Our completely remodeled motel was great! We had a good town stay, chores are done and we feel rested. The motel seems to be owned by two brothers and one drove us back to the trailhead.

Not a breath of wind stirred when we got back to the trail. It was a good wildlife day with numerous jack rabbits, a coyote, a roadrunner and one large rattler that got the trail while we crashed through the bushes. Terrain and vistas were interesting and varied. We are spending more time in conifers that are not yet dense enough to be called forests. When we crossed Cameron Pass between Tehachapi and Mojave we entered the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada! Geologists consider the Tehachapis as part of the Sierra.

Since the winds died down we saw many stopped turbines getting serviced by men in very tall cherry pickers. We felt the heat more without cooling breezes.

Heat, heavy packs, lots of climbing and long miles to the spring made us very late for stopping. We walked the the last distance by moonlight. By the time the tent was up we both decided to skip dinner and go to sleep. Ahhh

We slept surrounded by howling giants waving their arms at us (wind turbines). The shrieking wind couldn't reach our tent to shake it as we were in a low hollow.

Last night we camped just short of Golden Oak Spring so this morning we cooked the dinner we were too tired to eat last night and ate it while filtering water. Five other hikers gathered there, too, to cook and get water.

Hiking was hard all day. Our late night contributed to our tired feeling and heavy packs drained energy. Heat and climbing made the day seem eternal. We intended to hike farther but we saw a flat spot surrounded by pines shortly after Cottonwood Creek. We thought we were deep in the wilderness but a motor home chugged up the nearby dirt road.

I think the early night will restore us.

Wow did we sleep well starting while there was still some daylight left.

Today was another Mogul Madness day. We started hiking on sandy mountains in a dirt bike area. We were miserable. The dirt bikes push the sand into bowls and small hills which makes exhausting up-and-down hiking. The sandy footing contributes to the misery. Up to now I have been very impressed with the care shown to the wilderness. For some reason there seems to be little concern in this area about maverick ATV roads. Dirt bike ruts cross everywhere.

Late in the day Ken saw a rattler under a sage bush beside the trail. The snake never rattled and didn't bother to move. Ken counted eight buttons on his rattle so maybe he was an old snake that couldn't be bothered.

The day finished with a long contour around the hills. As the trail descended we found pockets of pine trees.

Our plan was to camp at the pass, an area that usually has flat spots. Barb and Charlie were there under the trees and we saw Data, Guide and Four Winds. Also camping there, but silent and invisible, were Spaz & Whimpy. The water cache was huge and refreshing. We arrived in time to take pictures of a beautiful orange sunset and had no trouble finding a tent site sheltered by small pines. We called it a day as we looked at the trail climbing the mountain above us.