Day 24 - A Day of Contrasts — Walking People Out of Poverty

May 9th

Depart Islip Saddle (Mile 386)

Arrive Mile 407.8

I was up at 4 am as I couldn’t remember if we had agreed to a 4 or 5 am start. It was pretty obvious it was the latter as I was the only one moving about. I took consolation in the fact this was the first time I had been ready ahead of Tina, and it would also be the last!

Islip Saddle is at the bottom of a long steep climb down which put us in the unenviable position of a long climb to start our day.

Bear signs, when we arrived in camp, meant we could have no foods or medications in our tent, and so we put all edibles in our sleeping mat and sleeping bag stuff sacks, which were then placed by a large rock as there were no trees in which to hang them. What was interesting is Tina and I were the only ones to adopt this policy, which becomes requisite further along the trail. The other 1/2,dozen campers had all decided to sleep with food in their tents.

We were away from camp by 5:55 am and within 20 minutes our old friend Sol was on our shoulder! The day started with a 1000 foot climb up Mt. Williamson, and later in the trip someone would complain that a short, 1/4 mile walk along the road would have brought us to the same point as the beautiful downhill section delivered us to. This brought us to a detour which was necessary due to the preservation of a rare species of frog that inhabited the area. This detour took us on a 2.7 mile walk alongside a highway which soon became tedious. We counted 8 cars, 3 motorcycle’s and 3 graders during our time on the road. The graders were removing rocks that had fallen on the road, and if I’d known I would not have spent my time removing the larger ones that I came across!

We finally came across a water cache which we used to fill our water bottles before heading up the road to the campground where we had a well deserved breakfast. The bonus of any of the government sponsored campground’s is the toilet facilities even though there is no water. It certainly beats what we normally have to do. This might be the right time to “enlighten” you on this particular process. Going for a pee is pretty straight forward but the other “business” is a lot more complicated. You have to go in the bush with your hiking pole, hand sanitizer, toilet roll and a small plastic bag, (I used the bags I use for picking up my dogs poop). Once you have located an appropriate place a hole, 8 inches deep, is dug using the hiking pole, or a stone if available. Then, once you have done your “business” the toilet paper is placed inside the plastic bag. The next part of the process is to cover the hole and mark it so that people know not to use the spot. The final act is to clean your hands with the sanitizer. Upon returning to your backpack the plastic bag is placed inside another bag containing garbage. As I said earlier It’s quite the process!!

We now followed the detour that took us through the campground which was a lovely setting. All of the campsites were set amongst beautiful old growth trees each with a camping table and barbecue facilities. We quickly found the trail we required and the walking was extremely pleasant. The afternoon’s walk by contrast was the exact opposite. Our morning walk had offered up plenty of shade whereas the afternoon was a workout as the sun was blazing down on us and it was extremely hot. We also had to contend with another 1000 foot climb with no respite from old Sol! Our day ended when we found a terrific campsite which was very flat and free of any sticks or stones. We quickly pitched our tents and set about getting dinner and we celebrated knocking off another day on our long trek through California.