PCT Day 43 – Stretching

I meet Seven and Dealer in the lobby of their hotel. At 7am a trail angel named Rae is arriving to take us to the trail. She is on time and we all pile in.

Rae has been giving rides to the trailhead from Tehachapi for six years since she retired from working at the wind farm. We are all curious about the wind farm so we pepper her with questions.

The Tehachapi Pass provides the perfect place for wind turbines because cool dense air from the ocean flows through passes like Tehachapi to get to the low pressure areas in the desert. Some of the wind mills can generate as much as 3 megawatts of power. Together, these wind farms provide a substantial power source for LA and other coastal cities.

That is Magic Man’s truck behind Rae. He comes over to chat. It looks like he has been sleeping in his truck! He’s been in this parking lot handing out food and drink to hikers for at least three days!

The plan

This section is tricky. It’s 93 miles to Walker Pass where we will go into Ridgecrest for resupply. The water sources are spaced about a day apart. This means that we have to hike eight or ten miles to water, collect enough water to hold us for the rest of the day and half of day after that, and then find a place to camp roughly half way between water sources. The elevation is between 4000 and 6000 feet. The trail is exposed to sun and wind. Sound like fun. Then let’s go!

From the trailhead at Willow Springs road, we go north to the crossing over CA 58. There is a water cache there. it’s about 8 miles away. Almost the entire 8 miles is next to the wind farm.

Early hike

It’s rolling hills all the way to highway 58. I like them. They are friendly and fast.

We cross several small bridges over dry washes. Do these dry washes ever have water in them? It’s hard to imagine.

The last of these bridges is pretty sketchy. It looks like the ends are barely attached to the banks on each side. Seven and I scurry across as the bridge makes ominous creaky sounds. When Dealer crosses, Seven tells her to stop for a picture. I think Seven, like Dealer, must also have a deal with America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Eventually the hills lead us to the highway. It’s at the bottom of the canyon. We hear the cars as they rush on. But the PCT is in no hurry to get down there. While the road is a mile away, it’s three miles of trail and road.

And then we have this little road walk. But that’s OK, we are good at this now.

Water logged

The cache has about 11 gallons when we arrive. This seem low. Dealer, Seven and I are each taking about a gallon counting the liter we all drink immediately. As we fill our bottles, the cache angels arrive from Tehachapi. We thank them profusely and then waddle down the trail, our packs groaning under the weight of four liters of water and five days of food.

We eat lunch in the shelter of several Joshua trees next to a bee farm. We lay down and borrow a few Z’s from the bees buzzzzzing near us.

And then we climb. At 2700 feet it is the longest climb of the section. The valley spreads out below us.

Why does it have to be the exact time our packs are also at their heaviest!? Seven goes in front. Dealer follows.

It’s a slog. Dealer’s feet hurt from all the weight. I can’t breathe from all the heat. We stop often for sips of water. No natural shade is passed without a pause.

We discuss our goals over and over again as if discussing them will reduce the distances we all know we must do. And then, like the Cavalry arriving over the hill, white puffy beauties appear on the horizon. Please come over here cloud. We really need you now.

And by my feet on the trail are these puffy little flowers, terrestrial doppelgängers of the clouds above. Things are looking up all of a sudden.

The trail runs up onto a narrow ridge. The land drops away on both sides. For a minute, I am the king of the world! A cool breeze acknowledges my arrival.

And then I feel a couple drops of rain. They are intensely cold – not refreshing but sharp. The drops are large but intermittent. Keep hiking, Doolittle.

But the rain intensifies and we dive into a nearby camp spot. The hail begins. We open our umbrellas and crouch under them. Our clothes get pretty wet. Suddenly, it seems chilly up here.

We reach our camp spot. It’s secluded, hidden in these trees, sheltered from the wind and any future hail.

We eat in our tents because we are wet and we don’t know what else to do. We discuss strategy for tomorrow. I briefly bring up a sensitive subject – Hike Naked Day. It’s coming up. We form some strategies. This could be ugly.

For now though we need sleep. Our legs and backs are tired. We fell a few more les short of our goal today, but we still did very well.

• June 16, 2023
• Starting marker: 558.5
• Ending marker: 573.3
• Miles hiked today: 15
• Total PCT miles: 543