This post originally appeared on The Trek, which you can read here.

*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*

Day 19: April 26, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Water Faucet – 205.7
End: Whitewater Preserve – 218.5
Miles: 12.8
Ascent: 2344 | Descent: 1776
Sleep: Tent

What a jam packed day! Our group decided to sleep in a little bit since most of us were cowboy camping. I woke up at 7am and just laid snuggled up in my quilt for a little bit listening to the birds and watching the sun creep closer to our cozy spot. Thankfully the wind wasn’t as bad as we feared since we were cowboy camping. I’m glad we took down the tent, especially because we got to watch the stars and even saw some StarLink satellites last night!

The morning was uneventful since we just packed up and hiked out. Our group has grown to 10 people and we were all eager to get to In-N-Out. The trail this morning honestly sucked… we walked down a paved road for a bit before wading through a wash the last several miles.

Finally we made it to the I-10 underpass and were able to get multiple Ubers into Beaumont. Niahm, Gooey, Pimento, U-Turn, and Stryder all went in one Uber (Late got a hitch), and Truffles, Hangman, Pinky, and I got a separate Uber.

My car went to Walmart first to resupply before walking over to In-N-Out. We got way too much food to last us Big Bear, but surely it will all get eaten eventually. This was all our first times at In-N-Out and it was very overstimulating just because of how busy it was. I got a double double burger animal style with fries, a soda, and a milk shake. Truffles and I later split another burger because we were so hungry and it was so tasty. Definitely worth all the hype (but that could just be the hiker hunger talking).

In Walmart, Pinky had met a woman whose husband was a trail angel. They exchanged numbers and Pinky was able to set up a ride back to trail for us with Duffy. He was a Morongo Native and was an absolute hoot to talk to. He dropped us off back on trail and we were hiking again around 2:30pm.

The weather the rest of the day was on and off horrendous. While we were in town it started to rain, but we figured since we were hiking back into the desert the rain would quit. It spit on and off all afternoon, just enough to be cold and annoying but not enough of a downpour to warrant putting on rain gear.

We trudged through the afternoon. The terrain was pretty easy aside from one big hill that lead us to the mouth of a canyon and up and over into the next ridge line. It started raining really hard but that shower passed quickly and we were rewarded with a rainbow!

Truffles and I hiked together all afternoon and entered the Whitewater Preserve area. The terrain looked totally different compared to the earlier part of the day. We talked about how the landscape reminded us of our road trip through Utah and how the trail wound around the mountains. The second half of the afternoon was lovely (especially because it stoped raining).

Eventually the trail started dropping us down to Whitewater River. At a junction we walked veered off trail to take the blue blaze to Whitewater Persevere. What an absolute oasis! Apparently it used to be a trout farm so there are all these beautiful pools and huge trees in the middle of a dried up river bed. The place is unreal and they let hiker camp here for free! My only regret is that we got here a little late in the evening so we didn’t have much time to explore.

Once the whole group arrived we set up our tents and went under once of the picnic pavilions to cook dinner. It started raining gently and I get to fall asleep to the sound of light rainfall on the tent. Such a great way to wrap up a good day.

Day 20: April 27, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Whitewater Preserve – 218.5
End: Tentsite – 235.5
Miles: 17.0
Ascent: 4773 | Descent: 939
Sleep: Cowboy

Today was a doozy! The morning was absolutely wonderful. We woke up at the Whitewater Preserve and delayed hiking long enough to check out the ponds and the grounds. I found a rock with a Lao Tzu quote that said “In nature, nothing hurries, yet everything is accomplished.” In the tranquil setting of the preserve it was a good reminder not to hurry and to enjoy being part of nature.

Our group finally rolled out around 8am with some light rain. It was 0.5 back to trail, but once we were on trail it was flat and cruisey along the river for a ways. The day started off cold but and windy but once we got moving it warmed up fast. We had a big hill to climb fairly early on, then meandered around the desert floor before going up and over another set of hills.

On the backside of those hills we were finally deposited at Mission Creek, a ridiculously long wash that the trail “follows”. For ~10 miles we have to hike through the dried up stream bed. We stopped for a brief snack before throwing ourselves into the wash.

The first mile went back much easier than expected and we celebrated with lunch under a tree. The benefit of hiking through the wash was that we were beside Mission Creek the entire time, so there was an abundance of water. I took my shoes off and soaked my feet in the creek for a bit before eating lunch and taking a brief nap.

Just after 1pm we continued on into the wash. The rest of the afternoon was a blur of loose sand, and shifting rocks. We had the feeling that we were never really making progress no matter how hard we hiked. We stopped around 3pm for a long break to try and rally morale, but it was in vain. We all were tired and feeling defeated.

The only reprieve came from a comment on FarOut that said if we could scramble on the bank, the trail hadn’t been washed out and could be followed intermittently. We searched diligently for the rock scramble and thankfully found it. It took a bit to get our bearings, but once we were in actual trail again and not slogging through the wash we were able to move much faster.

We were still tired and moving slow, but our hiking pace increased significantly. We made it to camp around 5:30pm and were so grateful to be done for the day! The campsite we originally had our eyes on was full, so the 5 of us decided to cowboy camp close by. We all ate dinner from the comfort of our sleeping bags and stayed snuggled up as the wind picked up and the temperature steadily dropped. I am exhausted and hopeful for a good night’s rest.

Day 21: April 28, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Tentsite – 235.5
End: Arrastre Trail Camp – 256.2
Miles: 20.7
Ascent: 4454 | Descent: 2947
Sleep: Tent

Today felt like a hard but good day. After yesterday we were all exhausted and it was hard to get going. Cowboy camping had been a positive experience for everyone. This was Pinky’s first time cowboy camping and she had been nervous, but the night was uneventful and I’m sure we’ll all end up doing it again.

We woke up around 6:30am to frost on our sleeping quilts. We had all slept with our filters so nothing was frozen, but it made it even harder to get moving since it was chilly. We piddled around until the sun finally crested the ridge closest to us and we felt the warmth of the sun. It heated up quickly after that, and we got moving around 7:45am.

Our first few days on trail it had been so hot that we would wake up in the dark and try to cover as many miles before the sun was out in full force. Now we refuse to get out of bed until the sun is up since it’s miserably cold in the dark. It’s been much colder than I expected in the desert and I’m thankful for all my extra layers to keep me warm at night.

Once we started hiking we were pleased to realize that we truly had made it out of the Mission Creek wash yesterday. That meant that our day would be spent climbing up into the San Gorgonio Wilderness. We went seemingly straight uphill right out of the gate.

Pimento started voicing concern about his ankle and took it slow. We trudged over blow downs and wash outs until we reconnected with Michelin (Niamh), Stryder (Luke), and Pathfinder (Barbra), all of whom had camped just a little north of us. They were filtering water and the 5 of us chose to continue on in order to collect water elsewhere.

This was the last time crossing Mission Creek and in true fashion the train was completely washed out. We bushwhacked up one slope and traversed through underbrush until we realized the trail was actually on the other side of the canyon. We had to slide down, cross the creek again, and scurry our way back up before finally reconnecting with the trail.

That mini side quest took a lot out of us and it was slow going from there. Thankfully the trail mellowed out and we were able to find our rhythm again. Truffles, Pimento, and I stopped to filter water at a creek. We had 16 miles before the next water source so we filled up 4 liters each and continued on. We ran into Hangman and Pinky filtering water farther up the trail and didn’t see them again until the end of the day.

The 3 of us lost the trail briefly at a junction but were able to use FarOut to find our way again. Once we were heading in the right direction, Truffles and I took off. The major climbing for the day was out of the way, so that meant the rest of the uphill sections were graded fairly smoothly and it was easy to power up them.

I listened to several audiobooks and the day flew by. I didn’t expect to get to camp until late in the evening since we had been going so slow in the morning, but I easily made up time in the afternoon. Truffles got ahead of me and we made plans to meet again for lunch. I found him eating with Michelin, Stryder, and Pathfinder at a beautiful view overlooking the back side of San Jacinto. It’s hard to believe that we were all up there just a few days again.

I was glad for a sunny lunch spot because that meant that I could dry out my quilt since I had to put it away wet this morning. We sat and rested for a little while before continuing on with the rest of the day. We had about 12 miles to do before getting to the next water source.

I powered through the rest of the day. I was really proud of myself for hiking hard to get to my destination. Nothing really eventful happened the rest of the day, I hiked by myself and passed some people. I figured at best I wound get to camp around 6:30pm, but I rolled in to a very crowded campsite around 5:20pm.

This was wonderful because it gave me plenty of time to relax at camp without rushing through dinner and getting ready for bed. Truffles rolled in shortly after me and I set the tent up while he filtered water. Truffles boiled water for dinner while I blew up our sleeping pads. As we were eating dinner, the rest of our crew rolled in. Thankfully this campsite is large and they were all able to find spots in spite of there being close to 30 people here.

Since Pimento’s ankle was bothering him, he had decided to break off from the group and make it a short day. We will connect with him somewhere around Big Bear in the next day or two. Everyone else gathered around our tent and made dinner together while trying to talk through plans for tomorrow. All in all this felt like two really hard days back to back so I am looking forward to sleep.