Day 17- the duel

I soaked in the hot spring one more time before heading out. It was a really hard place to leave. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trail so far. I also had to leave rev booger and backyard boogie even though they are tons of fun. They just do not do enough miles. I hiked for a good chunk of the day along deep creek and then past the Mojave river dam. Then I entered the dessert. It was hot. The first little creek that I passed I took a break. While I was sitting there eating lunch a dad and his two little kids (probably 5 & 3). I talked with the dad and played with the kids for a long time. It was fun. They were so amazed that I was hiking that it was easy to impress them. The dad said he wished he could do it but he had the little kids. He used to be a trail runner. I finally had to leave. After a long time of just walking I heard a rattle right next to the trail, and jumped. I looked up only to see a rattle snake right in the trail. We just stared at each other. He wouldn't move, only rattle. So I had some words for him, hit my trekking poles together and he finally moved off the trail. The only sad part was that I could not get a good picture of him. The rest of the day was filled with walking around silverwood lake and then eventually eating my curry with lentils that turned out marginal. Hopefully it doesn't rain tonight. There are lots of dark clouds and it's very windy.