Day 23
Miles: 7
From our creekside camp to the Mojave Siphon Power Plant (then Wrightwood)

We set two alarms last night – our first for the trip. One was for the middle of the night – there was supposed to be a meteor shower. The other was our wake-up call at the shockingly early hour of 6:30.

When the first alarm went off, J and I squinted through sleep up at the sky. In the minute and a half we could keep our eyes open, we didn’t see a single meteor. What kind of meteor shower is this??

The second alarm is going off now – what a terrible way to wake up. I’d usually rather get a late start, but we’re meeting J’s cousin on the side of the road at ten and we still have some miles to do.

The hills haven’t changed from yesterday – shrubby, low, not quite as scenic as they were during the golden hour. We spot a beautiful black and orange bird that we’ve seen before, singing beautifully. (Turns out to be a black-headed grosbeak.) We cross paths with Billy and Sylvia again and chat for while… Now we’re behind and we’ve got to push.

The trail takes us out through some gravel piles… another dam thingy… some roads… “Not the most scenic section we’ve walked through,” remarks J. We’re on the side of the road next to a big power plant, trying to figure out where we were supposed to meet J’s cousin Dan. The picture from Google Earth on my phone doesn’t look quite the same from the ground, you know? J thinks we’ve passed it, so he calls his cousin. As soon as his cousin answers the phone a silver subaru with a guy holding his cell phone pulls up. It’s Dan.

He whisks us to Wrightwood for a few days of R&R. whoosh!

Packing up our cowboy camp.