Day Seven: The Mojave National Preserve

Invigorated by our successful previous voyage, we drove an hour past the Seven Magic Mountains to the Mojave National Preserve, a massive expanse of varying desert landscapes. We went for a 5-mile hike up the Teutonia Peak Trail through a portion of the largest concentration of Joshua trees in the world. Like walking into a cornfield, within a few unnoticed minutes of walking the trail, I turned in all directions to realize that we could not see Little Red and had absolutely no sense of direction other than the trail. It was quite freaky and startling for a moment, but then became utterly freeing. It didn't matter if I knew where I was going because the trail already did - as long as I trusted the trail, I possessed all my faculties and was able to be in this place. This trail was meditative, peaceful, tranquil, and beautiful.

Evelyn beasted this hike and required minimal shoulder-time up and down the trail. She was so excited to 'climb the mountain' - and this set the tone for the rest of our time in Vegas. On our way down, she was mildly impaled by an unexpectedly large cactus needle after stumbled over a rock. I attempted to remove what I thought was a 2 inch needle stuck to her clothes and quickly realized it was attached to more than her clothes. But as I said, she beasted it, so with just a few tears and a simple 'medical' procedure - ask her about it someday - she continued on her way down the peak.