Saturday-Monday April 5-7, 0mi/0km

Vancouver WA to Death Valley CA (driving)

After spending all winter making plans for the Desert Trail, the universe threw us a curveball. So when plans fall through….you make new plans! Toppy and I will hike the trail in 2026. In the meantime I will just do a short 3-week section of it, and then jump over to the Hot Springs Trail, which starts in Santa Barbara and then goes 2,420 miles to northern Idaho (more details on that trail later).

For any hikers interested in doing the Desert Trail in the future, know that the planning process is quite a bit more involved than other trails. Basically the only way to get the information is through the Desert Trail guidebooks which are published by Steve Tabor. There is no website or online presence. Basically you give him a phone call, write him a paper check(!), and then he mails you a series of 18 guidebooks. After spending dozens of hours scanning the guidebooks into digital PDFs to store on my phone, and also transcribing his maps into my caltopo app, we had all the resources we needed to start the trail.

I had also spent a bunch of time over the winter focusing on my fitness and injury prevention. I saw an online PT (Blaze Physio), paid a visit to” shoe Jesus” in Mt Shasta to get fitted for new insoles/supports, and also went on many short training hikes. I never did any of this in the past, but my left ankle has been bothering me and I’m getting older. Training hike in Tryon Creek park:

I also replaced a few pieces of worn gear, and bought a couple new things, including an ultralight 5.5oz bivy from Borah gear. Testing it out in a local town park:

With all the gear in place, and my fitness at a reasonable level, the only thing left was to start planning resupplies for these 2 remote trails. For my short section of the Desert Trail, I will basically be able to buy food in the little towns. It won’t be anywhere near ideal, but it’s a much simpler solution than mailing a box to the local post office and then having to arrive on certain days. However, the severe lack of water on the Desert Trail means I bought an obscene amount of gallon jugs at Costco and will be caching (burying) them in the desert along the trail at certain points.

In the first 400 miles of the Desert Trail, there are basically two natural water sources, both of which are often dry. Even with cached water, the dry stretches will be between 25 and 40 miles long. So I’ll be carrying anywhere between 5 and 10 liters of water (I consume about 4 liters per day including dinners). I spent a couple of days making the drive from Vancouver, WA to Death Valley CA, and stopped at Costco in Reno along the way. So many delicious calories:

I also visited some good friends in Lake Tahoe and then continued my drive down the Eastern Sierra Valley to Lone Pine & Death Valley.

Tomorrow – caching water!