Monday December 11, 24.0km/14.9mi

Hi Desert Oasis Store (574.5/2080ft) to Mojave Wilderness (589.4/3400ft) (CA)

I woke up at 6:30 and ate “first breakfast” in my tent. An hour later TopShelf and I walked over to the convenience store to buy second-breakfast. Our tents looked pretty funny up against this backdrop.

The store was a decent size, but everything was way overpriced so I chose my food carefully.

After a breakfast burrito and orange juice, it was time for breakfast #3. Spaghetti and ice cream!

The store’s resident dog, Mari, was adorable and kept coming over for more head pats.

We bought more microwave meals for lunch, and finally left the store just before noon. After packing up our tents, we headed out. As we left the property, we noticed a neat little oasis with pools and palm trees. It was a shame they didn’t maintain it.

For almost the entire afternoon, we hiked north into the Mojave National Preserve.

Yup, mostly walking on disused dirt roads.

The cloudy sky made the sunset extra orange.

I’ve been hiking by all these desert plants for months now, and I finally remembered to get photos. I think this one is Desert lavender:

And Cholla:

And Creosote bushes:

Walking under the high-voltage power lines always feels so futuristic. And they created a cool perspective into the distance.

Just after sunset, we entered the Mojave Wilderness!

Because we left the store a little later than expected, we hiked in the dark for over an hour to make it to our planned mileage for the day. It got cold fast!

We found a spot amongst some creosote bushes, and dove inside our tents to get warm. We had gradually been climbing all day, so now we were 1500ft/450m higher… it’s much colder up here!