Day 35-41: miles 454-558

I'm writing this from my hotel room in Tehachapi, where I've been lying down for the last four hours or so.

Day 35: miles 454-465.6

Ended up not having to worry at all about the heat, since we woke up to a heavy fog covering the Oasis. We still set off pretty early, and only went 10 miles, arriving to camp by around noon, where we had a leisurely lunch and relaxed. Chef wanted to do some more miles and hiked on a bit, but Cheers, Shade, and I were content with the short day. I caught up on my journaling and watercolors and then lay down for a while before dinner. There was a forecast for heavy winds and some rain in the night, so I made sure my tent was all kitted out for the weather.

Day 36: miles 465.6-488.2

Today started with some ups and downs as we walked along Elizabeth Canyon and the edge of the Sierra Pelonas, followed the ridge for several miles. We had great views of Boquet Reservoir and later in the day, Lake Hughes. Had lunch near the Green Valley Fire Station where I filled up on water, before continuing uphill. The latter half of the day was nice rolling downhill as I followed the canyon down to Hiatt Canyon and the road. There, a gentle river curved through the sand, and I soaked my feet for a good thirty minutes before starting uphill to camp. Shade and Cheers were a ways ahead of me and had already set up by the time I rolled in, with Chef camping a few campsites ahead. Tonight was supposed to be another very windy night, so I used every tent stake I had to prepare my tent. Though I love my Durston deeply, it's quite large and the sides can act like sails in the wind, pulling up stakes and then collapsing. Though it wobbled a bit at first and took a few tries to get up, it seemed solid enough for the night!

Day 37: miles 488.2-503

Hot day today, but not too much uphill. We were hiking through burn zones for most of the day, which as best as I can find were from the Lake Fire in 2020. This resulted in lots of poodle-dog bush, an early succession plant that gives horrible rashes and burns if you touch it. It was also very exposed and hot, with occasional breaks as I rounded a corner into an oak grove. Near the end of the day, I passed the 500 mile marker, which felt very surreal! It definitely doesn't feel like my body has done 500 miles yet.

I'm excited to see my dad tomorrow - he'll be meeting me at mile 510! Because of that, I didn't want to go too much further today, so I stopped a little early, and Shade hiked on further while Cheers stayed back with me. We camped at Bear Campground, an old abandoned campsite that still had some nice picnic tables. It was going to be very windy again and we were lucky to get a good protected spot in a grove of trees.

Day 38: miles 503-510.9

Met up with my dad this morning! I got to our meeting spot around 9:40 and he arrived at 10:30, bearing two coolers full of goodies, including a big case of raspberries and blueberries, and a carton of lemonade! We hung out for a while, going through my pictures, then did a little day hike up to the top of the ridge to see the views over the Mojave. Coming back down by 5ish, he then drove me to dinner at a great Mexican place along Hwy 5. We came back around 6, and went only a mile or so further. However, the campsite that I'd checked out in the morning was now absolutely crammed full of people, and we were lucky to find a spot down close by the road. Luckily the wind was dying down and after a few hours it became a calm night.

Day 39: miles 510.9-522.1

My dad and I had a lovely sleep-in, leaving around 9. The trail came down into Antelope Valley, winding around the canyons before dropping us at the desert floor. We were only planning to do six miles or so, but our stopping place was close to Hikertown, a strange assemblage of buildings for hikers to hang out in. It's a popular place for people to spend the day before night hiking the LA Aqueduct. I wasn't planning on spending much time there, but we had a lovely lunch in the shade. Dad said he was up for a couple more miles, so we set out again. This section of the trail follows the LA Aqueduct for over 20 miles, through the Mojave with its many Joshua trees, up into the Manzana Wind Farm, and into the foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains. Dad and I did the first two miles of the Aqueduct together, and then set up camp next to a grove of Joshua trees, where we enjoyed the shade and had dinner. We walked up the trail a bit to see the big solar fields the trail passes, then came back and went to bed.

Day 40: miles 522.1-549.7

My biggest day yet! I said goodbye to dad at 6am and set out, following the Aqueduct for many miles as I listened to a podcast - the view was gorgeous but it didn't change for a solid 12 miles or so. Around 10, I ran into another couple, John and Pirouette, and we walked together for about ten miles, enjoying lunch under the shade of a juniper tree and sharing some good trail stories. The trail climbed past massive wind turbines and up into the Tehachapi Mountains, where the two camped near a river. I headed onward, carrying a heavy six liters up, as water would be scarce from here on out. The trail trudged up and up, and I slowly hiked on under the hot hot sun, enjoying the views of the San Gabriel Mountains and the myriad of wildflowers along the trail. The podcast and music buoyed me forward, and I kept hiking until 6:30, when I came to the top of the climb and found a lovely camp next to some Coulter pines, overlooking the bright city lights of Mojave. I had gone almost 28 miles, in order to get up from the desert floor, catch up to my trail friends, and to get farther into a long water carry. I was feeling shockingly good - my feet hurt and my legs were sore, but I thought I'd be in worse shape than I was. I enjoyed a quick dinner, had the service to call family, and went to bed. It was lots of fun to hike and camp alone - it had been several weeks - but I also missed the comraderie of my trail friends. They had gotten to Tehachapi earlier in the day, and were luckily staying there one more day so I could easily catch up.

Day 41: miles 549.7-558.5

I woke up nice and early today, excited for the 8.8 miles into town. It was mostly downhill, and once over the next hill I could see the sprawling Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm. The trail went right by it, and I rested in the shade of a massive wind turbine for a couple minutes before continuing on. I got to the road into Tehachapi by 9:15, and got a hitch within ten minutes. Tito was a nice local who worked with the labor union out on the solar farms. He warned me about the snakes in the area, saying he and his coworkers all wore thigh-high chaps to prevent bites, since the snakes loved to curl up in the shade of the solar panels. He dropped me right in front of Kelcy's Cafe, where I had a fantastic brunch. I then headed over to relax in a park as Shade and Cheers finished their resupply and headed to meet me at their hotel. Once in, I did my laundry and shower and got to relax a bit before heading over to the Walmart for a resupply. After a very overwhelming resupply, we went back to the hotel and said goodbye to Chef, who was heading out later that day while the rest of us waited until tomorrow. I checked out the hotel pool and hot tub and enjoyed both immensely for an hour or so before taking another shower and heading to dinner at the local BBQ house with Shade and Cheers. Afterwards, I took a nice meandering path back to the hotel, checking out the local park, a live music event, the various murals, the local theater, and the train depot station. I've really enjoyed Tehachapi - it's a little town with a lot of spirit and a neat history around mining, railroad development, and cement production for the Aqueduct.

We'll be heading back to the trail later today, for a very hot and dry section. I expect we'll start doing some night hiking to escape the midday heat and conserve water. Sooner than we think though, we'll be hitting the Sierra and the massive amounts of snow up there!