We woke up pretty early so we could gather all the things for the bounce box and shower before heading over to the post office. Luckily we had figured out a way around the fire closure, unfortunately it meant skipping some actual trail miles as well. Not a big deal though, we aren’t purists and…More

I didn’t sleep well because of the party the neighborhood dogs decided to have until 1am but I still woke up around 6. I made myself stay in bed for much longer because I knew I needed rest. Soon Jake was up and we made a plan to go get breakfast and head over to…More

19 Miles Around 1:30 we awoke to music and singing and light being shown in our tent. Admittedly, we had camped only a couple feet off the trail. Getting to camp late and forgetting to set an alarm, we overslept a bit. We needed to do 19 to the road where we could then roadwalk…More

18 Miles Slow to get up after a late night, but the ridgeline above us saved us from baking in the tent for at least an extra hour. On trail around 8. A fair amount of climbing throughout the day, but all fairly moderate grades. Our siesta at the top of the hill was nice;…More

13 Miles Lazy morning knowing we wouldn’t be hiking until the evening to avoid the heat. At one point the owner of the motel came into our room not realizing we were still using it. Our check out time was still an hour away so we packed up, showered one more time, and then headed…More

0 Miles I slept in, but Marie was up early today. We got breakfast at Cheryl’s Diner late in the morning. Not wanting to do much on our zero, we quickly got our laundry and resupply done. Ate lunch at the brewery and then hit the motel pool. Dinner was with Pricepoint and Honeybear at…More

22 Miles We woke up at 3, tore down the tent, and topped off at the cache before starting. On trail at 3:45, we needed headlamps for the climb out of Bird Spring Pass. We took a short break towards the top to watch the sunrise. We rushed through most of the miles today trying…More

18 miles Of course, the desert is hot and dry, but damn! It hit 103 at lunch today. We sat underneath some old mining equipment, but the ants eventually got too numerous and we had to move elsewhere. The Joshua Tree we used next was a great new spot, but I couldn’t sit still and…More

19 Miles The morning was hot and I ran out of water so it was a slog to the water source. We passed the 600 mile marker! About 100 yards before the junction to the side trail to the water, I passed a rattlesnake that was beside the trail. Much too close for comfort. I…More

16 Miles The tree served us well and we had a calm night. Gazelle passed by our tent as we were packing up. We later passed him on our way to the water source. He caught up while we were filtering. Two dudes on dirt bikes rolled in as well. They initially seemed alright, but…More

11 miles To get back to trail we arranged with the bus service to drop us off along the highway, which makes it super easy not having to deal with hitching or calling trail angels. I’m excited to get back on trail because we’re so close to finishing the desert. I’m ready for some change.…More

0 miles Starting the day with pastries, a sub, and a pretzel from the German bakery (Kohnen’s), we used our extra day to do nothing. Gotta rest. The po’ boy we got from the bakery was our lunch and it was huge! Still ate a big dinner too from Perfetto’s. During the day, Marie and…More

0 Miles Slow moving morning followed by breakfast at Kelcy’s where we ran into the owners of the ostrich farm! We thanked them for the great place to camp and they said they were going to add showers and laundry next year. Picked up our resupply food at Wal-Mart and Albertson’s, then got Del Taco…More

17 Miles Not much sleep last night. The guyline that split back in week 1 has been tied back together a couple times, but usually holds just fine. Last night the line pulled through the tensioner around 11:30, and then split again at midnight. At that point we replaced it with a bit of cordage…More

24 Miles Today we hiked the aqueduct. Up at 2:30, on trail at 3:15, we watched the sunrise and the moon set. With Joshua trees all around it was a nice walk. The moon was nearly full so I put away my headlamp within the first mile or two. Leapfrogged a bit with another group,…More

17 Miles Was up a lot of the night with stomach pain, but eventually got some sleep. Woke up to roosters around 4:15 and then in and out of sleep til about 6. Started the road walk just before 7. The group was Jim, Ana, Maverick, and Dean. We started the day taking short breaks…More

15 Miles Had a bunch of hikers around us last night, which led to lots of snoring and loud conversation in the morning. We rolled out and got to a water cache 4 miles away around 9:30. Continued on to the road closure at mile 486. Road walked to the Rock Inn for burgers and…More

12 Miles Woke up to an awesome view above the clouds. Simple Soul passed us as we were tearing down the tent. Caught up with him at the water source, and eventually Crackers joined him. There was a potential cache about 2 miles ahead so we only grabbed a little water before heading down to…More

18 miles The KOA was surprisingly respectful of hiker midnight, but I wish the hikers had afforded the same courtesy in the morning while hovering around the restrooms. Today is Marie’s birthday! She thinks her birthday is a week long, sometimes she wants it to be her birthday month. We left the KOA around 7:45,…More

Waking up around 5:30 to the sounds of other people rustling around in their tents I knew I needed just a few more minutes of rest. We had 17 miles to do all uphill but at least the temperature was supposed to be cooler. We got to eating and packing up around 6:15 and rolled…More