Prancing on the PCT: Finishing the desert

Hello everyone! We are more than 500 miles into the trip and getting ready for the last week of desert. Yippee! I have enjoyed the desert tremendously but this final stretch is the driest and least scenic so I am quite excited for the transition to the Sierra.

Please enjoy the following pictures and captions. You will notice a great number of trail angels. This is because of the heat and lack of water. When there are 20 mile dry sections we tend to spend the day siesta-ing in the shade at the homes of trail angels and only walk during the early morning and evening.

I am also including a little bump for our fundraiser. If you have already donated, THANK YOU! If you haven't, please consider even a small contribution to Inspiring Girls Expeditions. Hannah and I are trying to raise $1 for every mile we hike to support this fantastic organization. They send high school girls on wilderness science expeditions - for free - to help build confident, scientifically minded, stewards of the land. Please see the link below for more information and the opportunity to donate. We are about a quarter of the way through the hike and a quarter of the way toward our fundraising goal!

http://www.inspiringgirls.org/donate/

So far every experience with wind farms has been extremely positive. There is always a welcoming sign and employees offering to share water with thirsty hikers

Snow cone machine at Casa De Luna! They sure know how to make happy hikers!

Piling in the back of a truck to shuttle the trail angels house called hiker heaven.

The big dog is named Archie. He is 85% timber wolf and doing the trail as a service dog with his owner who is a retired marine. Archie weighs 120 lbs and is one of the few dogs who seems to be doing well on trail. Even so they have to do a lot of night hiking to avoid the heat.

Vasquez rocks - an awesome formation to walk through exemplifying tilted sedimentary siltstone with some conglomerate of metamorphic cobbles embedded within.

One of my favorite springs so far... easy to access and plenty of flow!

Enjoying the view after a long climb!

Sometimes the trail is brushy and seems downright luscious even when you can't find a good water source for miles!

Found a swimming pole one afternoon for a siesta!

A wild horse was waiting for me on trail at about six this morning. Apparently there are a few remaining herds of wild horses left over from the Spanish explorers.

Hiker town is a trail angel with a lot of character. You walk through the gate and are met with 20 + little buildings designed for hikers to sleep and rest in. It looks like a movie set! This is the last watering hole and resting spot before an extremely flat, hot, and dry section along the LA aqueduct and the Mohave desert.

Lots of cats live in the "cat house" at Hiker Town but so do tired hikers looking for a nice place to crash for a night!

More little buildings at Hiker Town

When the PCT meanders through a wind farm it feels like we are walking among alien giants. Sometimes with incessant movement and a high pitched whine, other times silent silhouettes looming above.

This jerry-rigged hiker shower is quite the blessing after a three day stretch with limited water sources and no creeks in which to take a sponge bath! Ironically as you stand under the hose/sprinkler shower head and scrub the dirt off of your legs you also have a great view of the busy highway rushing by.

While the wind farms are examples of extremely friendly and supportive land owners, others are not as exemplified by this ranch and hunt club with seven miles of barbed wire and warning signs.

We made it 500 miles! Time to celebrate!

The view over hot and dry Antelope Valley... the past 250 miles have been a sweeping arc west to avoid the majority of the Mohave desert but over the next few days we will have to venture down to that flat desolate place!

Chia!

Poodle dog bush! We have been warned many times about the itchy allergic reaction we will experience if we rub against the leaves or flowers however I have yet to meet ANYONE who has ever experienced these symptoms... hmmmm

My shadow keeps me company all day. Since we are almost always walking north it is fun to watch it swing around from the left to the right.

Exploring an old mine shaft (I believe it was for graphite but am not entirely certain)

We got to help cook the famous taco salad for about 40 hungry hikers. That means 21 lbs of beans, 18 lbs of cheese cabbage, chips, tomatoes, olives, jalapeños, sour cream etc. Now everyone is lined up to enjoy!

Yum yum taco salad! Also notice my Hawaiian pattern dress... there is a mandatory Hawaiian themed dress code so they have several hundred Hawaiian shirts and dresses to loan out!

Sometimes the gnats and biting flies won't leave you alone so drinking under the head net seems like a good idea.

One of my favorite bushes... margarita bush with hundreds of little orange and yellow flowers.

Finding beauty even in the hot and less inspiring sections!

Casa de Luna has been hosting hikers for the past 18 years so their huge property is scattered with thousands of rocks painted by their many visitors. This is my addition to the artwork!