From Tehachapi to Bishop; Miles 558 to 832

Desert Won’t Quite Let Go

This part of the trail has been the most difficult section mentally and emotionally.  I caught a ride to  Tehachapi Pass around mid-day and it was hot.  Walked a few miles until I came to an underpass to the main highway and hunkered down out of the heat for a few hours.  Started up the trail to climb Red Mountain and found us facing the most intense winds yet.  Much of the climb was on ridgelines and open trail.  There was a wind gust that caught me right as I was stepping and my foot got caught in a shrub and I tripped. Fortunately it was not a dangerous trip, but it was not fun.  We managed to get to the top as night was falling and we all cowboy camped without tents due to the wind.  Met a fellow hiker at the camp spot from New York City who has the trail name Bamba.  Would go on to hike with him quite a bit in this section. Very interesting and intelligent and we had many thought provoking conversations over the days we hiked and zeroed in town.  We agreed that it would be fun to meet up sometime in New York City and have him show my wife and I around his town.  The next 30 miles of hiking was open desert but with evenly spaced water sources until we hit mile 609.

Long Water Carries Amid a Heat Dome

Once we filled up at Landers Meadow Springs at mile 609, we had to carry enough water for an 8 mile open desert section.  It was brutally hot and no real shade provided by the Joshua trees.  There is a trail angel who stocks 600 gallons of water at Kelso Road at mile 617 which is a dirt backroad in the middle of nowhere.  We got there around noon and there were about 20 hikers trying to find shade and “camel up” with water.  The choice was to continue on for a 15 mile open water carry to Bird Spring Pass at mile 632 or wait until early evening to hike into the night.  Once that was done we then faced the next water carry for 13 miles to a spring at an old abandoned cabin at mile 645.  Needless to say, it was difficult to maintain a positive attitude during this time…..it was just trudge on for survival.

Trail Magic at Kelso Road

 

While baking in the desert sun and feeling not so positive, out of nowhere, a truck and a sprinter van showed up and  7 people jumped out in matching red shirts and asked “who wants a cold beverage and who is hungry?”  Turns out the Noodz Hiking Tramily from Year 2022 decided to come together to go to the place on the trail that they thought was their worst nightmare when they hiked and provide some trail magic.  There were 2 people from Canada, 2 from Iowa, 2 from Washington, 1 from Colorado and they  pulled this event together and traveled to this god forsaken place on the trail.  They commented that there is a reason this section of the trail is called Section F.  They grilled hot dogs, had salads, chips, cookies, and of course cold beer and pop.  They stayed about 4 hours visiting and sharing their trail stories and experiences and offered much encouragement.  

7 Miles to the Road to Civilization

From the abandoned cabin to Walker Pass was a 7 mile backpack ladened “sprint” to the road to civilization.  Showers, town food, real beds, and Walmart were beckoning.  Got a hitch into town pretty quickly and also had 2 different cars stop and give us water and pop while we were hitching.  Life was looking real good now!  There was a transit bus out of town the next day to take us back to Walker Pass, but the bus so jammed with hikers they had to go back for a second unplanned trip to pick up the rest.  Fortunately we got on the first bus and got to the pass at 7 pm and were able to hike up the mountain until a little after dark to a good campsite.  It was now a 48 mile 3 day hike to Kennedy Meadow South at mile 703  This is considered the “Gateway to the Sierras” and escape from the desert.  It is an oasis for the hikers. Unfortunately right before our last campsite at Manter Creek at mile 694, a young woman who was hiking tripped and tried to catch herself by extending her arm out.  With the downward angle of the trail, and the weight of her pack, she popped her shoulder out of joint.  I was able to help assist as I am First Aid Certified due to the volunteer work on the Superior Hiking Trail.  We were able to secure her shoulder and arm firmly to the side of her body and put a sling in place to keep it stable.  She had triggered her Garmin SOS and her Tramily members (Trail Families) were communicating with the response personnel.  The plan was assist her down the mountain to a dirt road 2.7 miles away.  Ended up the dirt road was so rugged it was not an option for the responders so she actually had to hike 7 miles out to a maintained road that night.  4 members of her Tramily hiked her out and reached the responders around midnight.  They were very impressed with the wrap and sling we had put on her and didn’t remove them on the transport.  She got her shoulder popped back in place the next morning at the hospital and is now off trail recovering but hoping to meet up later with her Tramily up north.  

Kennedy Meadows 

Hiking into KM has you walking up a road to the General Store which is up a hill and has a raised outdoor patio.  The tradition is everyone on the patio cheer and clap for the incoming hikers and cow bells are rung.  It is a very cool feeling both to receive the warm welcome and also to be giving it to the new incoming hikers.  Lots of eating, visiting, and sharing excited feelings for the upcoming Sierras.

 

Sierras Spectacular Series of Mountain Passes 

The Sierras are a series of valley and canyons with spectacular waterfalls and towering mountains still partially covered with snow along with rushing rivers that sometimes can be crossed dry by finding places with rocks and trees that allow safe passage over.  Sometimes they have to be a wet crossing as there is not any other options.  Either way, the first assessment is to determine the level of risk.  Is it safe to cross, and if so, should I have other people crossing together to watch out for each other?  Then there are the mountain passes over the mountains.  My plan is to only cross one pass each day.  Get a camp as high on the approach that is below tree line for safety from any afternoon storms which can produce lightening and strong winds.  The first Pass is like a training pass at mile 745 and that is Mulkey Pass at 10,392 feet.  The next one is Trail Pass at 10,494 feet which leads into a side trail to Cottonwood Canyon Trailhead and a resupply in Lone Pine.  Stayed 2 nights in Lone Pine to resupply and try to add some weight back on by eating large portions of town food.  Stayed at the Dow Villa Hotel which is a historic hotel that the movie industry used in the hey day of the Westerns.  They have all sorts of pictures of the stars and directors that stayed there. Also had a great Outdoor Gear store called Evolution.  My tent started having zipper issues on the door and Addison was able to fix the zipper for me so I didn’t have to purchase a new tent.  I had bounced forward my Lowa boots to Lone Pine that did not fit my feet correctly as I knew the Lowas would be appreciated in the high country.   I picked them up at the post office and brought them to Evolution to see if any of the staff would want them.  Ended up Addison was happy to take them.  So they found a great home with someone who will get great use of them.  Lucked out on a ride back up to Cottonwood Trailhead from the parents of another hiker. So grateful for the ride.  We were stuffed in the back of their pickup with a camper shell.  This section of the trail is where we also are required to carry food in a bear canister.  The canisters add a couple of pounds to our pack but it is imperative that the bears do not have access to the food.  A fed bear is a dead bear as they will become a dangerous pest if they get into your food.  The next pass is Cottonwood Pass at 11,132 feet.  The trail then leads to the Whitney Creek junction and Crabtree Meadow where hikers set up camp before summitting Mount Whitney.  Many hikers leave at midnight to view the sunrise up on Whitney.  A very cold experience but an amazing view.  I decided to sleep 12 hours and go up during the day.  I left at 11:00 and it took about 5 hours to climb.  Had a clear day with spectacular views from 14,505 feet.  I met some friends, Sabastian and Crest, about 300 yards from the top as they were heading down.  Had not seen them for a few weeks.  I proceeded up and was taking some pictures when I saw Sabastian coming back up.  They had realized that I was the only person at the top and that taking a “selfie” was not practical, so Sabastian came back up to take my picture.  So nice of them to do that.  I hiked back down with them and got back into camp around 9 PM.  The next day we hiked together to set up for the climb over Forester Pass at 13,120 feet.  The switchbacks going up were almost completely snow free, but on the north side the trail was covered in snow and we had to follow the footpath down trough the snow.  Was able to do this early enough that the snow was still hard and I did not need my micro-spikes on.  Set up myself at the junction to the Kearsarge Pass Trail to hike out to Independence for a resupply.  The trail was beautiful and the pass was at 11,791 feet with a long descent to the trailhead parking lot.  As I was going down ran into a gentleman that was handing out bags of Doritos to the hikers coming down.  His Trail name was Sherpa, and he was actually leading a group of trail angels up the trail to do some trail magic.  They had a mule pack train coming up the next day bringing over 900 lbs. of food and were setting up at a camp below Forester Pass to surprise the hikers coming down.  They were dressing up as Canadian Mounties once they got there.  Background was this was the place years ago that his son and 20 other hikers had gotten stuck up there in over 4 feet of snow and were running out of food.  He had filled a backpack completely up with Ramen and hiked in to help get them food and out of the situation.  Stayed in Independence for a resupply and then hiked back in over Kearsarge Pass back to the trail.  The next pass is Glen Pass at 11,957 feet.  I shared a camp with a woman from Alberta Canada named Tigger and we decided to hike over the next several passes together.  This was the hardest pass so far as we had to rock scramble down the north side as the trail was again covered with snow but the slope made it difficult to travel on the snow.  We did have to use micro spikes here.  It was then onto Pinchot Pass at 12,127 feet but there was little snow so it was an easier pass to go over.  The next day was going over Mather Pass 12,094 feet which has a very high shear wall that is very intimidating.  We did also use micro-spikes a little on the way down the north side.  This set us up to go out to the town of Bishop using the Bishop Pass, 8747 feet, trail to get to the trail head to hitch a ride into town.    Unfortunately the bridge over the South Fork of the San Joaquin River is washed out and the river is not safe to wet cross.  The official re-route is to go up Bishop Pass and then go over to Piute Pass to go back in.  We will miss about 25 mines of the PCT but the reroute is about the same amount of miles and the routes are beautiful. I am currently at 832 miles on the trail.

A Second EPIC Journey

Finally, while I am Blogging about this fantastic journey I am on while hiking, I also had an even bigger epic journey milestone since I last Blogged.  Mary and I had our 43rd Wedding Anniversary and to spend that time with your best friend and love of my life is even more EPIC.  Thanks for reading and and following my Blog.

 

Jerry “CrampPa” Tillman

 

 

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Comments 3

  • David Carr : Jun 29th

    Fantastic update! Have fun and keep up the great work!

    Reply
  • Joyce Lazar : Jun 30th

    Hi Jerry, As always, great to hear about your adventures! You’re sure a determined and tough cookie! I enjoy hearing about the people you meet on the trail and how you all band together! Also the “trail angels” performing their “trail magic”! So cool that you all become “Tramily”. Wishing you all the best on the next part of your hike. Take care of yourself and be careful. Can’t wait to hear all about it! Love, Joyce

    Reply
  • Aaron Van Hout : Jul 5th

    Hey Jerry!

    Congrats to you and Mary – 43 years is an IMPRESSIVE accomplishment. Good luck ahead and keep safe!

    Aaron

    Reply

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