Day 39

0 // 558.5

Today is a zero in Tehachapi!!!! YAHOOO!!!. We had breakfast at the hotel with many other hikers. We got a ride from Trail Angel Kristin to Walmart to resupply. We came back and I worked on the blog and Instagram posts and cleaned gear. I washed my backpack, my trekking pole straps, my empty jar, spoon, food bag, everything that was getting so dirty it wasn’t working as well anymore. We went to the pool with our tramily, ate lots of fresh fruit, and then went to the Mexican Grill across the parking lot at 6 PM. We spent the evening packing up the food bags and getting ready to hit the trail again tomorrow.

Day 40

8.52 // 575.0

Confession: I have officially skipped 8 miles of the PCT. I could have slack packed (walked it without my backpack) that section along with three others (including Bob), but I decided I was OK with skipping it. We got off the trail Saturday at 558 and got back on the trail at 566 on the other side of Tehachapi.

This morning Bluegrass, Happy Meal (f/k/a Damn Derek) and Data (Bob) got dropped off at 558 to slack pack the 8 miles to the 566 intersection. We met them there around 11:15am with their packs. Trail Angel Kristin was driving us and she still had trail magic: watermelon, water, Cokes, coconut water, etc. She dropped five of us off with our backpacks and the 8 of us started back on trail around noon. It was flat for the first mile along the highway, then we went up. We went 8 miles up 4,000 ft. For five of us it was a short 8.5 mile day, and for three of us it was a 16 mile day.

We arrived at camp around 4:30pm. We found a great spot in the trees with lots of hidden gems to put up tents. We had dinner together by two of our tents. It’s always fun to visit at the end of the day. It makes everything lovely. That and the trees and their shade. 

Day 41

18.95 // 594.1

Our campsite was wonderful. We left camp around 6:30am.  We headed out for an 8 mile hike to water. I felt strong in the morning. I was leading the pack. It felt good.

The forest this morning was perfect. Shaded, cool temperatures. Higher altitude. Everything I like. 💕💕💕

We made it to the water source around 10am. It was a pipe with a trickle, and since we are a group of 8 people, plus there were a few other hikers, there was a line. It took over an hour to filter 4 L of water. We were not sure if we would go to the next water source 10 miles away because that one is a mile off trail and 600ft elevation. If we didn’t get water from that source, we’d be dry camping, so we needed to load up.

After the water break I felt very heavy. I was slower and my pack felt very heavy. Then the sun came out and we had lost the trees by that point, so hot and heavy again. Bob was still going strong.

We stopped for lunch at noon in a nice shaded spot and considered our options for the next few days, planning water and camping and the resupply in Ridgecrest.

Bob doesn’t always like to take breaks because they slow him down and interrupt his rhythm. Meanwhile, I was taking a nap on my pad glad to have the break.

Bob didn’t stay long. He was anxious to get going. He feels like we need to do more miles/day if we want to reach the Canada. And that is the whole reason Bob is hiking there PCT, to reach Canada!

The group decided to do 18 today, 16 tomorrow, then a 22 and a 20 to get us to Walker Pass campground.

I was feeling upset that Bob is so strong and able to do so many more miles and I will be holding him back. I was very grateful to have the group. They did a wonderful job supporting me. We hiked together, but even then I was slow and space was created.

I was just feeling depleted and dejected, especially knowing Bob was disappointed we were not going further. 

Bob and I had a talk just us two in the tent about if he would rather carry on without me, going his faster pace. We are not exactly sure what to do, but have talked and will see if we can make it/us work better. 

Day 42

23.15 // 617.1

Bob and I left camp before the group. We did talk to them and I do think we will connect again. Bob is feeling like we need to focus on just the two of us and what we need in order to get to Canada (20+ miles/day). So we ventured off alone today. Again, this morning the forest was lovely. Cooler temps, shade, but there was a lot of climbing in the first half of the day. We hiked well together, Bob went my speed. WE REACHED 600 MILES!!!

We didn’t take any breaks until we reached the water source at mile 9 at the Robin Spring pipe. This was a lovely water source and easy access.

I took off my shores and socks and laid down on my pad while my water filtered. We did 2 L. Then we headed off again, looking to go to the Landers Meadow Spring in 7 miles. I did pretty well all day but was ready for a break when we reached LMS. My feet were hurting. I am surprised they have not gotten used to all this walking and the weight I’m carrying, but they haven’t. They hurt.

We got to LMS and didn’t even need to get more water. We are carrying too much water!

We put out the Tyvek and took a nap.

It was only 3 pm, so we decided to push on another 7 miles to the next water cache. After my nap my feet really did feel good…. For about 3 miles. The last 4 miles today were long. It was an easy trail, mostly down, but went on FOREVER! We reached the cache at 6:30. It was very windy. We forced our tent into a small space (it was too windy for just the inner net). We got our chores done and dinner made. 

Day 43

22.5 // 639.6

I slept well last night. I am glad Bob was able to get the tent up. It was windy. Around 10 PM the trail angel that stocks the water cache came and delivered more water. This trail angel supplies the water at this cache and another one 15 miles away. We are very lucky that he does this because otherwise there would be a 27+ mile water carry plus dry camping.
Bob and I left this morning at around 6 AM. We were ready to go and knew that we would be hiking in an exposed hill. I am glad we got going when we did. We were in and out of the shade and sun based on the side of the hill we were on. There were a few Joshua trees sporadically that provided nice shade, but not a lot. We hiked for about 7 miles and then took a break. We hiked the next 7 1/2 miles to the next water cache. Happily, there was a wonderful shaded area right by the cache that we could have a siesta at. We had a really nice break here for about two hours because we did 12 miles before 12pm and made our 15 miles before 1 PM. So we were able to rest until about 3pm. We were getting ready to leave when a sheriff pulled up and offered trail magic in the form of pop and ice cream. And even more awesome, they took our trash for us. So we had a nice restart before a 3.5 mile, 1,000 ft ascent. We had 7 miles to go to get to our camp site and the first 3 1/2 miles was an uphill climb. It was steady and nice for a lot of it but the last quarter was pretty steep and had me huffing and puffing. We are happy to be in this environment. The trees are pine trees. We are out out of the exposed desert that we spent a good chunk of the day in. We made it 22.5 miles to this campsite. Tomorrow we will go into Ridgecrest or one of the three towns we can go to and we will stay at a hotel and resupply hopefully early in the day on Friday so that we can get back on trail early Saturday morning. We are anxious to get out of the desert and reach Kennedy Meadows.

Day 44

13.82 // 653.2

Today we hiked mostly down (even then I was slow), out of the forest again, into the desert with shrubs and exposure all the way down to Walker Pass. At the campground there was a TON of trail magic. Oranges, water, Power Ade, option to make your own pancakes thanks to a trail angel!

We had some snacks then went back on the trail and took that to the bus stop area on the road and hitchhiked. It didn’t take long for a ride to pick us up. Truly it is amazing how generous people are. She drove us 30 minutes into Ridgecrest and dropped us off at the Staters Grocery Store. We weren’t quite ready to shop as we need to asses what we still had, so we went to Wing Stop and ate instead.

Then headed to a hotel across the street and checked in. We SHOWERED!!! I cut my nails!!!! That feels SOOO GOOD!!!! Then we did our hiker laundry and set it in the sun to dry. It’ll take about 5 minutes. 😜 A quick run to the store (I needed almost nothing, which means I am carrying too much food! 😠), a fresh salad for dinner, fresh fruit and kombucha, and packing up for an early departure.

Next stop Kennedy Meadows!!!!! 

Happy trails,

Julie

@JulieandBobgoforahike