The thing about hydration is that it runs on its own schedule. Many a hiker attempts to drink enough during their activity and some chug water whenever they come across a source but we also drink lots before bed. This leaves me stumbling in the dark, under the moonlight, but still asleep to find a tree. Rachel and I set up our tents on a slope so we slept like we were falling on our sides.

Trying to right myself from this falling position, I trip over one of her tent lines and luckily don’t land in the dirt. We talked about start times, and I still don’t want to hike in the dark, but I will break down camp before then. Trailer Park is up singing a Christmas tune for our 430 alarm. My body wants to sleep for another four hours, at least, but this mountain won’t descend itself.

I’m the last to pack up my tent. Ravi didn’t bother to set his up. I’m a slow eater, and yet as soon as the last swallow hits my stomach, my brain says it’s time to go so I can keep my legs warm, and Gert is ready, always seemingly so. We are the first to leave camp ten minutes behind schedule. There are a lot of large rocks and beautiful trees along the path.

We are seemingly making good time among the manzanitas and pines that provide shade while looking out at the desert below, which is our destination for the day. We passed a tree that was hollowed out and two rocks – one looked like a dinosaur back, and the other like the smiling shark from Finding Nemo, Bruce. We come across a pine cone as big as Ravi’s head and let his youth carry him in front of us again.

There is a note for Ottie, left in the gravel under a rock, for the “one tiny disgusting puddle” that is 0.1 miles down a dry stream bed. Leave no trace but also don’t leave others stranded, so the note stays in hopes that Ottie isn’t relying on such a measly source. Some hikers get lost, and others skip the summit, and the time of day can influence the state of the water – frozen, flowing, fled.

The fence lizards and one California sister butterfly are enjoying the sunny rocks as our legs take a beating from fighting the urge to take a shortcut – jump off the edge and let gravity have us – as the sun starts to cook us. Rachel finds a rock to climb under and Ravi succumbs to the power of the sun and lets it soak in. Gert and I find some much-needed shade by noon but it’s not enough to nap under, so we must march on.

An hour later, we are putting our foot next to the 200-mile stone marker (only to count three others). Another hour and a bush has grown over the trail so people have just gone out onto the rocks around them. This trail is definitely not for the faint of heart as a quick escape is just one wrong slip away. Rachel prefers to let her legs do the storytelling, so she will leave a message on them when she passes here.

Another hour of desert views, and I’m changing my socks as my feet seem to be getting squishy, and the blister size would be the balls of my feet. They are glad for the fresh wool which quickly absorbs the collected moisture, but when they find out our day is only 3/4 done, they begin to scream out in defiance. This isn’t the first time my feet have hurt, but at least I’m not in flats, so I keep going.

Out here, I don’t have much choice. Soon, my feet are on fire, and I push another mile. The pain shoots into my shins which feel like they are splintering. By the last mile, even my hips seem to be inflamed. I gave Gert a bag of trail mix for sticking with me, and again carrying my tent, as I told him he could leave me under this shade for the elements.

Out of the group, I had the most water, so they rushed to the next source – a rock with shade for four. I collapse in the dirt on two sets of trekking poles in the sun and am quickly offered an umbrella and a bag of water (thanks, Rachel), but Gert helps me up into the shade on the other side. We arrived after 4pm and Ravi and Kaito were already or still there. I have signal and let Caleb know I will be awhile.

With his woman in distress, Caleb and Trailer Park come to the rescue with cold Gatorade. I’m not going to sit around and make them road-walk a mile, so I get back on my feet to meet them. Caleb takes my bag and the guys go on ahead. When Rachel and Ravi catch up, they slow their pace to stay with my hobbling. Gert was worried that the heat got me, but only the constant pounding on my delicate legs wore me out.

I get to the car at 5pm. It has been a long day and I sit with my bag in my lap in the backseat because Gert’s height has earned him front-seat passenger status. Trailer Park wants burgers and navigates us to Five Guys, but the only way to get there is by parking in the mall lot and walking across the fancy shopping plaza (over $5,000 bags and shoes) to the food court where only Gert gets a salad.

The woman who took some of our orders asks Caleb why three of us got enough food for five people and he lets her know we hiked 20 miles today, so we are starving. We drop Trailer Park and Rachel off at Hiker Haven (PCT hikers only) where they get fresh fruit, entertainment, and a spot on the garage floor for $20/night (more for a room) with Ravi and Kaito.

Gert wants a room so he can soak his tired feet (we didn’t know how “tired” they were at this point, but there’s a reason he was fine with me slowing him down). We get a hotel in Banning and Gert will use our address as the clerk doesn’t know how to process his passport or other IDs. Caleb runs me a bath, scrubs me, and then tries to talk to me once my head hits the pillows. I was out.