Wow, how long it's been!  This is the first computer that I've had a chance to sit in front of since our last update from Cajon Pass.  We're now at mile 750 in a small, desert town called Lone Pine.  On the PCT we're just about to enter Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks and then Yosemite.  This is the best stuff coming up and it feels like a reward for making it through the deserts, wildfire-exposed mountains, and intense sun of Southern California!  There are a lot of pictures here so I don't know what'll crash first- your computer, or your brain...

 



Tunnel under RR Tracks in Cajon Pass

Train after train rolls by every 45 minutes







Snow on some of the highest elevations from the previous days storms

 

We met Jimbo while coming into Wrightwood.  He was gardening and invited us to sit and talk.

We had to leave when he turned into a koala!

Wrightwood Inn

Bristlecone Pines.  Some in the White Mountain range are 4,000+ years old

Snow on Mt Baden-Powell

Summit of Baden-Powell

Baden-Powell

Century Plants

High camp on Mt Williamson

This is what happens to form the 8-10 foot tall stalks that flower and seed on the agaves.

Poodle Dog Bush- worse than poison oak and all over some of the fire-burned areas.  Luckily we made it through all of those sections without getting a rash!

California City clouded over in the valley below.

It was a lot less windy down by the horse corrals at the North Fork Ranger Station

I was wearing pants all day and I STILL got this dirty.

Rocks formations before Acton

Horseshoes at the KOA

Tunnel under the Interstate

Little did we know it lead to a magical place called "Vasquez Rocks"

There were water carved canyons of all different shades of sandstones

I think this looks like a gorilla face

You can see the people in front of, and the guy on this formation to get a sense of the scale.



All of your favorites were shot here, like Wild Wild West starring Will Smith!  And look, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back!

Sign coming into Agua Dulce

Best pizza on the trail so far, and who can beat a free fountain soda for a thru-hiker?!

l to r: Geisha, Rebel Biscuit, Dollywood, KC, and Daniel

Yes, that an airplane fuselage that someone is living in outside of Agua Dulce.

"The Oasis" is a few chairs, a water cache, coolers full of various trail magic, and the random inflatable parrot or palm tree.  This happened to be one of the last days it was going to be up after 14 years because of complaints from some members of the hiking community.

Hanging out at the Anderson's house, the "Casa de Luna" The Andersons are the ones who stocked and maintained the Oasis water cache.  Their house also referred to as "Hippie Daycare"

Terry laying out the rules for dinner and wielding the yardstick she whacks you with if you break any of the rules in line.

Cattle to the trough

Her husband Joe makes pancakes in the morning on two griddles in the kitchen.  Imagine cooking pancakes for around 40 ravished hikers...

Rock Inn Lake Hughes

That's 4 people, and 5 packs in the back of a ford ranger with a toolbox installed.  Ellie got to ride up front with the lady

Hikertown is a hostel right before Mojave in the Antelope Valley

The owner has built a little wild west style town all over his property and hikers stay in all the different buildings.



There are a few roosters, a bunch of hens, and these little guys.

The maildrops hikers have sent themselves for re-supply.  There was another wall full of packages.

Our abode.

Aye, aye.

There was a rooster that the others were ganging up on, so he preferred hanging out with the hikers in the garage/lounge

The LA Aquaduct bringing water all the way from the sierras to the ocean

Joshua Trees!

Ah, the contrast of the rockies in the Coors billboard, and the Mojave desert.

Yanko is from socal who we bump into every couple weeks.

Cold and misty coming out of Mojave

A carpet of wildflowers growing in a burn area.



Only the most scenic lunchspots for us

Climbing mountains made of sand really works the calves.

Joshua Tree sunset over the Mojave Desert.

Abandoned hippie bus in a ravine

There is so much sap in some places it looks like dripping wax

Mickey (l) and Bob!  They were about 2 miles in from the road handing out paydays and heath bars.

Check the sign- Mortuary open. This strip mall funeral home is next to an Ace Hardware.

Great little place in Lake Isabella.  The owners wife made 3 pizzas, potato salad, and 4 pies for dinner!

This guy didn't want to move.  Good thing he's not poisonous

Kennedy Meadows is 700 miles in an important landmark on a hike marking the end of the desert.

Incorrect spelling aside, this seems like a pretty cool place to live

Hanging out on the General Stores side porch

The store runs on a generator because there is no electricity to the town of Inyo

Heading into the Sierras from Kennedy Meadows

Swallow nests under the Kern River Bridge.  They were flying in and out feeding their chirping babies during our whole break.

 

Mount Whitney in the distance

Twisted trunk at 10,550 feet elevation.

Horseshoe Meadows

Taking a nice log nap at the campground near the meadows

The mountain bluebird

John on the left gave us a ride from Horseshoe Meadows down into Lone Pine.  He runs ultra marathons and does nature photography.  His brother-in-law Loren has been hiking and camping with him for 30 years.  Also, I think we're going to change the name of the blog to "Picturesofelliewitholdmen.blogspot.com

Moon setting into the Sierras behind our motel

Sunrise Alpenglow on Mt Whitney in the clouds

Mural on building in Lone Pine



Looks like a Lone Pine twist on the Twin Peaks RR Diner.

We'll end with a picture of the guard tower from the Manzanar Internment Camp where Japanese individuals and families were imprisoned during WWII out of fear that they'd be spies or terrorist inside of the US.  Here's a quote from Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran minister imprisoned by the Nazis for his oppostionist views:

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

This camp was right next to a town called Independence.  We only hope that love and reason can overtake all the hatred and fear in this world.