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| Stark, eastern-slope rock formations were nearly devoid of large trees as the mountains rose from the Mojave desert floor. |
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| Always a good discovery when the next water is 8 miles north, and it is heating up quickly. |
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| Smiles climbs out of the Spanish Needle Creek drainage after a long, hot, and generally unbearable siesta. |
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| Dusk hues south of Chimney Creek, taken on |
We had a nice early start, and continued the climb into dry Owens Peak wilderness. We had excellent views of Ridgecrest and Mojave desert to the east. After continuing over the saddle and down the other side, we saw that Joshua Tree spring was indeed unsafe to drink (as indicated on the water report), though no mention of uranium was made. We had just enough water to continue on and ended up between water sources during the heat of the day, with Smiles dramatically (and seriously) saying "if I die out here, don't say I was doing what I loved." We took a short rest break at the first Spanish Needle creek crossing to let smiles lose her heat-induced delirium, then slogged the last two and a half miles to lunch in the 100+ degree sun to reach the next water. It was a delicious, small spring that hosted every mosquito and biting fly in the area, so we tanked up and moved to a less-buggy area to wait out the heat. We found an alcove already occupied by Happy Hour and Squeaks, and cooked up a lunch. Some hours later, yet still earlier than we expected, we scooted off under the protection of cloud cover. A nice long climb and a fast ridge run through the pine forest led us to the Chimney Creek drainage around sunset. It was nice, as it had a decidedly Sierra-like feel with good sized granite boulders everywhere. We made camp on the side of the trail in a nice, sandy flat spot. I wandered a bit further down the trail to cook dinner, as we were now in bear country. It was delicious, and we slept well.
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