At the foothills of the Sierras! (posted from Tehachapi)

We did it! We crossed the Mojave Desert. I came down with a bad, bad head cold just before we descended down into the desert. I was aching, congested, weary, and hacking up my lungs. We left "Hikertown" Hostel at 4:30pm, and hiked 16 miles (till midnight) to avoid as much of the daytime heat as possible. The "trail" followed the LA aqueduct in a straight line across the flat arid valley. It wasn't too hot when we crossed, especially because it was the evening. Unfortunately, the wind was ridiculously strong. We had to lean heavily into it in order to avoid being knocked over. That night, we were unable to sleep because of the loud storm-like windy conditions. We set our tent up beneath a low bridge, tied down all the guyline points to heavy rocks and even added new ones, but the wind still took it down. We probably slept 2-3 hours total. The next morning I felt awful. We walked another 24 or so miles out of the valley and back into the comfortable mountains. I can't explain exactly what it was like, but you will understand if you watch the film "Gerry" (Yes, theres a movie with that name; it's one of my favourites. Heres the trailer.)

Today we find ourselves resting (aaaaaaahhhhh) at a Holiday Inn Express in Tehachapi. We are taking a full "zero day" here, as in 0 trail miles today. Baths, showers, delivery pizza, and sleep, sleep, sleep... Michelle's taking a swim in the pool right now. That last paragraph made that section of hiking sound really bad, but really it was quite enjoyable overall. But maybe that's just the strange phenomenon of hindsight. Anyways, I cant wait till I'm 100% better and return to that blissful state of hiking (with a healthy body) in the heavenly mountains.

It's been one month since we started. We've done 1/5th of the whole trail so far. Wha?! Seems crazy.

For the last 250 miles we've been skirting west around the bulk of the Mojave desert. Now it's straight north into the Sierras!

Here are some more pictures from our trip so far.



Two lizards mating on the trail. Not sure what species.


Michelle at Vasquez Rocks



The Saufley's lend out 2 cars to thru-hikers. I took this picture just in case you didn't believe me.


Does anyone know what species this is? I've been trying to document all this cool western plants.


This is classic Southern California chapparal covered with Chamise.


the famous trail angels- The Andersons. Their house is invaded by hordes of thru-hikers every summer. Terri makes a huge taco salad buffet for everyone each night, and pancakes in the morning. Their house is called Casa de Luna.

"The Lunatic Lounge":





Not sure what plant this is either. Here's a closeup:




We found this mouse nest with mom and babies in an abandoned graphite mine.


There were several of these mines. Of course I had to crawl inside of every one to look for bats.


Michelle crawling out the entrance.


Holy Pinecone, Batman! I dont know what kind of tree this is either... If anyone reading this knows, send me an email.


A blue-tailed skink!



Michelle stands at a rocks piled on the trail denoting the 500-mile mark.


Me filtering water from one of many reservoir tanks. I actually had no idea my hat looked so stupid until this photo.


Species anyone?


Michelle with Antelope Valley (the Mojave) and distant Tehachapi Mts in the background (which we are now on the otherside of).


Hikers relax at a trailer at "Hikertown" watching Democracy Now! (The TV station alternated between that program, sports, and Chuck Norris).




We begin the (very straight) march into the valley by walking through some fields.


The Mojave marked by the incredibly silly looking, Dr. Seuss-like Joshua Trees.


The Los Angeles Aqueduct


The windfarms outside Tehachapi.

Bats are being massacred by these things. Learn more here (news article), here (videos), here (website) and here (paper).