Onyx

"Jack Fair is a duck!" - comment in a trailside register.
I'm not sure what it means, but I think it's a typo. -Squirrelfight

5/29-
Day 49 - Spent our first night in a motel tonight. A present from Ben for Jonny's birthday.

5/30-
Day 50 - With that 29 mile day last week, the Vegetables managed to walk 101 miles in five days! That's no way to not make it to Canada. To their credit, they still didn't pass anyone and were passed by several thru-hikers. - Statistician

Vocab:
"Katsup Pickle" - means: catch up, Maria

Day 50 - Due to a combination of Jonny's birthday, the general pleasantness of White's motel, the company of other thru-hikers, and our general disorganization, it takes forever to get out of Mojave. We all have new lightweight kites, gifts from Tanner--Thanks Tanner!!! Some of them came with stickers, Loony Toons and Sesame Street, for decorating the kites, but decorated everything else that they would stick to - water bottles, gas bottles, cameras, etc... -Ez-

I think Tehachapi pass was the ugliest place we've been - I'm so ready to be up in the Sierra

5/31-
Day 51 - This morning I woke up at the first sign of light, as usual. Slept for another 1/2 hour then started getting ready. Had big, yummy donuts for breakfast w/ Jonny. Then Jonny laid back down and I said "I just want to go back to sleep." To my great surprise, Jonny said, "OK." So we snuggled and slept for a while longer. I won't forget this morning. - Maria

It was the donuts - Jonny

As some of you may know, marijuana users tend to be generous with their pot. One such person on the trail (for anonymity purposes we will call him "G") is asking fellow hikers if they smoke. If their answer is "no," he tells them he is just taking a survey. The most interesting result of his survey so far is that most marijuana users on the trail endorse Staggerin' Willie for President. - Squirrelfight

Day 51 - Wahoo! We have entered the Sierra Nevada. I was bummin' a bit on the trail all morning as it wound above noisy Hwy. 58 through gale force winds, then into the wind farm, an ugly hilltop powerplant. But as I left the turbines and turned north, before me opened a wonderful wooded canyon surrounded by craggy rocks. Peaks lined the horizon for as far as I could see - I am really in the high country now and for a good, long time. And to complete the picture was a black bear scampering away down the trail, maybe 50 yards ahead. My first sighting on the walk. - Ben

Day 51 - Seeking solitude and a change of pace, I have decided to hike a head of the Vegetable gang this week. I saw Ben a couple times this afternoon, but haven't seen J or M since camp this am. I am currently camping alone in a nondescript flat spot surrounded by scrubby Pinyon Pines. I wish I knew how to harvest pine nuts from them. It's nice being alone - I hope I don't see anyone tomorrow. -Ez-

6/1-
Day 52 - Met Lady Godiva today on her horse Livingston. They slowed down to my speed so we could talk for about a mile. When I told her we started April 11, she said, "Oh, you're the ones with the kites!"
Got a photo of her on the cell phone.
As soon as the got ahead of me, I came across two bears on the trail. One brown, one black. Wasn't quick enough with my camera, but I think the black one got a photo of me before running off. - Squirrelfight

Day 52 - Primo day of hiking today - the trail carried me through forests of Black Oak and Jeffery Pine - two of my favorite California trees. Stopped for a while in an oak filled ridgetop meadow to fly my new Sesame Street kite. I quite enjoyed hiking alone today - unfortunately, I saw other hikers, and had to share my midday hike with another thru-hiker, but I'm camping alone. I'm camped at the edge of a verdant green meadow (just like a real sierra meadow, without the mosquitoes) about 1 mile off of the PCT, so there's no chance of seeing anyone tonight. -Ez-

6/2-
Day 53 - It was chilly this morning when I woke up, just before dawn. I looked at my little thermometer, which read 35 degrees. Once the sun came up, the temperature rose rapidly. The trail has dropped to the East, putting me in the most barren, blasted desert surroundings - worse than Antelope Valley even. By midday, it was too hot for me to move or think - the same thermometer read 110 degrees. I stopped in the meager "shade" of a spindly Joshua Tree where I have been for the last three hours trying to move as little as possible. I think this is the last desert section - God, I am so ready for some real mountains, for some icy snow and cold cascading water rushing in streams and rivers instead of cattle-trampled, muddy trickles. This has not been one of my best days today.

6/3-
Day 54 - Saw a rattlesnake eating a mouse today in the trail. He wanted to get out of my way quickly, so he started lunging over a small sagebrush. He ended up getting stuck, but persisted, hopping almost, bouncing on the shrub. The whole time with mouse tail and hind legs hanging out his mouth. Wildlife comedy. - Squirrelfight

Have reached the point where we will eat food we find on the ground. Found a piece of Teriyaki chicken jerky on the ground today and didn't hesitate to throw it in the rice for lunch. - Squirrelfight and Pickle

Day 54 - 22 miles to Walker Pass campground today - next stop is the High Sierra! Tonight was a Tequila and Gingerale party with a bunch of thru-hikers - saw way too many people on the trail today, but no sign of the other veggies. Lots more desert & scorched forest today. Bring on the High Sierra!

6/4-
Day 55 - Vegetables reunited in Onyx. Spent the week separated by 5-10 miles. The 5$ thrift store camera ate a roll of film. Lost pictures of kite flying, propaganda water stash, rattlesnake with mouse in mouth, Pickle in the shade of Pinion Pines, Lady Godiva on her cell phone and horse, Jonny in the pool in Mojave with sticker tattoo, shaving Willie's legs, Maria wrestling Iguana, Joshua trees in Butterbredt canyon. - Squirrelfight

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