“3rd gate cache”
Water cache set up by trail angels
Drying out our gear
Cowboy camping in San Gregorio mountains
Tyvec ground cloth converted to shade shelter
Sardines, hummus, and pretzels? Sure… we’re hungry enough…
Blisters: 0 for both of us!
Oddest food combo: hummus, pretzels, and sardines in hot sauce on a pita
Taking a break from the heat in the shade
I am lying in the shade of a tiny Juniper tree accompanied by Justin and Five Miles Back in the middle of Anza-Borrego’s mountainous Desert. With a belly recently filled with freshwater (trail angels cached water on the trail since it is a 30 mile stretch without water), we are relaxing in the intense heat of the afternoon. In the shade, it is about 93 degrees.
Since Friday, we have been “charging” to quote my good friend Tumbleweed/Des. We have averaged about 20 miles a day, singing along the trail. The desert is more beautiful than I ever dreamed it would be. Gorgeous wildflowers blossoming on cacti! – pink, purple, yellow, blue, and white. My favorite is called Yucca, a tall stalk with cream colored flowers dangling from them. I’ll post pictures of them tomorrow! I learned also from, a desert cowboy named Wayne, that there is another stalky plant similar to Yucca that when you cook it’s stalk, it tastes like apple pie!
As for wildlife, we saw some acorn woodpeckers working away two days ago, lots of coyote and fox scat (foxes love to scat on the top of rocks) and many lizards and snakes! I saw my first rattlesnake yesterday! What a pair we are when it comes to snakes! We jump ten feet back and then stand and stare at the snake until one of us becomes brave enough to make a run for it! I should have taken a picture but it was not on my mind at the time.
Last night, we cowboy camped (no tent) on the trail at a place we named Yin Yang rock (pic of that coming tomorrow too!) and watched the bright moon drift across the sky.
We are going to eat dinner now and then walk about four more miles (for a total of 22 today) before cowboy camping again.
Stay tuned for some breathtaking pictures tomorrow. And thank you for all the kind birthday wishes.
~ Melissa
3 Comments
Bill and Alex · April 26, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Dear Melissa,
Happy Belated Birthday! We just watched your B-Day Video.
Bill and Alex
Dear Melissa and Justin,
We are so proud of you wandering through the desert and along the Pacific West of the USA. I’m so glad you are on your way. See you in August,
in admiration and lots of Love and Hugs,
Bill and Alex
PS: Maggie is ready for another hike with you guys!
Kate/Turtle · April 27, 2010 at 12:09 pm
What?! You mentioned Des and then you have a paragraph on snakes and no mention of me?! And no picture?! How am I supposed to identify it if you don’t give me any photographical evidence?! 🙂 I love you guys though and I am thinking about you daily. Buck- I even had a CRAZY (yes, it deserves all caps) dream about you the other night where we were running from a 15-20 foot oranguatan and it got distracted by some pepper spray up the nose and I grabbed you and said we had to run away immediately but for some reason you were in the bathroom and insisted on washing your hands first. Very very weird in so many ways. 1. Who uses a real bathroom these days? 2. You are on the PCT, hygene is not priority. 3. Why am I dreaming of giant oranguatans?! Anyways, this is officially no longer a comment and now a normal Turtle story. Love you lots and next time give me a picture! (I’m guessing western diamondback based on your location- was it big with black diamonds on the back?…or maybe it could have been a sidewinder if you are really really in the desert- did it have bumps above its eyes? OK, I’ll stop now.) Much love.
~Turts
Admin · May 8, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Turtle that is a crazy dream! I see snakes all the time now and of course I think of you. Oh and I even saw one I thought was cute. Imagine that!