Past Mile 500!

Mile 498 to Mojave

Our night at mile 498 proved to be very windy. We were actually fairly well sheltered from the gusts, but the sound of the wind in the trees made it really hard to go to sleep. The biggest problem was the amount of dust that blew into the tent. During the night I pulled my sleeping liner over my head to avoid getting the dust in my hair and breathing it in.

As it would turn out we were not the only ones who had a rough night with the wind. We found Samba and Talywa, and later Hikeawhile, napping in the shade by the trail.

From our camp we headed down to Hiker Town. Tiffany describes hiker town well in her blog. Weird little place, but a hot shower and a place out of the wind were nice amenities.

Out of Hiker Town we hiked 24 miles to cross the desert floor. The trail follows the Los Angeles and California aqueducts for the majority of the hike. Keep in mind these are piped underground. So while millions of gallons of water flow beneath our feet we walk on dry dusty earth with no shade. We also walk past hundreds of windmills in this stretch. They give testament to just how windy it is here.

Our only shade in this stretch was 17 miles in, under a bridge and one oak tree next to the bridge.  We rested at the bridge for 4 hours during the heat of the day. Many other hikers were there as well enjoying the lone shady spot.

About 4:30 we headed out to finish the rest of our day and climb off the desert floor. The combination of exposure and wind seem to really take it out of me. In our last mile or so I felt pretty weak and tired. Our camp by a small stream was very welcoming.

Our hike into Mojave was hot, but not nearly as exposed and despite the huge wind farms, didn't seem as windy. Our usual group of 6, now referred to as the Buffalo 6-pack finished the last stretch to Willow Springs Road together.

We decided once again to try a 6 person hitch into Mojave. We must have some good mojo flow between us because it was not even 10 minutes and we got another 6 person ride!

We are now checked into the Motel 6 and looking forward to a hot shower, laundry, and some food!

Over all we are both feeling good. We feel like some of our desert days are pretty hard, but are offset by great days at the hiker heavens and great times with the new friends we are meeting on the trail. There,is no doubt in my mind that the fun out weighs any of the difficult or taxing pieces of trail.

We only have a few more days of desert before we begin climbing into the Sierras!

Many happy tails.

Trail Statistics
Mile: 562
Days: 33
Body: Hot feet
Candy Bars: 23
Bags of Chips: 5
Jars of Peanut Butter: 2 (Shared)
Showers: 8