Friday, May 27, 2016

Upper Shake Campground to Horse Camp campground

Started this morning at Upper Shake campground, about a half mile from the PCT. Ended the day at Horse Camp campground, on a hilltop looking down on the Mojave desert, which I'll be crossing soon. 

In between the trail passed through pines and oaks and chaparral and grassy hilltops. Very varied scenery today. It's a shame that it seems like most of the hikers are passing this section because I think it's a great section of trail. 

Stopped at Sawmill campground and hiked up to the top of a hill about half a mile to find the water source, which was a rain catching/caching device called a Guzzler. Had to crawl in the dirt to get to the water, but it was there. 
The other water source today was a concrete tank that we had to use a string and a plastic jar to get water out of, since the only access was through an opening on the top of the tank, and the water was about ten feet down. 
Oh, also, passed the 500 trail mile mark today!

Horse Camp Campground has a great location, but has been visited by fires, and many of the trees have fallen down, so you get to fid whatever spots among them. The water source is down in a ravine. 




This is a Guzzler. It collects rainwater that falls on its roof and stores is in a cistern. It's open on the side so wildlife can use the water, it's typical to see plenty of animal tracks in the dirt.








Ah, the penalty for walking all these miles.
And the rewards.


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2021 Update:

Started this morning at Upper Shake campground, about a half mile from the PCT. Ended the day at Horse Camp campground, on a hilltop looking down on the Mojave desert, which I'll be crossing soon. 

In between the trail passed through pines and oaks and chaparral and grassy hilltops. Very varied scenery today. It's a shame that it seems like lots of the hikers are passing this section because I think it's a great section of trail. 

Stopped at Sawmill campground and hiked up to the top of a hill about half a mile to find the water source, which was a rain catching/caching device called a Guzzler. Had to crawl in the dirt to get to the water, but it was there. 

The guzzlers are built by the forest service to provide water to wildlife. They collect rainfall in a shallow cistern that is covered by a low roof that collects the water. As a bonus, hikers can crawl in and get water to filter.


The other water source today was a concrete tank that we had to use a string and a plastic jar to get water out of, since the only access was through an opening on the top of the tank, and the water was about ten feet down. 

Passed by a couple old campgrounds. Much like Upper Shake, where I stayed last night, these are no longer accessible, except by hiking in, so they see almost no human traffic.


Oh, also, passed the 500 trail mile mark today!

Horse Camp Campground has a great location, but has been visited by fires, and many of the trees have fallen down, so you get to find whatever spots among them. The water source is down in a ravine. 

I'm camped here with six or seven other hikers. Tomorrow we all head down to the valley floor and into the heat.

1 comment:

  1. Congrats on the 500 mile mark. Looks like you are changing tents more often than clothes!

    ReplyDelete