Wind, constant wind & Trail Provides (D-4)

Finally the hike thru the "real" desert - as I had imagined it - happened today.  No trees at all, only shrubs, cacti, dusty, wide flat vistas and absolutely relentless wind that almost never let up till the late evening.  The wind was so strong in the second half of the day that it even literally pushed me uphill sometimes.  The extra backpack weight seemed like the only thing that kept me from being blown here & there 😄. One good thing about the wind...it made the day seem cooler. And wind/sun way better than wind/rain.

I have been drinking water from 1 liter bottles that are kept in the side pocket of my pack.  Unfortunately they are not easy to access and I have to carry a bottle in my hand when I need to sip it frequently.  This is a pain! So, I had decided to buy a thin tube at the next town in a few days and insert it into the bottle cap to make a flexible straw to make my life easier. However, this afternoon, I came upon the water cache along with a couple of hiker boxes (where hikes leave stuff they don't need and anybody can take those for free) next to it.  And one of the boxes had not one, but two drinking tubes that fit my bottles. Cleaned one up and checked it - it worked! As they say...the Trail Provides 😊

A most welcome water cache at Scissors Crossing, below the highway bridge, with water, chairs, some food, hiker boxes & trash cans

Ta-da!

Trail markers - very well-placed to make sure you don't get lost

Filtering water

Desert blooms:

My tent site:

For my data-minded friends :