Dispatch from Panamint Springs, California
Text, photographs and web design by Erik Gauger

Then I fell asleep again. A while later, and I slapped again. This time, I turned on the light and found a dozen half-dead cockroaches on the bedside. These, that I imagined all night as electric shocks.

This is the point where you freak.

I jumped out of bed, and went for the bathroom. I needed a shower. I went first for the wash, but there were roaches clambering to escape. I jumped toward the shower. Roaches everywhere.

I remembered this lesson. Leave on the lights, the roaches will go away. I did this, and slept fitfully. Hotels - they can seem innocent enough, but the roach infestation reminded me of all those horror stories. A few years ago at a Des Moines Holiday Inn, the police were investigating a murder case. Unfortunately for their case, the bedspread they were analyzing contained 106 stains. 36 of them were semen. I longed for my tent.

Early in the morning, furiously packing my truck, a petite woman from England said in her sweet voice, "not a very pleasant place for a night's rest."

I regretted this as I said it, "Fucking cockroaches!"
"I noticed you kept your light on all night."
I barked, "leave on the lights, you get rid of the cockroaches!"

I left that hotel in a hurry, forgetting my hiking partners. The desert like the sea, my truck smelling fresh. Tomorrow night, I pitch my tent.