The middle of nowhere... The sequel...

Very windy and cold last night but this morning we woke up with the sun beating down on our tents and it was great!  Warm and toasty. There haven't been many warm mornings.

Started hiking and saw lots of jackrabbits. They are so big and their ears are enormous. Got a pic of one 'hiding' in a stand of Joshua trees.

Today we were still literally in the middle of nowhere. We did see one power line and 2 dune buggies. Otherwise it was...

Had a few good (and by good I mean substantial) climbs, which seemed a little harder because they were 'beach mountains'. You know how when you see people in the movies running on the beach and it looks so carefree and effortless? And then, you go run on the beach and you think, "Dang! This is hard!"   Then add a mountain with a few inches of deep, loose sand. One step forward, half step back. On the bright side, good workout for calves and butts.

Leapfrogged with Skittles today. Good guy.

Much of today's conversation revolved around town food. After four 20 mile days, tomorrow we get to Walker Pass, where our friend, Nuts,(who had to get off the trail a few weeks ago with a knee injury but is hoping to jump on again soon) is going to pick us up. He lives in Ridgecrest which is nearby.  We are going to spend the night in Ridgecrest and resupply and load up on good food. 

I'm trying to think of some creative new trail foods. We have a long stretch where we are going to have to carry about 10 days of food. Today at lunch I was so sick of everything in my food bag, even...dare I say it....the birthday cake Oreos!!! 😳It's time for some changes. Nice to have my stove now because that opens it up a bit. Things are going to get tough over the next few weeks and calories and protein are crucial.

In big news today we did see...

The snowy Sierras looming in the distance!! That's Mount Whitney out there. Highest point in the lower 48. The PCT does not summit Whitney, but many PCTers take an extra day and do the trail up to the summit. Hoping to do that but we shall see. There's still a bunch of snow up there.  We won't be there for a over a week, so hoping for a little melting.

But for now, signing off for the night, dreaming of a huge salad with lots of avocado, a large bucket of movie buttered popcorn (with butter evenly distributed throughout) and of course , a Diet Coke :)