Across California: Kelso

First, sorry for the gap in posting. We have had 2 days of no cell reception.

Lots of distance today, maybe 14 miles, 31,221 steps on my simple pedometer. We made it to Kelso by 11 am, picked up our food cache from the rangers, ate lunch at the beanery, and stocked up on H2O. Stacy lent me her 2 2.5 qt. Platypus water carriers because my other four-liter Platy leaked. (Don't use the type with a grip seal on top).

With food for three days and 9 quarts of H2O, my pack is too heavy.

For two days we saw no creosote bushes up in the mountains at 4 to 5,000 feet, but plenty of Mojave yucca. From north of Hackberry Mountain to lower Macedonia Canyon, we crossed the charred remains of yuccas, then pinyons and junipers, victims of the 2005 Hackberry Fire. It was good to see that some yuccas are crown sprouting.

-- Calvin French

Cal, 74, a member of the Sierra Club for 42 years, is trekking 530 miles to highlight the threatened natural corridors between the Colorado River and the Pacific Ocean. Cal sits on the Sierra Club Santa Lucia Chapter Board. He is blogging from his BlackBerry.