June 14th – Mojave to Near Golden Oaks Spring

We decided to make the most of our hotel stay in Mojave and slept in. Stopped by the hotel lobby for OJ and then went to Denny’s for a real breakfast. Stopped by a great little bakery across from the hotel for a 2nd breakfast – they had huge, tasty apple fritters that I couldn’t pass by. Only was able to eat ½ of one – but packaged up the 2nd half for the trail.

Finished up packing and slowly started down toward Hwy 58. We were afraid it was going to be a tough hitch and even contemplated calling a taxi. As we were walking toward the signs for Hwy 58 a car stops along the road and asks us if we need a ride to the trailhead. Sweet! We got a ride without even hitching…how easy is that??? The guy was a hiker, so he knew just where to go. It was 11am before we started out hiking up the mountain. Not the best time to be starting a hot, desert hike – but at least we were well fed and hydrated. The climb up didn’t end up being too bad - amazing what a belly of real food will do! After a short lunch break at the top, we continued on the trail.

We were just cruising along and I heard a little rustle in a bush as I was looking back. I glanced down and saw a very large, green snake with diamond scales coiled up in the bush. I had just enough time to scream “SNAKE!” Next thing I know it – Tom was screaming and hauling himself 50 feet off the trail. Once he regained composure, he said “Where is that snake? He totally striked out at me!” We checked his leg for bite marks – luckily there were none. Wow! Close call. Luckily, we were only about 7 miles from a major highway and probably would have been okay to get some anti-venom in time, but it was scary. The whole time I was on the look out for snakes, but they are really good at hiding. Never did hear the rattle, so we are not sure if it was a rattlesnake or not. After thinking about it further, we decided that most likely what Tom thought was the snake strike was actually his trekking poles hitting the side of his leg. Needless to say, we were paranoid about snakes the rest of they day.