600

I passed the 600 mile mark this afternoon on my way into the wonderfully cool, green Tehachapi mountains, full of pines and oaks – a nice respite from hot desert.

One of the highlights of my 20.7-mile day was spooking a deer: a real, live, actual specimen of wildlife! Yes, I see them every day at home in Oregon, but this was the first animal bigger than a rabbit I’d encountered on this whole trip so far. I also found cougar tracks on the trail today, and met two different hikers who’d seen bears recently, so maybe I’ll run across one of those, too.