Today was another very hard day. In fact, I think it was harder than approaching San Jacinto. I covered 18.3 miles, 29.4 km, and descended 7430 ft, 2265 m. I slept in to 6:30 am, and was on the trail at 8:15 am. The trail took me along Fuller Ridge, under the cover of huge pine trees.

Through gaps in the trees, and over steep switchbacks, I could see views in both directions from the ridge. The trail descended quickly, and with a gentle grade and soft pine needles underfoot, I was expecting a pretty mellow day, but I was wrong. I even got a view of San Jacinto peak, and was amazed to think I’d been up there just yesterday.

The trail was covered in windfall in places, but fortunately there had been recent work to cut the worst of the trees away. Thanks to the trail maintenance, this part was so much easier than South Peak Ridge 2 days ago.

I turned a corner to see a stunning view of the valley below. It also served as a stark reminder of how far I had to descend before the afternoon.

The trail environment soon changed, as seems to happen several times a day on this trail. The pine trees thinned out and the landscape became more open. As well as this, the ground underfoot became more rocky.

The pine trees were replaced by manzanita bushes, which were flowering and fillled the air with a sweet scent. I was more exposed in the sun here, and San Jacinto stood even taller.

As the trail continued to drop, the vegetation became even more sparse, and rocky outcrops above switchbacks became my best viewpoints. The air heated up more the further I descended, and I even got the sun umbrella out.

My legs were beginning to hurt, but I got a surprise when I rounded a corner to see stones marking the trail. The 200 mile marker, I now had 320 km now behind me.

The valley floor was gradually coming up to meet us. It was shocking to see details, which looked so flat this morning, suddenly turn into mountains and valleys. We were truly getting back into the desert now. Granite sand covered everything in a bright white granular dust, and cacti began to reappear alongside the trail.

When I finally reached the bottom, my legs were done, San Jacinto loomed above, and I barely had enough time to make camp before dark.