Bye-bye desert

Miles: 676.2 to 702.4 Miles: 26.2, plus .8 to the Kennedy Meadows General Store Day: 32 For our last day in the desert, we woke up on a ridge in a cloud. Our stuff was wet, but fortunately not too wet. No droplets on the sleeping bags, just dampness in abundance.  And it was cold. […]

The trail provides

Miles: 651.4 to 676.2 Mileage: 24.8 Day: 31 We let ourselves sleep in a bit. The 30 mile day was enough to deserve a little reward, we thought. Plus, if we left too early we would miss Trail Angel Twinkle Toes making breakfast.  At 6:45 we lugged our stuff up to the picnic table where […]

30 miles for water

Miles: 621.9 to 651.4 Mileage: 29.5 (plus 2 for water) Day: 30 In order to hike with the least amount of water possible between sources, we decided to try to cover all 30 miles in one day. We knew it was possible, would certainly take all day and would be pretty painful. We got up […]

From winter to spring in 24 hours in the desert

Miles: 596.6 to 621.9 Mileage: 25.3 (plus 2.2 to get water) Day: 29 I was really hoping the rain would stop at some point overnight. It didn’t. We stayed in our sleeping bags and hoped the rain would stop. It didn’t.  We ignored the alarm, ignored the lightened sky, ignored the water on everything. If […]

The Super Wind Attacks!

Miles: 569.9 to 596.6 Mileage: 26.7 Day: 28 Not long after we’d set up our tent, chewed on a few last minute snacks, brushed our teeth and zipped up our sleeping bags, the wind started.  And not just any wind. An angry wind. Wind that tried all night, hours on end, to push us off […]

Wind farm walking

Miles: 549 to 569.9 Mileage: 20.9 Day: 27 The morning was cold up on the mountain and we were reluctant to get out of our sleeping bags. Yet we did, and left camp with many layers on that had to be removed soon after we started walking.  The first nine miles to Tehachapi-Willow Springs road […]

Aqueduct walking in Mojave Desert

Miles: 517.6 to 549 Mileage: 31.4 Day: 26 The alarm went off at 4 a.m. Worst. sound. ever. I was not ready to get out from behind my eyelids. Fortunately for me, Richard felt the same.  We reset the alarm for 4:30 a.m. What a difference half an hour can make. We got moving out […]

A shorter day into Hikertown

Miles: 502.3 to 517.6 Mileage: 15.3 Day: 25 Because our bush whack the day before had eaten into our hiking time, we covered about nine miles fewer than we thought we might. So our nearo into Hikertown Hostel went from six to 15 miles. Fortunately, they were pretty straight forward. We made our way slowly […]

Fire closure bushwhack

Miles: 476.7 to 502.3 Mileage: PCT: 14.5; roadwalking: 4; hitch hiking: 6; bushwhack: 1; PCT closed due to fire: 12 Day: 24 Today we had to find our way around the last current fire closure (if there’s another one in the future, it will be for an active fire; this was the last closure from […]

Our longest trail day thus far

Miles: 448.1 to 476.1 Mileage: 28 Day: 23 The cave was definitely a cool place to sleep, but I woke up suddenly when I noticed I’d been pooped on by a bird in the middle of the night. Not cool, bird.  It was a cool morning as we hiked 6 miles to Agua Dulce, California, […]