Day 13 – Tuesday, June 6
PCT mile 219.5 to PCT mile 239.9 Day Total: 20.4 miles One mile into our hike this morning we saw something wonderful that we hadn't seen on the trail yet – a river! The trail crosses the Whitewater River, which was flowing with plentiful, cold, crisp water. We loaded up our bottles and enjoyed hiking for a few hours in a canyon that hadn't yet been lit up by the sun. At the first crossing of Mission Creek, we soaked our feet, ate a snack and I think Stephen even fell asleep for a little bit. The trail followed the creek for another eight miles or so, allowing us to carry far less water than we often do in the desert. But by 10:30 a.m. it was excruciatingly hot, so we found a shady area along the creek to rest. We napped, read, and ate a big meal of chicken flavored rice before packing up to start hiking again about 5 p.m. It was still hot, but the sun was low enough behind the canyon rim that we were not in direct sunlight. We climbed all ev...