Day 32 – Sunday, June 25

Aqueduct Faucet at PCT Mile 534.9 to PCT mile 551.0

Day Total: 16.9 Miles

We woke up to the sun rising above the horizon, lighting up the wind turbines surrounding where we were camping.

There's nothing quite like seeing the sunrise in the desert to make you hurry up. It's like a ticking time bomb until unbelievable heat. We had six miles to get to the next water source where we planned to spend the heat of the day relaxing. 

We stopped for a breakfast of Snickers and honey buns in a tiny smidgen of shade and then resumed walking through the wind farm.

Perhaps the most unexpected thing we've seen on the trail was a black horse. No idea where it came from. The horse saw us and ran around a little before losing interest and continuing to graze just off the trail. So strange!!

We made it to the water and spent the day under a big, beautiful tree in Tylerhorse Canyon with a group of four other hikers. It continues to be frustrating to want to hike all day, to feel like we're fit enough to hike all day and crush miles, but to be unable to because of the heat.

It's even more frustrating when the heat makes napping impossible. 

The highlight of the day was coming across some trail magic at the top of a massive climb in the dark. We had no idea until we heard the lid of a metal trash can rattling.

I turned off the trail to investigate and saw a large wooden cabinet full of gallon jugs of water, and a wooden bookshelf with a trail register, and buckets of snacks. The snacks were amazing -- grapes, brownie bites, cookies and even oranges! 

There were chairs to sit on and an umbrella for people who needed shade. It was about 10 p.m., so we didn't need the umbrella, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I'm once again astounded by the generosity of people who support hikers.

We hiked another couple miles over the top of the big climb and set up camp. It will be a short day into town tomorrow.