5/13/20, mile: 558, elevation: 4,091 ft.
What a difference rest makes! I woke up early without an alarm and was on the trail soon after 6-ish. Funnily enough, Safety was on the same schedule as me. We followed each other for a while as we climbed out of camp. The trail here isn’t very steep, but it does meander uphill around the contours of the terrain. And the views are starting to get spectacular of the Mojave Desert. Looks much better from up here then down on the floor.
I forgot to mention Waft’s story when he arrived at camp yesterday afternoon. After he passed me on the aquaduct the night before during the night hike, he had a mountain lion encounter. He saw his headlamp reflection in it’s eyes, thinking it was some weird light in the desert….until it moved. Then it crouched. It really freaked him out. He wasn’t sure if the cat was crouching or getting ready to pounce. But he’s for sure of one thing: his solo night-hiking days are over!
Meanwhile, Safety gets ahead of me, and I retreat to my tunes. There aren’t a lot of bushes too close to the trail here, so I’m not too worried about rattlers. It’s just climbing. With the trail meandering around the contours and the early morning so far, you’re never exposed to the sun for too long. It’s also not hot, it’s very pleasant hiking weather. I catch up to Safety at the next water source, this one being a hiker oasis and water cache maintained by trail angels. Chairs, water, food and umbrellas (not needed now, it’s only 60-degrees out). I score some Ritz cracker/peanut butter “sandwiches” and they taste soooo good. Carbs, fat and protein, thank you very much!
I’m getting antsy about moving, so I don’t stay long. I leave Safety behind and now it’s a ridge walk for a while. More tunes and I start flying. My stride extends fully, for the first time in a while. My arms are pumping the poles and I manage the next 10 miles in 3 hours. I’m helped during the last half with mostly downhills, but I am just on fire today. I don’t know why I’m in a hurry, I’m not getting off trail today, but I just have this urge to fly. So I do.
Getting closer to Tehachapi/Willow Springs Road, the trail enters more wind turbine farms. More wind. Some sections are horrible, blowing me everywhere. Could this get any worse? No stopping for a break in the wind, too cold, so I keep on keeping on. Knowing my day is coming to an end, large steps become hops which then becomes running. At one point I’m listening to a song from Grease and I can’t help but get the movie scene in my head and I actually start skipping down the trail. Yes, I skipped. I’m not ashamed, but I sure hope the security cameras didn’t get proof. Summer lovin’, happened so fast….
I get to the trailhead at 2-ish and have to work really hard to heat water for my afternoon “snack”. The wind is horrible in this canyon. Most hikers get off trail here and head to Tehachapi or Mojave to resupply. It’s a busy road, so hitching is usually pretty easy. The next road crossing is Highway 58, 8-miles ahead. But that is a true freeway, so catching rides is more difficult. With the subsequent sections being dry and climbs, most people start the next segment at Highway 58, skipping this last 8-mile section through the wind farm. Me, I’m still trying to keep to the continuous footpath to Canada. No skipping for me (trail miles that is….). So, I could start this section right now, get it over with. But the wind is horrible. The terrain is very exposed, there’s no water, and there’s only one camp spot. No thanks, I’ll do it tomorrow. Safety and I are talking about sharing a room in Tehachapi, so I’ll leave super early to bang out the miles while he sleeps in and we’ll meet in town.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy….right?
Savior out.