Higher and higher, San Jacinto mountains

Throughout the day I climbed up, then down and then up again. This is a typical PCT Trail which is connecting together various existing trails in various naure reserves and state parks. The result is that you weave around mountains, through valleys and over peaks walking many kms and altitude meters.
The whole region I walked through must have been victim to a huge fire several years ago, because whole slopes were covered with the burnt stubs of trees and bushes. A sad sight, but also how nature functions with many pine trees only sowing their seeds when fire comes. But when I stop and count the rings of a fallen tree, I notice that the first 50 years the rings were wide indicating good growth and water, then they became narrower and narrower, indicating less water. It seems this region is getting dryer and dryer which might also be the region why the fire could do such vast damage.
In the afternoon the ice cold wind picked up again, but this time I knew what was needed and luckily found a site embedded among low bushes that prevented the wind from getting at the tent. None the less temps dropped below zero, and despite me wearing all the clothes I possessed I froze bitterly.
A short video at night records the howling wind over my head.
To bring light into my life, I opened the "emergency ration" which Andy and Elke Hoyler had given me in Saudi Arabia, before I left for the PCT. What a delight in the howling cold.
Thank you you two!Read more