Daily Miles: 18.3, Total Miles: 631.6 A gratefully quieter night and a much better sleep. I packed up and continued south down the Clipper Valley Road for another five miles before turning west on the Bighorn Mine Road that would take me back to the DWTH route. A cool hike this morning with good views of the Providence Mountains and abundant yellow and deep blue flowers. I also came across a bunch of wild yellow gourds. I soon reached the…

Daily Miles: 19.0, Total Miles: 613.3 Wow, what a night and early morning! The gusty, cold winds whipped the tent (and me) all night long and with all the noise and flapping, I didn’t get much sleep. The rain started about 3am and mixed with snow a few hours later. I stayed warm enough wearing my beanie, socks, down jacket and thermal bottoms, but had to come up for air a few times from deep in my quilt. The wind…

Daily Miles: 19.5, Total Miles: 594.3 The transport service was on time to the hotel this morning and got me back out to the Chevron station at Fenner. I was greeted by the store clerk like a long lost friend. With the recent weather advisory this morning, I opted to take a more direct route across the Mohave Wilderness towards Hole in the Wall rather than the DWTH up into the Fenner Hills. My route was a combination of primitive…

Daily Miles: 0.0, Total Miles: 574.8 R & R on zero days does wonders to the body and mind! I saw a scale in the hotel workout room and weighed in – down about 15 lbs, and that’s after stuffing myself with pizza. Pretty quiet Presidents Day in Needles, everything’s closed. From a business card courtesy of the hotel clerk, I arranged a ride back to Fenner tomorrow with a transport service operating out of nearby Bullhead City. Hope it…

Daily Miles: 19.5, Total Miles: 574.8 After packing up this morning, I immediately left Sunflower Springs Road and headed northeast and then north into the colorful Piute Mountains and then the small Piute Mountains Wilderness. These mountains were a gem with angular, jagged volcanics and rounded, smooth granite hills. The many rock formations were cool, one looking like a horse head. I walked down a long canyon and wash onto the flatlands which ultimately led me first to cross under…

Daily Miles: 20.0, Total Miles: 555.3 With great views of the Old Woman, I first headed to another quail guzzler, for this one needing to extend my bottle attached to a hiking pole to reach the water. I soon joined the Sunflower Springs dirt road for several miles in and out of rolling hills and washes, a good time to listen to an audio book. Heartwood, a relatively new book, is about a young woman lost on the Appalachian Trail….

Daily Miles: 20.0, Total Miles: 535.3 Another gorgeous sunrise and I continued on into the Turtle Mountains, passing alongside Lost Arch Peak, old mine workings and maybe even a legendary lost rich gold mine. Soon after leaving the Turtle Mountains and now facing the broad Ward Valley, I reached the next quail guzzler. Had lunch and happy to see the guzzler was 3/4 full and easily accessible, just had to work around the busy bees. Now to walk west across…

Daily Miles: 22.0, Total Miles: 515.3 After enjoying a beautiful sunrise, the first order of business this morning was getting to a nearby quail guzzler, my first one in California. These guzzlers are not fenced, flow into a covered 100-gallon well, and generally have a smaller apron than their AZ counterparts. The wells have a heavy manhole cover, some of which are sealed. When sealed, the only access is through a small horizontal opening or slot. If the well is…

Daily Miles: 25.5, Total Miles: 493.3 I really wanted to follow the x-country route along the ridge crests of the Whipple Mountains but thought it best not to overdo it with my surgically repaired ankle and now my other ankle with sore tendons. With the general weakness, I’m already wearing braces on both ankles but so far so good. Instead, I followed a lower route closer to the base of the Whipples exiting out closer to Vidal Junction. Along the…

Daily Miles: 0.0, Total Miles: 467.8 My new shoes came today! Thankfully, I had the opportunity to fix and replace a few things. I found and patched the pinhole leak in my air mattress. I had a successful trip to Walmart to replace my shredded, held up with a safety pin, hiking pants. Also got a new LS pullover to replace my hoodie that must have got pulled off my pack by a thorny bush or tree in the last…