Day 7- Little Things

water in an old tire

It is disorientating to wake up during the night and see stars and then wake up just before dawn to an empty sky. It's almost lonely.



Someone's grand dream became our lunch spot

Possibly the best water so far on trail

Blowing my nose in the morning and ridding myself of a night's worth of dust is one of my favorite parts of my day.

Cow paths can be worth following when hiking cross country. The cows know where to cross the gullies, they know where the water tanks are, and sometimes where a gate in the fence is.
Sometimes the fences don't have bared wire for the last wire on the fence and it is easier to crawl under--sometimes they do have bared wire.



No idea where a tree this big came from--we haven't seen anything bigger than a Juniper bush

Windmill powered wells can be seen for over a mile.  The holding pools are full of remarkably cold water--even in the heat of the day.  Water only flows out of the pipe when the wind is turning the windmill.

The wind can and will howl all day, all night, and continue the next day. It will tug loose any fine wisps of hair from the tightest French braid.
The wind is also the desert's saving grace. Without it the desert would be too hot. It actually has a chill to it.

One of the many cow's skulls seen so far

Its not really the desert until you see a cow's skull.

Take shade where you find it--what is listed in the notes on the maps is old and 2009' shade could be 2013's hot and sunny.

Its easy to forget that you might be hiking on somebody's land until a rancher in a red ATV pulls up next to you and lectures you about "you people."


And all the sudden, there were trees

And you can accidentally hike 26 miles in a day without knowing it just to get off a rancher's land.