Ahot sun, no water and a loss of direction turned what should have been great hike into a day of agony when I decided to climb Billy’s Hill and trek over to Glascock Mountain up California Highway 16 on the Cortina Ridge.
A series of things went wrong, which started with a mistake I made on the trail. This is not a trail summary – that will come later this summer, but I want to write about the importance of taking the proper amount of water as the summer heat approaches.
When I started this hike, I did my research and heeded the advice to take extra water. Normally, I carry about half a gallon with me in my Camelbak. In addition to that, I filled two of my Hydro Flask containers, one 32 oz and the other 40 oz. In other words, a backup and a backup for my backup. I still ran out of water with about two miles to go over difficult terrain. Insulated containers are the way to go – they will keep your water cold for many hours. But the drawback to water is the weight – one gallon of water weights eight pounds, but I am willing to make the sacrifice. I’ve carried up to two gallons with me before on top of other gear.
What lead to going through my water before I ended was my own fault, but I know I would have run out anyway – just further down the trail than I did. I was following the GPS tracks of another hiker but strayed off course because I didn’t see the turn off in that it was overgrown with chaparral. I noticed the problem early on, but I thought my GPS was out of calibration because the track and the trail I was on were very close and paralleled each other. After about half a mile and up a steep hill at an 18.4% grade over two tenths of a mile, I realized I was off course as I looked over the terrain and saw where I should be. I thought I could just cross over and head to my destination. That proved to be another mistake. As I headed down the hill through thick chaparral for another two tenths of a mile, I soon found that it was impassable, and I had to climb back up to the trail on a 12% grade. Once back up to the trail, I had to backtrack a half mile to where the turn was. I wasted valuable water and energy by being off course. I should have immediately backtracked instead of trying to cut across. I was already conserving my water at this point by only taking a few sips at a time, and I was weak from all the climbing.
When I got to about the two-mile point before the end of the hike, I took my last sip of water and was out. Overall it was a 1,700 foot descent, but the terrain was rough in places, and there was some climbing still to be done as I had to traverse four hills on the way down.
Out of water, I made a choice just to try to stay hydrated temporarily. I carry those little five-hour energy drinks with me. I already had one when I was at my turnaround point. It gave me the energy I needed, but it is the caffeine where the energy boost comes from. Knowing that caffeine is both a dehydrator and a diuretic, I drank it anyway, and I paid for it.
What I did to help my situation as best I could was to take breaks along the way down and sit in shaded area to catch my breath and rest until I was ready to move on again. It helped, but not enough. I also took off as much of my outer layers as I could to keep cool. In that terrain, where I was constantly battling overgrowth and bushwhacking, I wore gloves. Those came off. I wear a bandanna around my neck to keep the sun off it. That came off because it also raised my body temperature. I wear shirts with long sleeves when I hike to keep the sun off my arms and for protection from poking vegetation. That came off too since I had a light weight short sleeve shirt under it. All this helped, but it still didn’t stop the agony, and I did pay for it the next day as I felt the sunburn, but for me it was worth the consequence. I considered taking my hat off to also lose more body heat, and I tried it, but where the sun’s position was, it blinded me heading into it even with sunglasses, so I kept it on. At this point all I wanted to do was get off the hill and back to the car, so I took advantage of the steep grade of the hill and in certain places put myself into a controlled slide. It moved me down faster and saved the pounding on my feet and legs.
I have a personal locator beacon I carry with me on all hikes, and there were a couple of points where I seriously considered activating it because I was so dehydrated and weak. I chose not to because as difficult as the situation I got myself into was, I am a believer in only using it if I truly cannot get out under my own power. If I were further back on my hike – more than two miles out – I’m certain I would have had to use it, as I do not believe I would have had the energy to hike out.
To reiterate, I wanted to write about this to stress the importance of proper water planning. I should have taken two gallons of water for this hike. I don’t think one gallon would have done it for me.
As I mentioned above, I will be writing a summary of this hike and posting it later this summer, and it will not be as pessimistic as you might think. If I had not made the mistakes I did, it would have been much more pleasant.
Update August 3, 2018: The summary of the hike from Billy’s Hill to Glascock Mountain has been posted.