Welcome to desert finals class. The sun is on its way up over the mountains. I hope you all have learned how many liters of water you drink during an ascent and a descent from a mountain, how to create shade when there is no cover, and how to create a canteen from a rattler skin (thank you Dan for helping with that one in Austin). Your test will begin now and will continue for the next 200 miles.

Unbelievable! This is the fastest we have left our sleeping bags and headed to the trail to date. It is 4:22am and we are out the door. 24 miles of sweltering desert + 2 miles to the Andersons at Casa de Luna. We may make it there tonight we will just have to see how the sands treat us this morning. A ginormous thank you to the Saufley's for all of the hospitality. You guys are amazing!

The view of the desert on our way in. We are planning on heading out early (4am) tomorrow if I can wake Snow Turtle up so that we can avoid the heat. We have made it to the real desert now and it is crazy hot. Tomorrow we continue our march towards Mojave and then the Sierras. Will try to post most pictures soon if we have cell service though I am not sure there will be much for this next stretch. Talk to everyone soon.

Poodle Dog, Poodle Dog, Poodle Dog and this wasn't even the worst of it.

The view of the high desert from Gleason Mountain.

I know hold the current title of Largest Widowmaker Pine cone found in Southern California and we haven't even made it to the big trees yet.

You know what you do when you hit 400 miles? You get up and you keep on walking North.

Believe it or not this is the view from the trail. We had to take a road detour to evade the fire damage from years past.

The view of Windy Gap from above.

Snow Turtle at the foot of a 1500 year old tree near the summit of Baden Powell.

Snow frosted trees on Baden Powell

So I had a long 2 pg. post that I was waiting on to publish, but it seems like it will never go through so I thought I would publish some of these pictures before we head back out tomorrow. This is one of my favorite pictures so far. This shows the ascent to Mt Baden Powell after the 3000 foot climb up what seemed like 100 switchbacks. The view from here was amazing over the left side all you could see was clouds and a huge drop off 1000s of feet to the forest floor. To the right side were snow frosted trees from the storm the night before. If you live near this mountain it is so worth the climb.

The view of the mountains in the semi high desert coming in to town today with a Lord's Candle in the foreground. I just learned this plants name today and had to show off.

The sweetwater cafe which has the best milkshake in all of downtown Agua Dulce.

The view of the Honeymooner's RV from the inside. Looking for cousin Eddy from National Lampoons. This totally sold us on staying here tonight.

The honeymooner's suite at Hiker Heaven. It is so sweet to be a couple on the PCT.

The view of Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce, CA. Maximum capacity 50 hikers per night. This is truly an oasis in the desert. Showers, laundry, and music. Not a bad place to have a layover.

Drew teaching Barracuda some bad behavior. Barracuda is attempting to be the youngest hiker to complete the PCT at 8 years old. When asked what was his favorite part of the trail so far, he says " the freedom!" So wise for his age--- I told him to give my niece a call. ( in 10 years- don't worry Doug)

Just one more Cinnamon Roll

We woke up this morning to 29° weather not counting the wind chill and that somewhat kills the motivation to hurry back to the trail when you know you are immediately going 3000 feet higher than your current elevation and that the wind is still coming in at 30 mph. We agreed on one more cinnamon roll and then we are headed back out there on the way to Agua Dulce. Today we should be going over 9000 feet and we should break 400 miles tomorrow if all goes well. Time to savor this last bite and then go find a hitch back to the trail. Thanks for the grub and the good times Wrightwood. Just talked to a local and he said it was warming up from 24° up there this morning. Who needs 10 toes anyway?

We made it through all of that plus the snow storm that was moving through the mountain range with 60+ mph winds this morning to the wonderful town of Wrightwood, CA. I made some great videos of the storm coming in it literally almost took us over the side of the mountain, but I have to wait until we catch up with our Ipad in Mojave to upload them. The best part of making it to Wrightwood was that when we made it to the Yodler known by PCT hikers far and wide for its huge burgers we caught up with the two Washington boys in this picture Kurt & Glen (trail names : Kurt & Glen) for some burgers and Elton John's Rocket Man. That is a good start to the Memorial Day weekend. We are here for the day to resupply and eat and then we are off again. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day Weekend. Talk yo you soon.

We walked the tightrope for 22 miles and made it to Guffy's ridge. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the entire time that we were walking along these extremely narrow passes that we were walking along the San Andreas Fault just for a bit more excitement. One hiccup from the fault would have no doubt sent us over the edge, but it was all for good reason: in order to get more water and to keep moving North.

Once we made it to Guffy's we were safe though right? No exactly, that was when the 40 degree temps and 60+ mph winds started kicking in. Oh yeah and did I mention bears? This is where the bears start showing up on he trail. So what did we do to take precautions for bears? Did we hang our food? No. Did we use a bear vault? No. Did we cook and eat dinner in our tent to make sure that the smell of food permeated everything that we were wearing and were sleeping in? Yes we most certainly did, because we need a challenge and there is nothing that I like doing more than fighting for my food on top of an 8500 foot mountain in freezing weather.

If anyone is looking for travel agents, please let Kristi and I know. We truly know how to have a good time if you like strenuous exercise, poisonous plants, and deadly carnivores that want nothing more than to see if you taste like a pop tart let us know.

The Poodle Dog bush not in bloom. We made it through the stretch with only a few bumps from the plant hopefully that will be all that comes of it. I wish I had made a video of the ballet that we did coming off the mountain. It was quit impressive.

The trail seemed to go on forever and by noon the temperature had risen above 90 and we had knocked out roughly 12 miles before lunch. We were looking pretty good for the most part but we had on foe that stood in our path...The dreaded Poodle Dog Bush. I know it sounds scary right? Who couldn't hear those words without having fear clench their hearts? So you know in case you haven't heard of the Poodle Dog bush it is a beautiful bush with purple flowers that you want to pick, but if you touch it, it has the same effect as poison ivy. So what did we do for the 2 miles that were littered with this nasty plant? We did the poodle dog ballet as we tried our best to dance around it without falling off the mountain. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the this was one of the thinnest sections of trail and that with every step you could start a rock slide or just fall off the trail a few thousand
feet before the rocks below caught you. In the good spirit of an adventure we decided not only should we walk on a tightrope, but for an added challenge, lets plant some horrendous plants on the tight rope that we cannot touch.

Yesterday was one of those days that we had been training for this whole trip. We hiked 26 miles the day before (yes that is a marathon with backpacks on) in order to make it to the beginning of our hike on on Thursday morning. We looked up from the desert floor and we saw Cajon Pass over 5000 feet above us. Muir said that this was one of the most challenging mountain passes in Southern California back in his day. He would probably look at it now.and think.it was closer to a ride at Disney Land but in our eyes it was a beast. Looking up from the bottom there was over 5000 ft of elevation change and there were 22 miles without water. Yes 22 miles without water. That means we left McDonalds with 16 liters of water between the two of us. That is 32 lbs of water if you are doing the math.

So lets go ahead and add a few more things to our list of firsts:
1) Never spent $27 at Mcdonalds for two people including 3 dollar menu items.
2) Never hiked in the desert until 9pm at night in order to escape train whistles
3) Never slept on a dirt road under buzzing power lines. Not exactly a wilderness experience tonight, but there should be a story coming out of this hopefully with no adverse effects. We will see tomorrow.

One of the best trail signs we have seen. Yes that says McDonalds .4 miles and yes that was reason we walked 23 miles and yes it was totally worth it. It's all about the simple things.

The trail on the way to promised land. We walked 23 miles so far today through desert and mountains to make it to our final gift for the day.

Another simple pleasure of the day, cold water on your feet. Free ice bath.

This we was the second simple pleasure that we wandered into today. You learn to read a topo map so that you can tell what is coming up for the days hike, but there was no map that could have prepared us for Silverwood Lake. This lake was even more beautiful than Big Bear and maybe because it was unexpected. This was take from a ridge rougly 1000 feet above the water.

Everyday out here on the trail helps you to be grateful for the simple pleasures more and more. I guess that goes along with walking all day everyday and carrying everything that you need on your back. You truly realize what you need and what you don't. Do I have water? Food? Shelter? Nutella? Ok we are good to go. For the day. This picture shows what we woke up to right outside of the Mojave River Forks Reservoir. This was taken right before we found our first cache of the day which was filled with pineapples, strawberries, apples, oranges, hard boiled eggs, and cakes. Unbelievable way to start the morning. All gifts from Trail Angels.

We were not depending on this cache and probably could have made it the next two miles, but we have learned to rejoice anytime you find water out here especially since it is 2pm and it looks like we have to go uphill to the next water source. Thank you Trail Angels of the Hwy 173 cache.

We started the day leaving the Deep Creek Camp area with a 15 mile detour due to rock slides and a damaged bridge on the PCT. You can see The Pinnacles in the distance.

For the first 3 hours of the day we climbed up through 4WD trails which you wouldn't think would be too tough but after 8 miles it was a bit challenging. Kristi and I spent the entire morning hoping that if some ATV came flying over one of the ramps into us that they would be wearing a Go Pro helmet camera so that we would at least have a shot at making it on Tosh.0 for a web redemption.

I think I felt safer on the trail. We debated on what kind of firearm they were using. I landed on a Patriot missile. What else is there to do when you get bored out in the desert? Jimmy let's go shoot some signs.

The Pinnacles up close after 3 hours of walking out of our campsite. This camera phone does no justice to any of these sights, but it gives you and idea. These are some of the first clouds that we have seen in 3 weeks. I have a feeling that Oregon may be a bit different climate.

Sweet little Snow Turtle filtering water at 545am right before threatening me that if I take another picture she is going to break my legs.

Further down into the desert...

And further into the desert. A timber rattler decided to introduce himself here.

Until we made it to this little oasis for camp with no bite wounds to show. Not a bad day. If all goes well, we should break 300 early tomorrow morning.

From a huge tract of land that suffered from massive forest fire damage in 1999...

Cowboy camping plus Baby Drew's homemade Kung-Pow Chicken (this is how I received the second half of my trail name Agassi the Ramen Shaman) means this is going to be an excellent night on the mountain.

Kristi filtered all the brown water for the day and we have compromised on cowboy camping (sleeping with no tent) for the night. Sunday Lucky Sunday. Mom don't worry, I spoke with a Ranger and they removed all of the rattlesnakes from the area. We are totally safe. Anyway Kristi sleeps a lot hotter than me so they will be attracted to her anyway.

The view of Big Bear Lake from the trail. The view from the marina below was great, but this is absolutely stunning. We made it to around mile 280 or so. Now after almost 3 weeks worth of walking...drum roll please...we have finished over 10% of the trail! Only around 2385 miles to go.

Back home...

One final meal in Big Bear before going back into the wilderness. I received the ok from Kristi as actually smelling decent which will hopefully last for ar least a few hours after we are dropped off on the trail. I was looking at our planner this morning and saw that since the beginning of this journey we have ascended over 31k feet and I am guesstimating that we have descended close to 25k feet. If my math is right, that should be close to going up and down about 2500 flights of stairs in less than three weeks. I believe this explains the bottomless void that exists in both of our stomachs and the duct tape socks that my father has nearly convinced me into creating.

The next stretch we are about to undertake is around 110 miles and if all goes well we should end up in Wrightwood. It looks like we will start with a steep descent which believe it or not can be just as bad as the ascent especially when you have a 50lb pack on your back. Some of these descents could be best understood if you picture an overloaded 18 wheeler going down a louge on ginormous ice skates. Our saving grace is that the PCT is also a horse trail which means 9% grade is supposed to be the max you encounter though I'm not sure I believe it. At the least the horses often leave speed bumps to help slow you down as needed so I want to put a big thank you out to them for that. While I am sending out appreciation, I want to thank everyone for the emails, posts on the blog, and messages on Facebook. You guys help keep us going. Thanks for all the love.

Hopefully our Trail Angels should be picking us up soon and we will be back on the trail again. Last night I watched TV for the first time in almost 3 weeks and did I do the socially responsible thing and watch the news? Absolutely not! I watched Old School and ate a pint of Reeses Ice Cream. I'm hoping my mind will be overwhelmed with Will Ferrell's amazing rendition of the classic Dust in the Wind. If only I could be so lucky. You're my boy Blue, you're my boy. Talk to you guys soon.

Trail names are a tradition in the long distance hiking community. I guess being dropped into another world warrants another name. We've hiked with Apocalypse, Pink Slime, the Dude, and Listener among others. Trail names must be given by someone else along the trail and are usually the result of an unintentional hiking faux pas. Drew acquired his early but I've hesitated to adopt a name like naughty pine or spankatron. However, coming down the out of the San Jacinto mountains, and having been used to the sandy trail surface of the desert, patches of snow along the trail proved to be a bit of a challenge. My backpack is apparently quite attracted to snow and so maybe I slipped a couple times and found myself lying on my back, arms and legs flailing unable to get up. Looking like a turtle struggling in the snow, I received my name.... Snow Turtle, that's me.

(Continued from last message) Other people are sincerely just great people who want to help those of us who are crazy enough to try this journey and they offer their food, their cars, and even their homes to us. That truly takes a saint as most of us have nothing to offer in return.

Anyway Kristi just awoke from her 20 hr nap and my stomach is starting to growl. I am going to try to force feed it some vegetables and see what happens.

Oh blessed zero day thank you so much for coming today. Today is our 19th day into this seemingly never ending journey. Yesterday we walked our 265th mile into the beautiful city of Big Bear Lake, CA and that is where our bodies have spent the majority of the day lying today.

The human body is an absolute miracle of engineering. It is truly amazing that my 34 year old body can do what it has done over these past three weeks especially after the torture I put it through in my youth and if we are going to be honest here, the torture it endured in my adulthood as well. The body also does a pretty good job of talking to you if you learn its language. It tells you when to chug a liter of water, when to retreat to the shade, when to either eat or stop climbing, and most importantly when to stop walking - that one was easy, your feet go somewhat numb. I'm no podiatrist, but I feel that is a good sign that it is time for a break.

Kristi and I have done pretty well with listening for the most part which can be observed by the fact that we still want to keep on walking and that we have yet to hit the panic button on her InReach that calls in a $25k helicopter ride.

On another note, through trail gossip we found out that one of our fellow hikers was rummaging through their pack the other day and compressed all of its contents in order to conserve space and stabilize the weight. After hiking a mile or so, they noticed that this chopper was getting closer and closer and then it started buzzing her and her partner until it finally landed near them in the desert. They quickly found out that their Spot machine did in fact work and that they had accidentally called in a chopper after pressing the button a few miles back when reorganizing their packs. She is now called Test Run on the trail and was blessed with a nice pilot who passed her no bill. Luckily for me Kristi has graciously agreed to pay for the first chopper ride as long as I continue to be the rattlesnake detector.

Now it is almost 3 o'clock here in Big Bear and we are in much need of leaving this hotel room to go explore the town with as little walking as possible. I think that we are going to try to eat vegetables this round. We are both suffering from food hangovers from the massive amount of fried food, pizza, and dessert ingested in the last day.

This is also a great town to explore as everyone here for the most part appears to love hikers and apparently we cannot hide the fact that we are hikers anymore as people are able to call us out even in the absence of our packs and after showers. We have been offered help in the form of rides and food at least 6 times since coming into town yesterday afternoon. It is pretty overwhelming how much people want to help considering how little we have to offer. Some people just want to talk and we are easily looked at as traveling confessionals due to the fact that we are truly gypsies with no one to tell their secrets to other than the wind.

This is where you put your feet once you get to your hotel room. I wanted to be able to show off my dirt line on my legs but the room is too dark. When you pay $42 for a room you expect some amenities. I think there are two perks here. First, you can see the lake from the room. Second, it appears that no one has been murdered here in quite some time. After being in a tent for 7 days, anything seems like it came out of Better Homes and Gardens. Does anyone know how to remove chalk lines from the carpet? Thanks!

Rummaging through the bounce bucket in Big Bear City. We're discovering we'd save more in buying local than shipping the orange tank across California.

We made it back to civilization and Thelma's in Big Bear City welcomed us with open arms despite smelling like we have been pickled. It was amazing Paul Bunyan's 3/4 lb chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, sausage, tons of eggs, coffee, cinnamon rolls, and since we are trying to be healthy, we ordered a side of fruit. Absolutely amazing. Now we are off to the grocery and our hotel in Big Bear Lake. More to come soon...

From those peaks in the distance to this desert right outside Cabazon in one day. Somehow we made it 22.4 miles in one day down a crazy tightrope path past two rattlesnakes that were waiting to ambush us. If you don't know Kristi well, she is super intelligent. She is a pretty fast runner, walker, and hiker but somehow she always manages to stay behind me so that I can "detect" all of the rattlesnakes before they strike. Very smart.