Day 178
I awoke at dawn in the Mojave along Highway 62 in California.

I broke camp and repacked the buggy. 

I hit the road:

A man named David stopped to check on me! He offered me a ride. I thought about it, but told him that I thought I would be able to make it to 29 Palms. He couldn’t really understand why I wouldn’t accept a ride. He was a really nice man, and even gave me a donation to get to Los Angeles! We parted ways.

Desert miles. Isolation:

I was high up in the mountains. It was a little bit cooler way up there. I had been climbing all day. 

Just before 11 a.m., I set up camp for a siesta in the open desert. I found a gate about 75 yards from the road. I hadn’t seen any shade in a day or so, but I was able to make some decent shelter. I even hung my hammock!

Time passed. I sweat some and drank a lot of fluids. I ate some bagels that St. Vincent de Paul had given me back in Parker, AZ. 

At 3 p.m., I emerged from my desert dwelling. 

I made my way back up to the road.

I started moving.

A woman pulled over and gave me peanut m&ms and a cold water. Then she turned around and went back the way she came from. Wow! What a treat!
Miles. Mountains and road. Desert:

The sun hung low and began to set. I could see 29 Palms off in the far distance! I began the descent:

Into the night. Beneath the Milky Way.

I kept moving through the night. I eventually found myself in a residential area a few short miles from 29 Palms. I kept scouting locations to camp, but couldn’t really find anywhere. I was so tired!

So I laid my sleeping bag down on tarp in the open desert. I slept beneath the moon and stars. A pack of dogs fought a coyote somewhere near my camp. I think the dogs won. I fell fast asleep.