30

Wednesday, May 28
Mile 636, Yellow Jacket Springs

One day. 30 miles. Longest day yet. Water is pretty tight this section, so we pulled for getting to a small natural seep tonight--the kind of water where you have to dig a hole and let the wet stuff seep in so you can painstakingly scoop it into your bottle.

The real trick to doing 30-milers. (Disclaimer: alcohol in the desert is probably not the smartest thing ever.)

Big day. So tired. Have some pictures!

The crew! Me, Smooth Operator, Tuneboost, Magic Stick, and Laugh Track

Tuneboost and Neon at the summit of Mt. Skinner. It was just a quick scramble off trail, and timed just perfectly for sunset. Aaaah-mazing

Wild Edible

Tuesday, May 27
Mile 609, Landers Spring

A day of hot climbing took us 20 miles before 1:00. It had some pretty vistas, but I was pretty checked out. This Mojave heat is kicking my butt. Kennedy Meadows and the start of thr high Sierra is dangling like a juicy carrot just 100 miles away. All I wanted today was a LAKE! Clear and cold and sharp on sore muscles.. Alas, not yet.

Tuneboost checking out the wild fennel. Mmm, tastes like licorice!

Miner's lettuce. So tasty.

I actually spent a good chunk of the day in forest, which got all us north westerners giddy. Chowing down on some Miner's lettuce and wild fennel was a total highlight. Gettin' those fresh greens in!

Now we're camped in the most BEAUTIFUL pine meadow ever, with amazingly clean water. It's such a treat after the past couple days' silty, cow-y trickles. I got a back rub, did some laundry, and am so content and cozy in my bag. This is what it's all about!

Slacker

Monday, May 26
Mile 583, Oaks Spring

"Slack packing": a term to describe a thruhiker who caches their backpacking gear down the trail and then hikes back to it. I am one of those today. A slacker!

I ran an 8-mile stretch of trail with Neon this morning and it was marvelous. Such a fun way to experience an otherwise pretty uneventful and waterless section. It was also an interesting look at how my body's changing a month into my hike. Fast twitch muscles are no good-the ones used for charging up hills. But a couple miles in, slow twitch took over and I felt AMAZING. So strong and solid and supported, even on a long downhill and some road. This is the fittest I've ever been.. So weird to think about what's going on in my body as I hike almost a marathon a day.

Natural Resource Tour de California

Saturday, May 24
Mile ??, Tylerhorse Canyon

Today's story in pictures:

Walking the aqueduct. Steppin allllll over LA's water right now.

Katie and Jeff, Trail Angels of the day! Found their oasis by word of mouth and spent a much-needed siesta with them.

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Detour to Hikertown

Friday, May 23
Mile 513, Hiker town

This sums up most of my day as I avoided a fire detour:

And then we arrived at Hikertown. It's owned by an ex-Hollywood hotshot with a lot of land and old western-y movie sets, which makes for a quaint little oasis from the raging desert winds.

Itis managed to charm the Hollywood guy into letting us sleep in the backseat of his old Rolls Royce. Watched meteor showers through the windows where our feet stuck out.

Hang tight!

Well, someone stepped on my phone cable at the Anderson's and I was mostly without battery this weekend. No biggy, just picked up a new one at Kmart, but posts will be behind til I can get enough time/battery/reception. Fear not!

Zero at Party Central

Thursday, May 22
Mile 478, again

Zero at the Anderson's! Highlights include pancakes, rock/body painting, Beerski, beer darts, beer, taco salad, Mohawks, and stories by Terry Anderson. So good.

My forest ecology TA, Molly(Gangsta Rap), hiked the PCT in 2011 and made it into the Anderson's living room. Yo' ass is famous, girl!!