Days 42-49: miles 558-653

We got to Ridgecrest yesterday morning and have been relaxing very thoroughly since then! It's really hot out, especially since we're further down in the valley, and with temperatures hitting 95 degrees we've stayed inside our air conditioned hotel room for most of the day. I'm out to dinner now at this small Mexican place recommended by the woman who gave us a hitch yesterday, and it is really fabulous.

Update: I didnt quite finish this before leaving Ridgecrest, so I'm actually posting from Grumpy Bear's at Kennedy Meadows :))

Day 42: miles 558-568

We stayed in Tehachapi until late in the afternoon, hoping to escape the heat. Also, Cheers' phone broke the night before and he had to run all over town fixing it. We hung out at Kohnen's, this fantastic German bakery in town, and I popped over to the Tehachapi Herotage Museum to check it out as well. We needed up heading out around 5:30, with Cheers probably having to spend another night in town to sort out his SIM card and phone services :((

As we were walking the main road looking for a hitch, a highway patrol car pulled up in front of us. I turned to Shade, remarking that hmmm hitchhiking is technically illegal in California, isn't it? But by then the cop got out and casually asked if we were headed back to trail, which we happily accepted. Definitely the coolest hitch we've gotten so far, though the back of a police car is a lot more cramped than I thought it would be. He dropped us off at the trailhead and we continued on, crossing through massive fields above wind turbines, then up and over highway 58. We filled up water, got our headlights on, and went a couple miles further before stopping around 9 and cowboy camping.

Day 43: miles 568-578

Had a nice short day today! We slept in a bit and then continued up a massive hill. I used my sun umbrella for some of it, which was lovely, before the wind got too high and I put it away. Lots of Joshua trees and sagebrush. We got up into a gorgeous meadow of grasses and oaks, and took a really long siesta under the shade of some oaks. We had lunch, took a nap, then continued on after three hours or so, going only another four miles or so before calling it a day. Cheers has almost caught up - he camped three miles before us and should catch us tomorrow. It was lovely doing a short day out of town and lightening our packs a little before going further.

Day 44: miles 578-594

This is a pretty dry section but really gorgeous! Lots of shrubs and wildflowers, with windmills around every corner. Each time I think we've seen the last, another looms ahead. Some ups and downs, and very very hot. Around noon, we found the first shade in a few hours and hunkered down for lunch and a siesta. Then we continued on to the next campsite. For the next couple days, water becomes very sparse, so we'll be camping more or less between water sources. The water at this campsite is about a mile off trail, down in the next valley, and it was quite the hike to come back up. But at the top - Cheers!! He'd caught up and the gang was back together. We camped next to the meadow that night and it was truly lovely.

Day 45: miles 594-610

Another lovely day, with meadows and oak groves in the morning transitioning into pine forests in the afternoon. We passed mile 600 in the morning, and enjoyed great views of the Piute Mountains we were hiking through. I listened to my podcast in the afternoon which made the miles pass quite quickly. We stopped for lunch a couple miles before camp, which was lovely until we realized we were right on top of a couple ant hills, which was a rude awakening when my backpack got covered in them. After flicking them off, we continued on and came down to Landers Creek. The established Landers Campground was right past there, and we napped in the pine forests there before setting up camp. I walked down a bit to the creek again and soaked my feet, which felt fantastic, before returning to camp. A family with their ATVs came by and offered us some beer, which we declined but was very sweet. We relaxed some more, then had dinner and turned in for the night, planning to be up real early to escape the heat.

Day 46: miles 610-632

Long day today, but started out with some gorgeous views of the Piute Mountains and Mayan Peak as we came out of the pine forests and back into the stereotypical desert scenery. We got to a water cache in the morning and filled up, then continued on up another hill. I was very grateful for my sun umbrella, since it was unrelentingly hot with no shade for quite a few miles. Around lunch, I was more than ready for a rest, and spied the first bit of shade in a long time, courtesy of a Joshua tree. Thankfully Shade and Cheers had the same idea and I found them curled at its base. We had lunch and took a nice siesta. After two hours or so, a big cloud front started rolling in from the north. Excited for the shade the clouds could offer, we quickly packed up and got back on trail. Ten minutes later, the miraculous happened: it started raining!! A very light sprinkle but it was more than enough to cool us down. How absolutely glorious to get rain in the desert! I took off my hat and enjoyed the light spritzing as we climbed yet another big hill. The trail then continued along the ridge for a while, and we heard distant thunder as the storm moved south. A couple more ups and downs and we came to Bird Spring Pass, which didn't have a spring but rather a big water cache lovingly maintained by Devilfish, a local trail angel. We relaxed in the shade and then scouted out a good campsite - Cheers found a perfect spot nestled behind a Joshua tree. Shade and Cheers cowboy camped while I set up without my fly, and we had dinner and enjoyed the sunset. We'll be up real early to get up Skinner Peak before it's too hot.

Day 47: 632-652.5

Another long day as we make it to Walker Pass, where we'll camp and then hitch into Ridgecrest the next morning. We started off with Skinner Peak, which was a rough uphill but pretty well graded and luckily mostly in the shade, since we started around 6:15. After the top we got to enjoy a nice downhill for a while, before some more ups and downs. We had a lovely lunch in the shade and got our first view of the Sierra in the distance!! It was very exciting seeing the snow-capped tips of the peaks in the distance, even if there are a couple more mountains in between us and them. We continued onward and enjoyed a nice long downhill into Walker Pass, a large established campground next to Highway 178. When I got down, I saw everyone clustered around the picnic table - there was trail magic! Some section hikers were ending their section here and had brought a cooler of sandwich fixings, some drinks, and a watermelon! It was fantastic, and we hung out in the shade for awhile before heading off to make our campsite and dinner. Excited to sleep in, since we'll be getting into Ridgecrest tomorrow!

Day 48: 652.5-653.3

Wheeew what a long and challenging day of hiking we had!! Exhausting just to think about it haha. We slept in and got to the road around 8:30, and managed to snag a hitch in less than ten minutes. She dropped us off at Kristy's, the local diner, and gave us some good restaurant recommendations. After a heart breakfast, we headed over to our hotel around 10:30, where the really kind hotel manager let us check in absurdly early. Good thing too, since it is HOT down here in the valley. While it's been high 80's on the trail, it got up to 95 in Ridgecrest. We hunkered down in our hotel with the AC on and vegged out on the beds, only venturing out quickly for lunch at Subway. We also enjoyed some fantastic showers and laundry. I pre-washed my socks, and it took many fills of the sink before the water wasn't a dark brown. Once the sun went down we went out again for dinner at this fantastic Thai place. I ordered lots so I'd have some leftovers for tomorrow. Afterwards, I stopped at the Strater Bros supermarket for a resupply, then back to our hotel. We'll be spending on more night here before heading out on Sunday.

Day 49: Zero day!!

My second zero on trail!!! Not much to say about today since I spent pretty much the whole day on the hotel bed, either on my phone or watching TV. I ate leftovers for lunch, so I didn't even need to leave the hotel! After dark, I went over to a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away and had a fantastic enchilada before taking a circuitous route back to the hotel. Ridgecrest is a lot larger than I thought it was, with a few nice parks, a museum about the local petroglyphs, multiple supermarkets, and lots of fast food. It's a shame it was so blisteringly hot out or I might have explored a little more. On the way home, I was befriended by two local dogs who were very friendly but followed me all the way back to the hotel. Once back, we put on our face masks, watched some more Below Deck on TV, and headed to bed. Overall, a very successful zero day!