May 22

Start: campsite in silverwood lake 
End: San Andreas fault
Daily: 18
Total: 347

Chris says this is the first day in a long time that he feels really full. He also thinks it felt like two days. I agree. This morning we were so focused on getting to good old McDonalds that we didn't take the time to enjoy the scenery, which was often vey beautiful (and often obscured by high voltage power lines). There were bright pink poppies and vividly violet and blue flowers and snow-capped peaks and lake filled valleys... and OHV roads and power lines. That's how we could tell we were getting closer to LA. 

Oh yeah, even though we're trying to get to Canada, the PCT goes west for a while now. It follows the San Andreas fault, which is where we're camped now. 

Anyway, the major driving force of the last couple of days hasn't been a shower or laundry, but McDonald's. Everyone looks forward to it so much that there is an official PCT sign that says "McDonald's .4 Mile -->". Normally Chris and I avoid McDonald's like the plague, but even vegetarians give in to this one. I didn't eat as much as I thought I would, but the Angus 1/3 Pounder, fries and a shake were sooooo good. So much better than they will ever taste to a non-thru hiker. :)

The second half of the day was a big change. After we bought enough food to get us to the next stop in a couple of days, we  left, expecting our friends to be having another troll party under the I15 overpass. But they weren't there. After we passed next to a beautiful waterfall surrounded by green plants, between a road and some train tracks (it was weird to see the waterfall and stream and plants, but hear the screaming train... My brain couldn't reconcile the two), we passed through a couple of crazy tunnels before climbing through hills with amazing rock formations. They reminded me of a place in Turkey called Cappadocia. Then we walked along a ridge as thin as a knife's edge for a while until setting up camp on the fault. 

I had fun talking and hiking with Dr. John today. He's a geology professor and had lots of advice about applying for grad school. He also had some funny stories about working in the Arctic and Norway. The miles go by so much faster when you can pick someone else's brain.

Anyway, now we're camped on the fault (Chris likes the word "rift" better than "fault"). Hopefully no earthquakes tonight.