Got up at 7-ish and there was frost on my sleeping bag. Hiked up onto the ridge and had breakfast in the sun. It was warm as we hiked the first few miles, the trail was wooded with pine trees, a nice change from the desert scrub. Met another thru-hiker, Scott aka Tortise, as we filled our water at a picnic area. As we hiked on though it just got windier and windier, and was cool, almost chilly, for the rest of the day. Saw a wierd spherical observatory or satellite receptor thingy on a hill that looked like a big egg; also saw a small rattlesnake about to eat an irridescent bluish green lizard. A great look-out at Foster's point was worth the 5 minute sidetrail -- the desert colored valley and dramatic mountains cloaked in a veil of dust kicked up by the wind.
At lunch we stopped at a camp complex by the road to use the bathroom, and it turned out ot be the Al Bahr Shriner's camp, and a group of very nice Freemasons were having a weekend retreat with their families there. They invited us to their potluck lunch and I got to eat KFC, chocolate cake, blueberry pie and ginger ale. They also had a fire going inside the lodge, so we hung out and had pleasant conversations with them, they were very interested in our trip. There was a lady embroidering tea towels, which apparently are a hot commodity at their white elephant Christmas gift swaps.
The rest of the afternoon was basically hiking against a very strong wind. I felt like I was on a beach in Maine or Capecod if I looked down at the sandy trail, like the ocean would be over the next hill or something. We arrived at mile 52-ish at 5 and Sly and Scott were there along with a 67-yr old smoking thru-hiker named Wild Bill. Bill said this was the on;y good camping nearby and he'd gotten permission from a ranger to camp here, so we found a spot down out of the wind in a little gully. The clouds rolled in thick enough that the full moon is completely hidden. I luckily found a ratty old jacket that is serving as my warm layer until I find a better replacement for my dri-clime.
At lunch we stopped at a camp complex by the road to use the bathroom, and it turned out ot be the Al Bahr Shriner's camp, and a group of very nice Freemasons were having a weekend retreat with their families there. They invited us to their potluck lunch and I got to eat KFC, chocolate cake, blueberry pie and ginger ale. They also had a fire going inside the lodge, so we hung out and had pleasant conversations with them, they were very interested in our trip. There was a lady embroidering tea towels, which apparently are a hot commodity at their white elephant Christmas gift swaps.
The rest of the afternoon was basically hiking against a very strong wind. I felt like I was on a beach in Maine or Capecod if I looked down at the sandy trail, like the ocean would be over the next hill or something. We arrived at mile 52-ish at 5 and Sly and Scott were there along with a 67-yr old smoking thru-hiker named Wild Bill. Bill said this was the on;y good camping nearby and he'd gotten permission from a ranger to camp here, so we found a spot down out of the wind in a little gully. The clouds rolled in thick enough that the full moon is completely hidden. I luckily found a ratty old jacket that is serving as my warm layer until I find a better replacement for my dri-clime.
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