Trepidation

As we came down from the San Gabriel mountains, we got to see where we were heading. It was kind of a shock. The trail had always been dry and desert-like, from the very start of the PCT. But this was a whole new level of dry. I thought it looked like the Middle East perhaps.

It isn’t the Middle East of course. It is the western edge of the Mojave Desert, home of some pretty cool lizards and thousands of windmills. I was actually surprised by how many houses I could see in the distance to the east. And I was really surprised that those hills off to the north, where we’re headed, are the southern tips of what becomes the Sierra Nevada.

Before we got too far into the desert, the trail passes Hikertown. Everyone is welcome to come on in and get some water. There were about 12 hikers there when we stopped, sitting in the shade and… drinking water. I’m not sure why there was an Australian flag raised in Hikertown, but being half Australian, I liked it!

It was ripping hot – in the high 90s – and the weather forecast was for the next day to be even hotter. We made plans with a few of the hikers to hike in the cool of the night as far as we could across the desert. It was nice to have a plan!

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