PCT day 19
The day began in a cloud. The day ended in the wind. Everything in the middle had some of everything. I started walking through the cloud and focused on keeping my fingers warm as I lumbered along. I reached robin bird spring and even with the mild forecast I decided to top off my water and I also wanted to see the spot where I first learned how good water can be. There have been very few times I have actually ran out of water and had to walk far enough that it became noticeably uncomfortable, but prior to this particular spring in 2011 I was dreaming of water and retrying to get one more drop out of my water bottle constantly. This year it is a different story. This section, which I consider the driest, is very cool and windy which makes the walking easy. Shortly after the spring I exited the forest and began one last slog across the Mojave desert floor. The scenery is sand all around dotted with a mix of cacti, small brown plants, with the occasional Joshua tree. It is the type of place you expect to see skeletons of those who could not find water. What you do occasionally find is 4wd roads with dirt bikers using them. At the end of the day I got to bird song pass road where using my previous knowledge, I knew someone was kind enough to leave water for hikers to make this 40 mile dry stretch more manageable. Luckily, I found the person putting out the water there and helped him unload his car. I actually met him at the trail Angels down by San Jacinto (400 miles ago). His name is devil fish and he has turned into an iconic trail angel. After helping him unload and chatting for a bit I cooked dinner, found a spot sort of out of the wind and laid down in the sand completely exhausted.
Miles: 593-630
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