The stay In Tehachapi was great. Delicious eats from Thaihachapi, good resupply and all around friendly small town. Reunited with fellow southerner, Dillon who I met in the early days. He now goes by the name Lobster which was self explanatory when you took a good look at his desert tan. Spent 2 nights and it seemed no time at all before Turbine was shuttling an SUV load of us hiker trash back to the trail. He told us the first part of our day would be a hellish climb but would get better once we got into the trees. He was right to some extent but the tree cover was intermittent and short lived. For me this section was the hardest part of the desert. There was a heat advisory, long water carries, often little to no shade and also over 30 hikers got sick with gastrointestinal distress. Blame was placed on some of the sketchy springs we had to draw water from though I suffered no ill effects from drinking filtered water from them. Norovirus was suspected along with food poisoning and I don’t think it was ever determined the source of the outbreak. It was disconcerting to see big pebble X’s at campsites to let you know someone had got sick and not to camp there.
Jessie is the only doggie I’ve seen so far on trail. Her Mom said she walked all the way from Campo. Trail name Ewok and she wore doggie hiking boots!
Thank you Trail Angels for the water caches in this section. Without them it would have been a 50 mile water carry. Genuinely lifesaving!
Cowboy camped a short distance down remote Kelso Rd at this cache and under the shade of a Joshua tree.
No shade here!
Some sort of mining operation at one time. Must have been some harsh working conditions.
Are we there yet? This Mojave Desert is no joke!
Eventually reached Walker Pass where Baby Sinclair and I had agreed to try to hitch into Ridgecrest together. She had gone down to the adjacent campground trail magic so I was confused not to see her at the road. I was feeling quite dehydrated but fortunately found a ride with 2 day hikers finishing their hike. They drove me 45 minutes into town where it was 109° and where I quickly realized I had left my trekking poles at the Pass. They were so kind to drive me all the way back to pick up my poles and Baby Sinclair who was wondering where I had disappeared, then drive us both back to town. Amazing people to give up their afternoon ferrying this disoriented hiker around! Also fun to experience my first ride in a Tesla!
A zero day was required in Ridgecrest to recover from the last section. There were recommendations to jump ahead to Kennedy Meadows, the start of the Sierra’s, because of the heat and mystery hiker illness and many hikers did just that. I only had 50 more miles to hike to get there so didn’t want to consider that possibility. Did carry much more water this time around though!
Local bus was full of hikers heading back to the trail. That is Robbie behind me from Macclesfield, UK very close to where I was born!
Water! What a welcome sight!!!
And an even more welcome sight!
If you watched the movie Wild you are probably familiar with the tradition of hikers at Kennedy Meadows General Store cheering and clapping hikers in as they limp the final few steps of the desert to the store. It sent shivers down my spine and brought a tear to my eye. It really is an inspiring welcome and great acknowledgment by fellow hikers of the accomplishment of walking 702 miles in the S. California desert! I celebrated by eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and drinking 2 beers,
Great pictures and narrative really gets the feel of your hike across. Way to go. Enjoy
Thanks Brian W.
You’re my hero! Go girl!