Day 31: Mile 541.4 (23)

Day 31: Mile 541.4 (23)
Originally uploaded by John 'Lakewood' Fegyveresi

Location: Tylerhorse Canyon

What a bizarre day. I left hiker town with about 4 inches of new snow
across the valley on the tehachapi mtns. I walked the 15 miles along
the aquaduct across the exposed mojave desert always just ahead of
some nasty clouds. I never got rained on, but I was very close to
it. Today was supposed to be the "hottest and most miserable day on
the trail". It rained and was cold. Go figure. At about 4pm, I
finally left the aquaduct and began the slow climb up into the
foothills. As I made my way, I encountered gust force winds like
never before. So intense I was literally blown down a couple times.
If I had to guess, I'd say a few of the gusts probably neared 80-100
mph. I'm tucked away in a shielded canyon tonight but the winds are
still crazy. It was hard setting my tent up, so I gave up and am
cowboy camping. I'm mummied up nicely listening to the howling winds
around me. With all this said...it was a good and unique day.

With today being my one month anniversary on the trail (started hiking
April 23rd), I'd also like to just say a few words about my memorial
page. I haven't brought it up yet, nor do I plan to except on month
anniversaries. For those reading along and don't know, part of the
reason for my hike is to raise awareness and funds for the American
heart association (for heart disease research). My dad, a pretty
healthy guy, was taken way too early from us because of this nasty
disease. I set up a tribute page in his honor and it's already raised
over 500 dollars from many generous people (thank you everyone).
Thats about a dollar a mile so far. It's on days like today, when my
head is down and I'm plowing into 80 mph winds that I think about why
I'm out here.

So if you feel like giving a buck or two, the link is over in the
right sidebar. Thanks everyone, and I'm proud to walk for such a good
cause.

Pic is a Joshua tree in the middle of the mojave desert.