, he just kept walking.

Then, out of nowhere we turned a corner and a large dam appeared- not more than 200 yards away. We walked alongside the bottom paralleling a road and then eventually started to climb up to the top.

We passed a cooler in the shade and Laurie squealed with delight, only to be disappointed when it was empty. Andy reassured her that in time we will walk upon trail magic.

We got to the top of the dam and looked down on Silverwood Lake. It is big! We walked around the perimeter for what felt like forever!

We spotted a covered picnic area in the distance and set that as a goal for lunch. The trail started to climb again so we dropped down to the beach to walk along the water to get to the picnic table.

We ate a filling lunch of cheese, crackers, salami (Andy had salmon) and carrot cake cookies while sitting on a picnic table. Oh, and we washed all that down a with lemon flavored electrolyte drink.

After lunch, we continued on around the lake and finally out across a highway and into the next set of hills. The trail was well defined and steadily climbed up and then down.

We ran into Buff, a 62 year old man from Humbolt. We chatted for a bit and then parted ways as Andy’s blister started hurting and we stopped to readjust the molefoam.

We saw Buff again as he was setting up his tent. We continued on with a mission to get further down the trail to make the next day more manageable.

We hiked on with sore feet and hungry bellies until we got past the power lines and to our planned camp.

Laurie started singing Christmas carols with hiking lyrics and other random songs to pass the time. We also had conversations about tattoos, kids, religion and whether we’d date one another again if we had a do over.

We arrived at our anticipated campsite but it was on the edge of a 200 ft drop. With a steady wind we got a little nervous and found another spot on the other side of the trail.

Andy cooked while Laurie set up the tent. We ate dinner and dessert and tried to figure out transportation for Friday when we anticipate we will be at Islip Saddle. Road closures, icy trail alternatives and possible inclement weather make it hard to plan. We don’t think we will have cell reception in the Angeles National Forest so we are taking a lot of time to figure out a reasonable plan.

Tonight we are grateful for blue skies and mole foam.