Left a bit before 6 AM with the Craigmeister and Carole.
We had a lovely sunrise.
About a hour out, I fell and my forearm and elbow slammed into a rock. Carole said that my right foot rolled on a rock and that my arm kept me from doing a face plant. Rock 1, Ellen 0. I get really irritated and embarrassed when I fall and just want to to keep hiking. However, there was substantial blood dripping so we combined the first fuel break with first aid.
Of course I hadn't carried my medical kit
Carole had supplies and patched me up. In lieu of wrapping gauze to hold the bandages on the oozing, slippery abrasions, we used toilet paper (Charmin of course) and secured it with tape.
As I'm climbing on Skyline, I love looking back at the Coachella valley.
Carole noted that we need to obtain Ellen repellent and spray the ground
We lost cloud cover well below 4 K -- it was unbelievably warm for Jan. Felt more like May.
As we dropped down from 5 K to start the Never Ending Ridge, a group of deer ran across the trail and down the ravine to our left. Rescue Box 2 was completely out of water. When we reached our lunch spot, we found the water container from Rescue 2 (only a pint left) in St Florian's bucket. I packed out an empty water bottle.
It's always a blessing to reach the traverse after the steep, hot climb out of Flatrock.
Mountain Ginger (aka Carole) at Coffman's Crag:
The celebratory beverages at the tram bar were greatly appreciated. Craig and I considered pouring some of my single malt Scotch over my wounded arm but that would have been a terrible waste
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
I'm really wondering what it's going to be like by March.
