Last night a baby squirrel wandered into our camp. The squirrel was cold and dehydrated and I emptied the soap from my tiny dr. Bronners bottle so that I could feed it drops of warm salt water. Finn and I wrapped the squirrel in a towel and it slept in the footbox of my sleeping bag. We named him chippy.

While I waited to fall asleep under the howling california stars I imagined the logistics of caring for a baby squirrel on the trail. I knew what to do, having once raised an abandoned baby squirrel that Paula found in the street. But where would I find puppy formula, out here in the desert?

Chippy is warming himself right now in a paper bag in the sun. We’re leaving him with the park ranger here, who seems to like animals.

We’re off to the border. In an hour I start hiking!

In friday’s frantic exhausted shuffling I forgot to pack the bit that connects my phone to my solar charger. So my phone is almost dead. It might be a few days before I post again, but then a bunch of posts right at once. Don’t fret if you don’t hear from me. For now- The desert! The heat! My pack is so heavy with all this water!

UPDATE: I did not catch bubonic plague.