5/20

The desert saga really begins yesterday afternoon. We plowed through the first sun oven of sand and arrived at the highway. It was just a long vein of asphalt, and there was a home on the other side, trimmed like a western film set. Old machinery lay in the sandy yard, and the owner welcomed us into his garage. We let the sun sink and the heat escape before setting into the sand again. The trail plunged through the Mojave desert, a long strand of sand dividing the mountains. we approached the narrow open channel of the Los Angeles aqueduct, and peed into it before crossing, only hoping the our salt-infused peanut urine would fill a minor drop of every cosmopolitan water glass. We made it as far into the dark desert as we could before collapsing.

This morning the sun was quick to wake again. Within an hour my skin changed from shivering to sweating. By light our view was unlimited- sweeping copper hills patched with Joshua trees, standing around like sentinels. The wind began to steadily intensify, until we were leaning forward to stay upright. Sand was being caught in greater gusts. Soon I could not hear anything but the whipping in my ears. Bojangles walked in front of me and screamed something into the air. He pointed to a rattlesnake coiled on the trail, shaking, but its sound drowned in the wind. We walked around it but encountered three more, all threatening us silently.