Day 31: Tuesday, June 4

At the Motel 6 in scenic Mojave, CA (PCT mi 558.5), walked 23.6 miles today

"There you are, you fuckers! Y'all were fuckin', weren't you?" The voice of Kelso yelling at us from the bridge roused me from slumber at 5:30 a.m. He had made his 18 miles in the dark starting at 10 p.m., but he clearly wasn't going to get 40 done because he could barely walk by this point. Bow and I left him propped half-comatose against his bong-pillow contraption and started walking about 6:15. Got to Tylerhorse Canyon with real flowing water at 9ish, put the pedal to the floor up the ensuing climb, chilled at a cache at the top for awhile, Bow falling asleep in one of the chairs, then hustled the last 9 downhill to the road. Met Coconut, whose introduction to backpacking was starting the trail a month ago. She's an unabashed lover of hiking and the PCT, it's good to hear someone talk so positively about it, even as we hiked in pretty direct heat through some uninspiring terrain. There's just so much kvetching going on everywhere else, so much yellow-blazing too (which is a way of saying you don't like the trail you're on), even from people who appear to be having a mostly good time on the trail. I wonder if I complain too and just don't notice myself, because I really do like long-distance hiking a lot, every day, and I'd hate to give away the impression that I'm not enjoying myself.

Eventually Bow and I got a hitch at the road from Brent, a guy in town for work who knew nothing about the PCT. He took us into Mojave ... I've driven all over the U.S., especially the West, and I'd heard Mojave was bad, but I was genuinely taken aback by how ugly this place is. It's an absolute shitstorm of a town, if you can even call it that. Yogi said the trains were loud in Tehachapi but she neglected to mention the RR tracks pretty much going through our room here at the motel. All this aside, being a hiker I could still appreciate the Motel 6 across from the supermarket next to the cheap ass diner next to the massive c-store. Everything I need in one spot. The diner, Primo, was an experience, like Rivas in Eugene except they don't limit themselves to Mexican, they have burgers, fish, wings, gyros, steak, breakfast ... anything that can be made short-order. I ordered $10 of food and almost made myself sick there was so much of it. Afterward we went back to the motel and were too tired to do a grocery trip. Not much sleep the last few days. Gonna rest up and get shit done tomorrow.