October 19

This desert hiking is the dirtiest hiking of the trail. I have a solid layer of grit covering all exposed skin at this point. Chances for a shower in Mojave on Monday doesn't sound great, but at least laundry should be able to be done. We are planning to be in town in the morning, hopefully in time for breakfast. I have had visions of a McGriddle breakfast in my head for a couple days now and need to make it a reality. Tom took off for town tonight saying he was going to hike all night and hitch in tomorrow morning. Louis and myself are sticking to the original plan of showing up Monday morning, although I considered going in early with Tom until he mentioned hiking all night tonight. We are in the middle of a huge waterless stretch that could be made smaller if the one water source turns out to be drinkable tomorrow. If not, then we are relying on a water cache at the highway about 20 miles from here. I left our last water source with 3.5 liters, more than each of the other three, and still had the lightest pack of all even though I was complaining about how heavy it was. My feet have been complaining quite a bit lately because the soles of my shoes are completely worn out. I should have shoes waiting in Mojave, and that is just one more motivator for me to get there.