Friday, Feb 28th 2025, 0600-1730
West Turtle Mtns Wilderness Boundary to Weaver’s Well, mm107, Section 6
26 miles.
I thought the previous 2 days were going to be the hardest in this section, but this day had a little mishap that also made it tough, but I got through it and kept going. I started early, trying to avoid the heat through a long, low and sandy crossing of the Ward Valley. I passed by the first guzzler along the route thus far (because I took the HWY 95 cache alt), which I didn’t bother to check since it was almost half a mile off the route. I had a gallon of water from my cache left still.
The road I was on turned very sandy, so I started walking among the creosote bushes instead. Off to the side of the road, I found other hikers’ footprints, who I guess were as tired of the sand as me. In the middle of the valley, I came to Homer wash with a giant Palo Verde growing in the center. There was also a lot of evidence of cows, mostly in the form of cow shit. Little did I know, but I think this was the last living Palo Verde I saw along the route. It would have made for a great shade tree had it been hot. But because it was still so early and the temperature cool, I kept a fast pace going all the way across the valley.
In fact, I gave up on the road altogether, walking to the side. The travel was so easy that I devised a shortcut. I could shave off a few miles if I walked in a straight line towards one of the further waypoints. The official route wiggled around to go over a low pass and reach a guzzler. Since I still had so much water, I decided not to bother going to the guzzler. I didn’t know of anyone behind me depending on water updates (even though I still made sure to check all the water sources I went directly past). I was the last of the 7 hikers to start this year and doubted with the hot and dry conditions that anyone would follow in my footsteps for a long time.
My shortcut was a huge success. I found flowering bladderpod bushes covered with bees, a desert tortoise shell, and even a few wild cows. I also found some interesting human artifacts. There were a series of washes going in my general direction, providing for very easy walking. Upon entering this new mountain range, the rock type switched to Monzogranite, similar to what’s found in Joshua Tree NP. Crushed granite sand and gravel is absolutely the best surface to walk on! It’s cushy but also pretty firm, not dusty, and so delightful! Of all the different mountain ranges I went through, the monzogranite ones were the nicest.
Interestingly, the plant community began to really shift here too. Gone were the ocotillos and Palo Verdes and in their place I saw my first Mojave yuccas. They grow on stalks and are often confused with Joshua trees. My notes said this was officially a part of the Mojave desert. The areas from previous days were the transition zone. Just in time for lunch, I made it to my first quail guzzler. These are also the predominant type in the Mojave Desert. They all have small cement aprons with a matching small cistern and cement cap. The opening is through a barred slit, allowing only small animals like birds and rodents to pass down the ramp to reach water. Smart apes with a trekking pole can also reach the water. And so I gave it a shot. The water was very hard to reach even still and the level so low that I got a lot of gravel instead. I collected only half a liter, since I still had plenty of my own left.
By mid-afternoon, I realized I should have collected some more. It got pretty hot and the route became quite energetic. I had to navigate several rugged passes chocked full of large boulders. While stepping on one of these, it rolled on me, reminding me how easy it would be to dislocate my shoulder once again. So I tried to be extra careful and go slow. Then I was taking a step when a century plant stalk wedged into the top of my shoelace and spun me around wildly. While trying to maintain my balance, my arms shot out instinctively, and there went my shoulder. Just like that. It took a few seconds for me to gain the resolve to pop it back in place. Having my heavy backpack on didn’t help in this regard.
This was one of my worst fears when starting this trip. I had first dislocated my shoulder on the Grand Canyon rafting trip almost exactly a year beforehand. This was the 5th time it had happened since then. I was so pissed that such a stupid thing led to it and wouldn’t even give myself a moment to rest and catch my breath. It’s not even that painful when it happens, but it immediately elicits an involuntary shock response. My breath becomes short and I experience ringing in my ears. It’s weird. The worst is knowing how painful my shoulder will be in the days to come. That’s the part that sucks the most.
My strategy in dealing with it in this very remote place, all by myself, was to just keep going and forget about it. I took in all the beauty at the pass and so it was easy to distract myself. I also took some vitamin I for the pain. The afternoon had yet another pass, quite steep. I took it really slow and found good lines. It was hard to use my right trekking pole for balance. Thankfully the late afternoon was pretty mellow. But I had to start rationing my water, since I was down to just 2 liters. I didn’t expect to find water until late the next morning.
Right at the end of the day, I came to Honeymoon spring, which the notes said was pretty unreliable. I saw a lot of cow tracks and poop in the area, which is usually a good sign of water, so I decided to check it out anyway. To my surprise, I found a little dribble coming from the pipe and a tiny Margarita-glass-sized puddle. The water looked very clear, so I used a small Ziploc bag to collect what I could before disturbing the debris at the bottom of the tiny pool. I was able to collect just a little over a liter, which was like gold for me. Just one additional liter was more than enough.
I walked a little further, checked out another guzzler (it was bone dry), then set my sights on camping near a derelict windmill. The setting sun looked like it would offer a nice photo opportunity. To my even greater surprise, there was a new solar panel rigged, piping fresh water to an old trough. There was only about a foot of water in the trough, but this felt like I had just hit the motherlode of all water finds. I could even afford a bottle shower! Like I’d done on several occasions, I stripped off all my clothes and doused my body with some water. I sleep so much better after rinsing off the salty sticky sweat. It’s a luxury I know, some might say a waste of water, but it leads to better recovery. And I only used a liter.
I walked a ways away and pitched my tent in the nude, allowing my skin to dry in the meantime. There are so many advantages to hiking alone in the middle of nowhere. I love the feeling of being naked in the wild, watching the sun set, the silence and vulnerability of it all. What a way to connect to the earth. I’m not sure I could ever go back to hiking with or even around others. I’m addicted to the absolute freedom of doing what I want, when I want, where I want. Naked and Bold. I’m not afraid. I didn’t even have the fear of my shoulder issue anymore. It had happened, I dealt with it, and kept going. I didn’t need to fear running out of water either. At a time when I needed it, it miraculously came to me. I could get past any challenge. At the end of this day, I knew I had finally gotten over the hump. I was going to make it through this hardest section and through the rest of the hike. I knew I would succeed. I am Twig, hear me roar.
