Well that certainly shows the diversity of the word

KEN-NE-DY MEADOWS!!!

Here I am at mile 702 yet again chilling at a trail angels place who is to nice to us hiker trash. This leg of the journey not only marks the start of the sierras, but the end of Southern California. We have completed 25% of our journey to Canada and it feels like time has flown by. This leg involved the most intensive hiking thus far with an average day of 27 miles. The new pace is rigorous, but it has been fun catching up to people I have not seen since kick off.

One of my favorite parts of this trip is that no matter how well you plan your journey mother nature has a way of telling you what your schedule really looks like. We started this leg in continuation of the night hike schedule. The first ten miles out of Mojave went great, however when climbing out of highway 58 we were bombarded with 80 plus mph winds. Around midnight I decided that hiking was stupid and dove into a juniper bush to sleep out the wind. The rest of my companions kept the good fight and hiked all night, however even with a three hour nap I still rolled into camp only an hour after them...so I think I win.

Since I am officially done with Southern California I think it's time for highlights and challenge moments on trail.

Top five trail highlights:

1. The San Jacinto wilderness. This section of trail was absolutely beautiful and worth all the work. It was also a nice change from the desert
2. Hiking into the dawn. There have been a few nights where I have gotten up early and hiked as the sun comes up. The transition from night to day is lovely and makes the desert worth while to hike.
3. Big Bear City. That town was so much fun. The hostel was lively with hikers and joint cooking, not to mention the best restaurant on trail thus far.
4. Casa de Luna. The people, the chilling, I can already tell the memories from that place will last a life time.
5. The first day in the sierras. This happened this last leg. On June 4th I woke up at 3am and started hiking. I was immediately treated to a partial lunar eclipse that led to a fantastic sunrise. Lastly the alpine forest I was hiking in was breath taking. It was also a day that ended with a moon rise. I think it was the first time I have seen a moon set and rise In the same day.

Most challenging days on trail:

1. Hiking down to Cajon pass with the biggest blisters yet. I had two blisters on my right foot that made it so I could not walk. I had to push and had little water on a hot day, but at least I got McDonald's.
2. Poodle dogbush. I am not a fan of the plant and doing the poodle limbo was pretty stressful.
3. June 5th. The whole night Jugs and I were shivering in our bags unable to sleep due to 80-100mph winds slapping against my tent. At 6am we got out into that wind was fought it for the next four hours during a 29 mile day. We were exhausted all day but had to push. Luckily 12 hours later, at 7pm we rolled into camp and were treated to some serious trail magic of food and beer. I also was able to catch the tail end of the Venuses transit across the sun. If you missed it to bad it won't happen again in our life times.

Well SoCal has been wonderful, but I am ready to say goodbye to the desert and hello to the high sierras.