Day 31,  21 miles

Last night I was startled awake from distant screams coming from way up in the surrounding mountains.  I sat bolt upright.  I pulled off my fleece hat and down hoodie, sat still, and listened.  A woman.  She is in pain.  She is scared.  What is she doing up in the mountains in the middle of the night?  It’s not human.  It’s a layered echoing wail, so foreign.  Is it an alien?  The sounds soon fade.  Was I imagining it?  I am glad not to be camping alone tonight.  I go back to sleep.

In the morning I ask, did anyone hear the screams coming from the mountains? What the ….was  that!?  Happy heard it too.  Hiker, Cups, filled us in.  It was a mountain lion! Cool!

Some days I want to stop and take pictures all day.  Today was one of those days.  I love the desert flowers that are all in bloom. Purples, pinks, yellow and white.  The smell of the desert is wonderful.  As I hike, I grab sage and rub it between my fingers.  That’s my favorite smell.