Day 14 - A Change of Plan

Mile 205 to Mission Creek - 21 miles. Miles from Mexico 226 miles

The day started with a 6 mile stretch across a stretch of desert to get to Ziggy & the Bear - a couple of Trail Angels who open up their home to hikers. I left early in the morning to avoid the high 30's temperatures only to be sandblasted by howling winds - no wonder they have hundreds of windmills through here. A typical day at Ziggy & the Bear

Sorry about the thumb but the wind was making it hard to hold the phone steady.
From this point people were hitching to Big Bear to go around the track closure ahead. Once again Ohio Joe, Bastian & I thought we would do the alternative - joined by Chicago Joe & Becks from NZ with Sebastian hitching on.
This meant a 10 mile hike to our first campsite. Looking back climbing out of the desert I was able to see San Jacinto Peak & some of the windmills

By this stage the wind was hurricane like blowing us up a steep valley. Also plans were changing - rumour suggested that the closure was not that official & we could pass at our risk. A quick meeting resolved we push on a further 6 mile towards the closure so after a couple of steep ridge ascents we dropped in to a beautiful campsite next to the running water of Mission Creek - a rarity out here. Got the best nights sleep so far Weta