Twig Adventures

Saturday, March 15th, 2025, 0540-1400Desert Hot Springs to Whitewater Preserve, End Section 8e, elevation 2100′16 miles. Then skip to start of the SDTCT. I woke early, as I was very eager to get out of the disgusting flop hostel and leave Desert Hot Springs behind for good. This was the day I’d finally finish my hike from the Arizona Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail, completing all legs of the Great Western Loop. My layover in DHS was necessary and revitalizing, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to leave a town. I took a bus north a few miles to reconnect to the route where I’d gotten off, then walked some blocks through the remnants of town.[…]

Tuesday, March 11th, 2025, 0630-1900JTNP mm 84 to near Black Rock Campground, mm 17, Section 8a, elevation 4030′27 miles. The morning was beautiful in the canyon. I heard a great horned owl and a canyon wren at the same time as I continued up. The canyon split and I decided to not follow the suggested route, but rather go for an easy dirt road walk across the Queen Valley. I picked up the Desert Queen Mine Trail and followed it to the road. It was early and a weekday, so I didn’t see a single car while walking several miles along it. What I did see were tons of Joshua Trees! Plus there were many cactus and bushes planted and[…]

Monday, March 10th, 2025, 0650-1740Pinto Mountains Wilderness mm 63.5 to Joshua Tree National Park, mm 84, Section 8, elevation 4100′20.5 miles. Coyotes woke me in the morning, the sweet sounds of the desert. It was cold when I started, only 39 degrees. I proceeded up the wash, which forked into a bunch of branches. I took a wrong turn at one of them and had to do a short up and over to get back in the right wash. Luckily it was pretty easy. A series of passes and washes repeated through the morning. The going became more tedious as the washes got pretty thorny, narrow, and rocky. I took yet another wrong turn and had to do a short[…]

Sunday, March 9th, 2025, 0800-1810South Sheep Hole Mtns to Pinto Mountains Wilderness mm 63.5, Section 8, elevation 2580′.22 miles. It was warm overnight and I woke to the amazing scent of the nearby blooming creosote and vines. The desert holds so many surprises! I set out across another valley, aiming for my water cache at HWY 62. It was a cross country stretch of 4 miles, but easy to take a line-of-sight off the distant hills. I used the ‘Sight and Go’ feature on my Garmin watch and it worked great. The skill simply involves following a compass bearing, something I did every day when I worked on ships. But it’s even easier with mountains to aim for and nothing[…]

Saturday, March 8th, 2025, 0540-1740Mm 13.5 to South Sheep Hole mountains mm42, Section 8, elevation 1440′.26 miles. After being so adamant about trusting in the Routemasters the previous day, I still deviated from their plans for the first half of this day. The route led away from the highway, going free-form through the playa and then following a sandy poweline road for miles. This was all for the sake of getting away from the highway while crossing the large valley as I headed south. I reasoned that it was fine to swap a sandy road for the straight swath cut by the highway. The view would be the same, the going much easier, and there wasn’t much traffic early in[…]

Friday, March 7th, 2025, 0600-1650Amboy to mm 13.5, Section 8, elevation 636′.13.5 miles. I slept pretty well considering my location. The trains came by every few minutes, blowing their whistles every time, but I got by with my standard tricks for drowning out the noise. The wind was also whipping my tent, so no matter what, earplugs were in order. In the morning, I had my instant coffee and first breakfast, but was looking forward to more gas station food, sad as that sounds. But the store didn’t open until 8 am, so after packing, I decided to do a little exploring. The area used to be a real town, with a school and houses. People worked at the nearby[…]

Thursday, March 6th, 2025, 0600-1420Budweiser Spring to Amboy\Roy’s Motel and Cafe, mm 105, End Section 7, elevation 636′.22 miles. It rained on and off all night, but it was mostly pretty light, the kind of rain that makes a nice sound on a tent but doesn’t cause concern for flooding. I checked my tent a few times just to be sure, but it was bone dry inside. I picked a good spot and made a good pitch. I loved hearing the rain and woke feeling so refreshed. It stopped a few hours before dawn, so it was perfect! The desert loved the rain, too. Everything already looked more green and perky. I even found a few potholes with small pools[…]