Day 47
Miles Hiked: 0
Mile Camped: 541.5
I didn’t sleep long, the sun rose hot and I woke to untether my rainfly and let the breeze in. I also discovered that I had pitched my tent with my stoop right against a fire ant hill. A big ol rock went over the top of the opening. Sorry dudes, the neighborhood has gone to shit. Most of the other campers had taken off and I walked around to see what the lay of the land was in sunlight. A huge tree down creek boasted ample shade. I really didn’t have the energy to pack up and move just to be assaulted by the first wave of daywalkers and then the second…and onwards. Unsure if Grown was ahead or behind me I wrote a note and placed it just before the creek crossing under a rock then I climbed back in my tent.
By eleven or so I figured she had pushed onward but lo and behold she turned up after all. We decided to zero there at water and make a plan for Tehachapi tomorrow.
With the heat of noon on us, and fire ants devouring my feet, we soaked our feet and compared our night hike experiences before retiring to food and shade and naps.
Later in the evening I went to move my tent away from the evil little buggers on my doorstep and managed to get fully set up before I realized I was now facing a shallow dookie grave. Like I said about the neighborhood….
No but actually I think a lot about how this trail is a twenty six hundred mile long ribbon of human feces. Leave No Trace is a funny line in the sand in that respect.
After a third move the sun slid behind the hills and folks pushing on to Tehachapi began filtering out. The only person I saw from my group the prior night was Anna who continued on as well.
I was low on snacks and heavy on meals which are harder to prepare and eat when it’s hot out but I wanted to hike out with just what I needed to get me to town. It’s a seventeen mile dry stretch followed by a hitch into town. The plan was to leave early and break for the heat of the day.
Tehatchapi
Day 48
Miles Hiked: 17
Camped: Trail Angel Rich’s
After sleeping all day I almost expected to get restless and hike out before dawn. I slept through the night however which is a super rare thing out here. In the morning Grown stopped by my tent to let me know she was heading out and I dragged my ass out of bed to start packing up.
Columbia and Mantra had arrived at the creek and I waved a quiet morning goodbye as I climbed out of the canyon.
With a camping spot/potential trail magic 7.6 miles ahead I wasn’t in much of a hurry but the miles passed quickly. I was in a great mood and despite a couple falls on the fine gravel switch backs and a quick pout about it under my umbrella I had an easy enough morning.
I found Grown under the umbrellas at the camping spot we suggested meeting at and ate lunch as the heat of noon got canceled out by a large cloud.
Though I had planned to rest through the hot part of the day I wound up feeling motivated by the overcast skies and continued on, catching up to Grown again a few miles from the road we would hitch to town on.
The clouds overhead had grown angry and as we passed beneath the eerie noise of the the turbines, they began to grumble.
I’m not usually bothered by lightening but being the second tallest thing on an exposed ridge of towering wind turbines felt a bit unnerving and we cut down along a lower game trail where we were able and I quickened my pace. Big wet drops started to fall as we arrived at the road. Parked there were Alfred and Carolyn, locals who happened to be revisiting a childhood memory. They offered us a ride into town and we gratefully accepted.
The forecast had been for clear skies that morning and we were considering camping behind the Red House BBQ joint in town. We arrived and ordered a bite (10/10 do recommend) and by the time our food was out the weather turned spiteful.
Giant globs of rain poured down. Phones alerted throughout the restaurant with flash flood warnings. We grabbed our packs and food and shuffled into the restaurant from the patio. The rain turned to dime sized hail and everyone else followed suit. It pounded down on the galvanized roofing and we laughed and shrugged, exasperated by the routine onslaught of unfavorable weather. I pulled out my phone and placed an inquiry on a local Trail Angel board seeking drier quarters, for the night at least. The response was immediate and we had two folks coming to get us within minutes and had to decline one of the generous offers.
Rich and AJ came up and introduced themselves and helped us get our gear in their truck. We were smothered with love from Ruby, their toy sheepdog and the tiniest kittens were dropped in our laps when we got to the house.
Showered and wrapped in warm blankets on comfy couches we reached out to check on friends that had been behind us on trail. They managed to luck out and had followed behind the storm as it moved west leaving the trail and assaulting the town. Others weren’t so lucky and a lot of folks wound up spending some extra time in town after the beating. One Trail Angel took in some 20 hikers and then lost power!
This entire endevour has been rife with favor asking and help seeking from the get go and you think I’d be used to it by now but Im not and I am extremely grateful for Rich opening his home to us and actively and publicly offering support to hikers on the Tehachapi Trail Angel page.
Day 49
Mikes Hiked: 0
Camped: Trail Angel Rich’s
The next day we finished laundry and Rich took us to town to run some errands. In the afternoon we sat on the wrap around porch and played with the dogs as we made phone calls home and took in the countryside views. I looked up from the porch swing to find a pretty little mare munching away on the front lawn and a swarm of hummingbirds at the feeder above me. Brown Dog, AJ’s brown lab pup, nosed his toy at me and I told him to go play by himself – clearly a familiar command judging by his enthusiastic flip of his chew toy off of the porch and into the lawn.
In the evening Grown wasn’t feeling well and stayed to rest while Rich and I went over to another Trail Angel’s house to BBQ and soak in the jacuzzi (sometimes life on trail….isn’t so rough). JD and Liz were a hoot and the views from their home overlooking the valley as another storm passed through were stunning. We talked wine and they ordered a bottle from my work back home to check out. We soaked in the tub and watched the sun set and swapped travel stories.
My lifestyle lends itself to connecting with a wide variety of people anyway but I always find it lovely to share space and conversation with people I normally wouldn’t encounter, you know? If I stayed in Olympia and only associated with people who’s ideologies and values align with my own…maybe I’d be a bit more well spoken and sure footed conversationaly about what I am about. I just really prefer and enjoy every time I interact with someone new and different and experience the kindness and respect I’m experiencing so much of out here. JD and Rich both work for the local fire department and JD left a career in a correctional facility prior to that. It was clear before that came to light that we each come from different worldviews and that there was plenty of difference between us all. None the less we navigated the terrain of our commonality and casually and respectfully if not even playfully sometimes found it’s boundaries and limitations. I’m really really living for that out here. I didn’t expect it, and honestly worried that my very limited and guarded trust in humanity could be extinguished altogether. Happily that hasn’t been the case. Happily, there are folks in the world who are complicit in systems I abhor who aren’t moving through the world with cotton in their ears. Unhappily that feels like the biggest thing in the world and often the most one could ask for. It’s something though.
Day 50
Miles Hiked: 0
Camped: Sure Stay
In the morning we were enlisted to clean up around the house a bit and Rich made breakfast. JD made an appearance and came bearing a dozen donuts. A dozen really good donuts.
We repacked our bags and Rich gave us a lift to the post office to pick up our resupply where we parted ways.
Birthday boxes in hand we walked with thumbs out back towards town. No one was biting. Grown wasn’t having it.
Sheepishly I said “in my experience it’s tougher getting a hitch with a hat on. I never hitch with sunglasses or a hat on.”
“I’ll die!!!” She said as she pulled her sun hat off.
A truck driving in the opposite direction slowed and a man hollered “You guys want a ride somewhere?!”
We both laughed as he pulled a U-turn and we hopped in.
With a few hours to kill before check in for Grown’s birthday hotel room we stopped by the pool to say hello to folks and went to check out the German bakery down the road.
Nougat Taler ya’ll. Wow. My new favorite thing.
We checked into our room and immediately flopped on the bed. Soon Flip showed up and while I ran some birthday errands Grown and Flip went and got pizza.
That night I got a hot tub of drunk 21 yr olds to sing Grown Happy Birthday as she blew candles out in her vegan root beer float. She retired to bed and I stayed up and met a new round of folks. When the Sure Stay pool closed we hobbled next door to the Best Western and I found a few familiar faces there. Everyone went around and told how they got their trail names. The best one? Corn Cob who was none too fond of it and came by it by way of his yellow puffy and green rain shell.
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