Go, No Go - Tuesday, May 20

We make decisions based on the best available data. We gather data from written materials, reports from subordinates, experiences, observations and more. Once a decision is made, we follow through and don't second guess the decision.
NASA was masterful at gathering information to make decisions. The leader, called "Flight", drew upon his team of system analysts and controllers before making a decision. He would ask each team member to analyze his data and conditions and then give a "Go" or a "No Go" as to whether the next stage of the operation could take place. A single "No Go" would bring everything to a halt.

Sally and I are not as formal with our decisions on the trail, but we do discuss each aspect of the trip each day and come to a consensus as to what our next move is. A single "No Go" from either of us prevents us from moving In that direction.

We were up at 4:45am this morning, anticipating the arrival of our Trail Saint, Dave. Showers, breakfast of hard boiled eggs, tape on Sally's feet, a final check through the cabin and we were out the door and into Dave's truck. We were startled to find the street and cabin deck wet from rain, although it was not raining now, just dripping from the trees.

It was now three days since my period of stomach cramps and impressive bout with diarrhea. I felt good enough to have hiked yesterday, so today was even better. Getting a little more personal than perhaps I should for a blog, I must have completely evacuated my bowels during my illness because I had not gone #2 since Saturday night. Still, I had confidence in my abilities and was sure it would be a "Go" situation when the time came.

Dave drove us to the trailhead via jeep roads, giving us a scenic tour as we bounced across rutted and eroded roads enroute to our destination. His tutaledge of the surrounding mountains from the fire lookout near his house on Sunday combined with this tour gave me a good understanding of the terrain and trail location for the next 30 miles.

At the trail head we parted company. Dave headed south on the PCT for a morning day hike while Sally and I headed north. Dave would have accompanied us, but Sally warned him we were slow, so he went on his own to maximize his exercise in his short time window.

Almost immediately Sally's ankle started acting up. The pain was very uncomfortable. We relaxed boots and changes padding in an effort to lessen her discomfort, but as the first few hours passed the pain intensified and we began to discuss exit options. The trail was near the bottom of the canyon of the Mojave River-following its course for 15 miles so exiting would be a problem. We were already 4-5 miles down the trail, so Sally decided to gut it out. We switched from her boots to her trail shoes and took Ibuprofen. The pain lessened to a tolerable level so we continued down the trail, but discussion of quitting the trail had begun in earnest as hiking in pain is not what we had in mind for our hiking adventure.

Two miles down the trail we passed the 300 mile point. This time it was again a false value for me, but in the positive. I have already hiked well over 400 miles.

At mile 10 we arrived at Deep Creek Hot Springs, an idyllic but overused hot spring right on the river. There were about 15-20 people there when we arrived, 5 in the upper rock lined hot pool, with others in other pools or swimming in the river. The Forest Service had issued a warning about a brain eating amoeba living in the hot springs that enters thru the nose and travels to the brain with fatal consequences (I kid you not!). They say to keep you head out of the water and you should be fine. Sally chose not to expose herself to this terror. I soaked in the hot pool mindful to keep my head out of the water and not to touch my face with my hands while Sally took a nap.

While Sally slept I met "The Grad", a hiker from UC Davis who just graduated in Mechanical Engineering. Earlier in the day we met Heckle and Jeckle, two twenty something girls, one from Boston, one from California Lutheran who had met studying abroad in South Africa. We also met Sinbad. The four were hiking together.

After the hot tub we had five more miles to cover to get to a water source for the evening. For about three miles the trail is built on the ruins of what appears to be an old aqua duct built on the side of the hill. Finally it drops down to the Mojave River and crosses it, which is where we planned to camp. This would be our longest day to date, 15 miles.

The Grad had left his sunglasses back at the hot tub so he was running back to find them while his friends waited, so we got to camp first. We had to clear a little brush for our tent site. We could have stayed on the river bank which was flat and sandy, but we were near a road and a earthen dam site that was obviously frequented by kids looking for a good time and gangs as seen by the territorial signatures on all the public works, so I chose to have us camp behind thick bushes that sight shielded us from the road.

The four soon joined us and cooked dinner in our campsite before continuing on. "The Professor", 40ish something man also joined us for the night and camped adjacent to our tent.

About midnight my fears of our vulnerability camping so near a road were realized when a truck without an exhaust system roared up the road and could be heard horsing around up the river drainage. I was thankful for the brush screening so they could not see us. They left about 2:30, as they woke me up as they drove by.

Sally's ankle was so sore by the end of the day that the decision to leave the trail was made before we dropped off to sleep. We had been debating Go/No Go options all day but now we were certain. A paved road was only 1.5 miles away, so in the morning we would walk to the road, hitch to Wrightwood, pick up our food resupply and work our way back to Palm Springs and Sue's house. Sue is traveling for the next couple weeks, so we would have the house to ourselves to recover and recuperate.

Our hiking adventure had just become a No Go.