It's not over yet...

This fantastic interlude in the desserts of California, well the towns on the outskirts, will end today. I was to take a couple of hikers back to the trail at 5:00 AM this morning but with the nice, relatively cool weather, they decided to start at 8:00 AM instead. I was glad because this meant that I didn't have to set my alarm clock. While I still woke up at 5:30 AM, it was a complete rest cycle. I'm going to leave the Gatorade I bought at the trail head, this morning in the cooler and when I take Andrea and Neil back to the trail head, I'll pick up the cooler and leave the Gatorade.

Once they cleaned up, they looked real good, healthy. After 20% of the trail, they've only lost five to ten pounds. While they eat really well on their town breaks and zero days, at this stop I've been able to keep pace. Unfortunately I'm not going back on the trail. While I do like the thought of doing something this dramatic, I don't like the level of cleanliness possible. Of the four people I hauled from the Tehachapi Willow Springs road crossing into town, they all had the same unwashed body odor. It was undoubtedly made worse by the dessert heat because it was still less pungent than some San Francisco street people who may not have washed in a year or more. I really feel sorry for the street people, particularly since many of them also have mental conditions that keep them from taking advantage of services that would allow them to wash.

To a person, the people I've given lifts to and the ones I've met at the hotel many of them seem to be staying at, they are enjoying the hike, even the parts they don't. Nothing like common misery to form bonds that last a life time. Last night I met a person who is on his second through hike. Some few people have done it five times. Then there are the yo-yo's who do it both directions in the same year. They have to travel light and fast.

Here are some more pictures of them starting out their last desert section: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011679&id=1288023430&l=cf846bc5b8.

Similar to their start of their PCT hike, here is a video of them walking. At least a portion of this is a better front on shot...



I have a lot more to post and, unfortunately, a lot more to do. The doing keeps me from posting, which reminds me of a recent "Luann" strip, which was just recycled this morning.