L2H Day 4 – 10/6/16
23 miles (73 total)

What a fun day! We wisely made sure to leave before the breakfast buffet opened and got on our way to Darwin Falls. Though a popular destination, we had the place all to ourselves.  Lower Darwin Falls is all most people see, but with a class 3 scramble (an alternate option on the L2H route), one can see a spectacular Upper Darwin Falls. Naomi felt a little uncertain about the scrambling and decided  to stick to the original route, which bypasses the canyon. Snorkel and I opted for the scramble route, and it did not disappoint. The scramble route up the canyon was so wonderfully reminiscent of the Hayduke, though with considerably more cairns!

Our alternate route also passed China Garden Spring, a neat little source full of goldfish.  We filled up our water and met up with Naomi where the routes rejoined. Climbing out of the now wide and gently sloped canyon we cross countried up a gradual slope littered with lava rock. Our notes mentioned possibly following burro trails through here and what do you know, we saw a pair of wild burros!

Once again, we got buzzed by military aircraft all afternoon. It was kinda cool and kinda annoying.   We held out for lunch until we hit highway 190 and one of our water caches. Then it was a long but pleasant afternoon on the dirt Saline Valley Road, scaring up bunnies as we walked. 

We have gotten really lucky with weather: temps are not too high and the umbrellas are a huge help with the sun. All our caches have been really great too, keeping our water carries quite short. Tonight we are camped at the cache where we got the flat tire, amidst a beautiful Joshua Tree forest.