Sunday, May 10th -- Day 18

- What a day!

Another late start, then three hours in the rising heat until we hit a gorgeous stream, complete with a small waterfall. We stripped down to boxers and laid down in the water. It was awesome. Had lunch there, and moved on.

Then, everything started to suck. The sun was glaring down, and, although the trail followed the stream all day, criss-crossing over it, there seemed to be little long-term relief. As evening approached, I took the lead. Coming up a hill, I suddenly heard something that sounded exactly like an automatic sprinkler. I stopped and looked around, bewildered.. Then I saw a rattlesnake, like, three feet away. Bravely, I yelled and leapt back. Tom threw rocks at it until it moved far enough away for us to pass safely. Half an hour later, the same sound shot out, and there was another one to my right. This one was coiled and ready. I walked past carefully, and he drew back, preparing to strike. Made it safely away and hiked on.

As the day faded, we ran into several other hikers in a dry creek bed, and made dinner, which was good because I was completely out of energy. After dinner, we packed back on and started a sudden ascent through the San Bernadino National Forest. The sun set, and we pulled out our headlamps for night hiking. The trees formed a canopy, and the mountains around us formed a basin that we climbed over the next three hours. The air got colder, and the mountains became black shapes against a starry sky. We finally made it up to a sandy lot, and set up camp. It's actually quite cold, and my fingers are numb, so goodnight!