The soles of my feet were hurting more than ever this morning, so I decided that I might as well try to loosen my laces and see if that couldn’t help. At first I felt no change but after a few miles I actually felt pretty good about it. I had no idea that such a slight change in your shoe could make such a drastic difference!
After about seven miles Diggs decided that the day just wasn’t hers to be had, and that she was going to camp out by a water source we had come across. I was feeling great, so I decided to go on without her. For about eight miles after that I wandered along the trail completely solo, until I came across a lively fellow, “Fish Fry”. Fish Fry is originally from Bishop, CA, and his stories were very “Bishop-like” . . you would only know what that means if you’ve ever met someone from Bishop. It’s not derogatory in any sense, its humorous, and so was he. We hiked for only a few miles, but I would be seeing much more of Fish Fry in the times to come.
I stopped at a campsite overlooking the Mojave Desert from high above, the wind-farm lights flickering down below in sequential fashion. There I found a few recognizable faces and we chatted as we cooked our evenings meals.