"Junk Yards, wind farms and scenic mountain views"

Secretary side note: I apologize for not posting days 17-19 before you posted day 20. I won't let this happen again hikers. But here we go....

Day 17: 

*Desert! Back to the desert! And not any desert-this desert began as a winding switchback for 10 miles with the morning sun beating down on the side of the mountain we were hiking on then proceeded to unravel into the valley(102 degrees F) where we walked another 5 miles across barren desert wasteland in gale-force winds. Our refuge: lunch under an interstate overpass. Quite a fine contrast of urban and rural - eating lunch below cars, staring out over the power lines at these beautiful, stoic humbling San Jacinto mountain peaks. And finally we descended into a washed out river valley to sleep. Paul has resorted to cowboy camping(sleeping under the stars without a tent). Ben keeps his snake sightings at dusk to himself.

*We walked through the middle of a wind farm all afternoon. I guess the wind shouldn't have been a surprise. During our hobo style lunch, Ben kept searching through all the trash piles "in case someone left something good behind." SSN(Secretary Side Note): Ben you are trashy.

Day 18:
*LONG....and hot walking up a river valley for over 10 miles. Just when we'd had enough, we found a brilliant little cliff overhang right next to the river which we decided to lunch at. More of the same for the second half of the day. Needless to say, it felt LONG. 

*A very long, hot day. Then we had our coldest night yet. I sealed myself into my mummy sleeping bag and fell asleep to the scent of feet and farts.

Day 19:
*As Paul struggles to make sense of the world in the absence of his summer sausage and cheese, we swiftly approach Big Bear City for resupply. Stinky and hungry, we persevere. It's Memorial Day Weekend, but no holiday trail magic has crossed our paths (except for a cooler of fruit next to a recliner chair in the middle of the woods, which was excellent). And some sweet domestic wildlife: 6 llamas, 2 grizzlies, 1 tiger, and 1 panther. It sounds more daring and brave if we don't tell you the truth(but they were real, we promise, and we saw them on the trail!)