Day 33 (4 May) - Mile 309.91 - 326.41

Under Rainbow Bridge to Chamise Boat-in Picnic Area, CA

It was a pretty good night sleep. Not the best, because the site wasn't the flatest. Also, sleeping on sand sounds great, but a mound of it was just under my back making a bit of a pain.

We got up earlier than usual, but didn't hit the trail till after 8:30, but we did filter some water before leaving camp which took some time. As soon as we climbed back up to the trail, the rainbow bridge greeted us. 

I know, 3 pictures of one bridge seem like a lot, but the bridge is pretty cool. 

A little bit later we took our morning picture. Today we weren't as excited since there was no hot springs to stop at, but we are getting closer to a hotel stay in Cajon Pass.

Let's get going. 

For the first few miles we had the same view as most of yesterday, Deep Creek way down below.

And then we came around a bend and saw Mojave Dam. 

Quite the dam. 

We walked way down there and across to the mountains on the right and then had a fun filled day of walking up and down and around mountains. Here is what our trail looked like throughout the day:

Oh, I forgot, we did walk a little thorough a valley and came across some trial magic. 

Gatorade never tasted so good. 

Looking at mountains across the valley that we might be headed towards. 

We finally got to a spot that we considered staying at for the night. This is where we met Double Tap. He was thinking about staying here too. Then, we looked behind us and saw 2 coyotes....and we were off.

Thanks, but no thanks. 

One of my trail guides mentioned a boat-in picnic area so we made that our new goal for the night. It was just under 3 miles and it was already 6 pm, so at our speed we should get there by 7:30...just before sunset. Double Tap agreed to join us, so off we went. 

In about a mile we came across a cooler with some more trail magic for the day. It was stocked with nectarines, strawberries, Cadbury cream eggs, hard boiled eggs, and water. It may be one of the best caches yet. 

Trail magic!

About 1 mile later we came across Silverwood Lake, where our campsite should be. 

Silverwood Lake. 

Finally, 2 miles later we found the place. It was getting dark, so I didn't get any pictures...but tomorrow there will be some. I did get a picture of our camping site:

That's right. We are going to sleep on the ground, next to a picnic table, without our tent. They call this Cowboy Camping. By the way, we did not want to do this. We tried to pitch the tent, but the dirt is like concrete and we couldn't drive the stakes. I'll let you know how it goes.