Started off the day at six am, and hiked to Fobe's Saddle, our first potential water source. We skipped it, deciding that we had enough water to get us to Apache Spring 3 miles down the trail. That's when things started to suck.
Just past Fobe's Saddle, I lifted my foot to take a step and got a sudden sharp pain deep in my lower back. I took a few more steps before the pain made me sit down. After resting and wondering what to do for a few minutes, I took some ibuprofen, stood up, and started creeping up the trail. There was a lot of climbing, and I was out of water, and it SUCKED.
Eventually, I caught up with Jerry, and we made our way uphill until we ran into Tom. By then, the pain had worked itself out somewhat, so I could almost hike at my normal pace. We moved on to the Apache Spring Trail Junction. All of us were out of water, having foolishly passed up several opportunities for Apache Spring, which was supposed to be only half a mile off the trail. Unfortunately, it turned out that the half mile was a quick plunge down the side of the mountain. We scrambled down, filtered the water from the mountain spring (cold and delicious) and had a long lunch. Then, it was time to climb back up.
The ascent on the Apache Spring Trail was by far the most difficult climb we've encountered yet. It consisted mostly of fierce switchbacks, punctuated by brutal direct climbs at a hideous angle. I climbed it twenty feet at a time, stopping in between to lean on my trekking poles and try to shake the tension out of my legs.
At long last, we made it to the top, only for more climbing. The trail became thin and treacherous. At one point I ducked to the outside to avoid a low branch, and my right foot went too far. The ground gave way, and half of me slid down the cliff. My left leg scraped hard against a rock as I landed on it, tearing my pants. I came out of it with nothing more than an ugly scrape, instead of a broken shin, which I imagine would have been probably the most painful thing in the universe.
Oh, ok. So, after a long, long day of climbs and descents, we made it to Devil's Slide, a trail that descends 2,300 feet over 25 miles. Not as ominous as it sounds, but I am not looking forward to climbing back up. As soon as we hit the bottom, a pickup truck pulled up, and a man and a woman (Ron and Sherrie) offered us a ride into town. They dropped us off at a pizza place and we stuffed ourselves before hiking to the state park campgrounds to camp for the night. G'night.
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