Day 42! 26.27 miles!!

What another awesome day in the books! Today’s my 20th 20+ mile day! I woke up semi-early and broke camp at around 6:10am. Julian and Keglegs were already gone. “Dang young whippersnappers!” (Shaking cane...) The morning was super pleasant and I enjoy the quiet in the first few hours of hiking. I saw Julian at a water source a couple miles from camp, but then not again until much later in the day. 

Instead, as I approached the top of a big and long but steady climb, I ran into a hiker named Influx. He hiked the Appalachian Trail last year and is hiking pretty fast. He started on May 4th this year! It turns out his pace is the same as mine, he just hikes 12-14 hrs a day instead of 10-12 like me. We fell into great conversation and hiked with each other all day!

Influx (picture taken later in the afternoon)

We took turns leading and also talking. We shared stories of past hikes, stories of this hike, and really just talked about all sorts of stuff for hours! He’s such a cool dude! After the trail he’s moving to Portland, Maine. The morning was soooooo beautiful. The wildflowers were blooming and the mountains were looming on the distance! 

Influx taking it all in while maintaining 3+ mph

Just before noon, we caught up to and passed Julian and Keglegs, who were taking a small break and enjoying the views. Soon after that, we made it to the South Fork Kern River! It was just as beautiful as I remembered. It’s crazy to think that we were just floating and swimming in a branch of this river just two days ago in Lake Isabella! 

Time went by so fast, we had hiked 17 miles by noon!! It’s funny to think I was going to take it “easy” and roll into Kennedy Meadows tomorrow morning. But by noon today, I was only 5 miles from KM! As the day was getting toasty, Influx and I stopped at the river for a small bite to eat and a nice cold dip. Julian soon joined.

Kern River

Very shortly afterwards, we hit mile 700!

And then a long snake..

And then Kennedy Meadows!!

So, long story short, for those reading this blog that aren’t familiar with Claire and I’s 2016 hike; last year at Kennedy Meadows, I got the Noro virus, and then accidentally gave it to my poor baby. The virus originated from feces and is transferred by touch. This was purely due to the large amount of hikers at Kennedy Meadows, aboit 35 people got it that year in the same area. We struggled through the beginning of the Sierra, spending almost 4 zero days in the wilderness to recover. This totally shook our hike and budget, and it is one of the main reasons we left the trail at Mammoth this year.

This year, I decided that I would spend as little time in KM as possible. It’s not a bad place, in fact, it’s not even dirty at all this year! I’m just scarred. That was the worst experience in my outdoor life hands down. All my friends this year thought I was crazy, but I walked in, ate some food, bought some food to carry, waved to everyone, and was back out on trail in less than two hours! 

Justin the cook/drummer from 2016!!

The Justin burger (he hooked it up)

I bought a six pack and handed 5 out to my closest trail friends, enjoyed my burger and beer, and hung out for just a bit. I DID see some people I hadn’t seen for awhile!

Early Bird and Shadow from France!!

I hadn’t seen Shadow since Hiker Heaven! As I was leaving, I saw four familiar faces coming back from the beach:

L-R: Joe Solo, Shaman, Turbo Stache and JJ!!

I was so stoked to see these guys! I hadn’t seen any of them since Hikertown, and Shaman and JJ are getting off the trail here at KM! They’ve finished with the section they were going to do, (they have families to get back to), and I’m glad I got to say goodbye! Turbo and Stache are staying until at least tomorrow to pick up a package that is hopefully arriving. There’s a chance that they will have to wait for Monday, which would suck, but also line them up to hike with us in the Sierra!

Julian and Keglegs are staying in KM tomorrow, as I think any first-time PCT’er Kennedy Meadows-arriver should! They wanted me to stay but we made plans to meet in Lone Pine and take back off into the Sierra together. There’s only 40 miles from here to Lone Pine, and there are no river crossings or major passes, or even much snow for that matter, so I feel 100% safe going solo. 

The trail climbed up into the trees, following the Kern River. After about 4.5 more miles, I finally stopped my long day in a great campsite right next to the river and a big bridge. Claire and I camped just across this bridge in 2016. It’s very beautiful and the sound of the river is already coaxing me to sleep. I’m so excited to be entering the Sierra! 

While I’m stoked to pass 700 and that I hit KM today, I don’t have the same feeling about it as when Claire and I got there two years ago. It’s not that I don’t want to celebrate the ending of the desert and start of the Sierra.. But for me, I’ll be celebrating when I’m strolling through the next section of trail, NOT having the Noro virus.. I’ll be celebrating on the top of Mt. Whitney, with Claire vivid in heart and mind, summiting the tallest peak in the mainland USA for the both of us :) I’ll be celebrating when I cross mile 906.6 at Mammoth, and I get to see Claire and everything afterwards will be new.. My victory is continuing to hike, my body feels great, and I’m Canada bound!! 

Thanks for reading!!

Day 41!! 26.88 miles!!!

Alright guys!! Another photo heavy post for another super epic day! First off, today has been my longest day so far! What’s even crazier is I could’ve done a 30, but I held back and decided to not push too hard for no reason. What’s even CRAZIER is today I climbed over 6,400ft and dropped over 6,900!!

I woke up today with my alarm but snoozed it and didn’t end up leaving until around 6:30am. Keglegs was already gone. I think between the three of us I’m most likely to be the last out of camp on any given day. Julian said he had planned to get an early start, and since I camped only just over 2 miles from the hwy, I knew he’d catch up soon.

 Yesterday at the river I had cleaned my feet, slit all recurring blisters, and really took care of my feet. Today was the first day in a looooooong time that here was no blister pain all day! I felt great as I started hiking, where usually I’m sore for the first 1/2 mile or so. The beautiful terrain and views definitely added to my positive outlook on the morning:

Translation between desert mounds and granite cliffs..

Desert meets mountain

Looking back at the desert

And ahead at the mountains!

I had a really long winding climb, but was so excited about the landscape changing that I was blasting through effortlessly! I passed about 10 hikers before I ran into Keglegs. She was taking a break and I felt good so I kept going! I did my 10x10, and had done 16 by lunch time! I filled up at a cool creek and popped down in some nice, but buggy, shade.

Keglegs caught back up a few minutes later, and pretty soon Julian did too!! This kid was FLYING!! He had already done 18 miles and it was only about 1pm!! He and Keglegs talked about a potential 30 mile day and they took off in the heat. I decided to hang back in the shade and wait a little while longer and let the day cool down just a tad before I added to my day. I met a couple, Whoopee and I forgot his gf’s name. They had been nighthiking and were about to go down for a 4 hr nap when I left them shortly after 2pm.

I’m rocking my new long sleeve gear today as I sent my shirt and pants home, and I’m really liking them! I roll my sleeves up if it’s warm out in the morning, keeping cool until the sun pops out. Then I sunscreen my face and roll my sleeves down. Then when it gets too hot I roll my sleeves up and sunscreen my arms. It’s a great system and saves a bunch of sunscreen! The pants are nice too, just not used to them yet and I got preeeetty sweaty! I am chaffing on my hips a little from the belt and on my low back from the pack pressing the shirt down on my skin. I recall this happening two years ago and eventually it goes away.

I’ve walked 1/4 of the PCT!!

This felt so amazing to pass!! I’ve done 1/4 in 40 days. Since my goal is 150 days, I’m actually right on track! I’ll be going even FASTER than I am now through much of North California and Oregon. After today I ONLY have less than 2000 miles to go!

I’ve really enjoyed the desert this time, I think more than I did two years ago. Lower temperatures (highest mayyyybe was 91° for one day, where last time had multiple 100°+ days), been really lucky with the storms and have managed to miss them all, a lighter base weight and less clothes, and last but not least, some seasonal creeks had water in them that didn’t in 2016, making for shorter water carries at times, and easier filtering. 

Today really felt like I was leaving the desert behind and entering the big mountains. I am a little nervous this year about snow and crazy river crossings, but I’m full steam ahead and excited for my upcoming experience!!

My last view of the desert..

Standing in the same spot as the picture above it, just turned around facing the mountains, (and actual grass!)

Foavorite pic of the day.... ahhhhhh...

I went 10 more miles from my lunch spot, when I saw Julian’s name in the sand in a dirt road with an arrow pointing to the campgrounds just 0.2 miles off-trail. There wasn’t much for flat camping around so I decided to go find him and set up camp for the night.

He had done 29.3 miles today!! His longest yet as well! He could’ve easily done the 30, but didn’t want to have to go like 10 more miles to find the next flat spot, and we climb up sharply tomorrow. Around an hour later, Keglegs showed up too, not quite making her 30 either. I’m stoked that I made it almost 27 miles today, over some big climbs and drops, and that my body/feet feel great! I know I’ll have plenty of time to go 30+ for a few days later on up the trail, and I can’t wait! Tomorrow we push 20+ miles to Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierra!!

Thanks for reading!!

Day 40, 2.25 miles

What a fun day!! I couldn’t have imagined my simple nero day in Lake Isabella to turn out so great! We woke up in our sweet BLM campsite. I was able to sleep in until almost 7am! I think that’s a record! Josh busted out the grill and started making breakfast tacos with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and cheese! Yum, so good!!

Where I camped last night

Sweet river view!

Breakfast time! Keglegs and one of the twins (I’m going with Paul), getting some couch shade, and Julian busy with some Tapatio. The other twin (I’m going with Daniel), chilling in the van, and Josh near the front making sure the van won’t blow up (daily).

Funny and random thing. During our breakfast hangout, the whole shaded area created by the van started to get swarmed with all these red ants! Julian got bit through his shirt and it wouldn’t let go! They were pretty ruthless and aggressive, we figured their hill was somewhere since there were hundreds of them! 

Just after 9:30am, someone spotted a strange jet-like object in the sky, but with two contrails! Julian suggested that it might be the new space plane that my cousin Ryan’s company was working on. And it turns out it was! This is a huge “double-plane” that holds a space-rocket in the middle, and flys as the rocket shoots into space! Then, the plane can land and be reused, instead of the rocket shedding its thrusters and wasting all that time and $$ to build them.

The test rocket blasting straight up from the planes!

Wow, what a cool thing to witness. I’m glad we weren’t very far from Mojave/Tehachapi, and got to see the launch and test pretty close up!

It was almost 10am, when the post office was set to open, so we packed up and left our shade-losing, and-swarming breakfast area and headed into town (5 mins away). We hit the grocery store for some fresh food and resupply, and then they dropped me off at the post office, went to go do another errand (the dispensary), and came back to scoop me after I was done!

At the post office, I received my package from Claire which had my long sleeve set of clothes that I swapped out for my shorts and tee. The super hot section is over (for now), and with cooler weather and mosquitos in the Sierra also comes the new set of clothes! She also sent more dread shampoo and contacts, mosquito repellant, and some other essentials. You’re the best babe! 

Sarah bought me new long underwear since I lost mine. They had been delivered yesterday on the holiday when the PO was closed, so they got returned to sender. Sarah called them and now has them headed to Lone Pine so I’ll have them for the high elevation and early morning mountain passes! Thanks Sarah!!

When o got scooped back up, it was about noon. We filled up on gas, I bought a salad to nom for lunch, and then it was time to go swimming! We went back to the BLM land and scoped out a sweet lunch/swim spot. I swear, we did some CRAZY off roading in the ‘86 4-cylinder, hope-machine! (With 6 of us weighing it down!) I was impressed and also surprised we never got stuck! We had a few close calls! Josh is so awesome and funny and it was so fun to ramble around on those roads.

You can see Josh in the water, Daniel on the edge, and Keglegs hiding in the shade

Who’s that!?

It must be..

ME!

I found a sweet path that went a couple hundred yards upstream

Julian took these photos of me floating down

The water was FREEZING!! But felt soooongood I had to do it twice! 

Josh in the tide pool

Shotgunning a Tecate! (In like 1.2 seconds) 

It was so much fun swimming in the river, I don’t even think I got sunburnt! We were all getting super hungry so we soon headed back into town, (to Taco Bell of course!!) We re-charged our phones, and ate some more. I was connected to the WiFi there but for some reason it wouldn’t let me upload any of my blog!! Super frustrated I finally gave up and just uploaded them all with my cellular data. I’m trying to not do that too often. I did 4 this time, I don’t think it drained too much data. I figured I won’t be posting for another ~5 days until Lone Pine, and I should be able to get WiFi at the hostel there! 

Josh, Dan, and Paul

My new hiking clothes! 

We had initially planned to start hiking again in the afternoon today, so we could get a few miles up the trail and not take a full zero in Lake Isabella. Since Josh and friends drive all the way from LA, Julian wanted to spend another night with them which was totally understandable. I still wanted to head out and take the next section pretty slow, so I opted to start hitching from the town center. Keglegs was feeling the same plan so we headed out together for the hitch back!

The three of us were super lucky on the hitch in, but the hitch out took just under two hours! The boys dropped us near the freeway entrance. In about 10 mins we got a hitch from this nice young woman in a sweet Tacoma. She was headed North of Lake Isabella to Kernville, but said she’d take the longer way around out east to get us at least partially out there on our 38 mile hitch attempt. She was having a really bad day, (had actually quit her job that day as a whitewater rafting guide), but she was still pretty positive and so nice! We made it about 10 miles out before her junction to Kernville.

We got dropped by all these cows!!

The second wait for a hitch was closer to 20 mins. But some guy pulled up and said he could take us as far as Onyx. He was a little sketch but not enough to not take him up on the offer. He did at one point add “but I’ve also been drinking..” to the end of one of his sentences.. 

At Onyx the hitch was super tough! Not a lot of people were going east, (about a car every two minutes), and the sun was really coming down directly in our faces. Luckily, I had Claire’s awesome hitchhiking sign to give me shade AND help with the hitch. And it DID! A van flew by and then came back a couple minutes later. The lady told us she’s NEVER picked up hitchhikers, but she was on her way to pick up her friend off the PCT, and because she saw the big letters “PCT HIKER to TRAIL”, she felt like she should turn around and scoop us. Yay Claire for the sign!! :) 

She dropped us off at Walker Pass before going to the campground to meet her friend. It was already after 6pm! Keglegs said she was going to go slow up the big hill, so we split off and I flew up the thing. It was so beautiful, (and shaded from the sun)! 

Climbing above the hwy

Big fluffy clouds!

Out of the desert..

And into the trees!!

I stopped at a sweet site just over two miles up at around 7pm. I normally don’t hike later than ~6:30, and want to get a nice early start tomorrow. Keglegs came up a little while after and decided to camp

I’m the same ridge at another small campsite a few hundred yards down. As I was brushing my teeth I took a little walk Northbound on trail to get this sweet sunset view! 

It was so beautiful!!

The picture does not do it justice at all! I have to admit, the last few days before Lake Isabella, there’ve been so many hikers, and so little water, that it seemed like everyone would camp at one of the few water sources every night. Like EVERYONE! It felt nice to have a little solitude up the hill today and enjoy this beautiful sunset and really just take it all in. No talking, no nothing, just appreciating the beauty of the desert, but also becoming SO excited for what’s next in the Sierra!! 

Wow, this post got real lengthy, today was FUN! I’m glad I got a couple miles out of Lake Isabella and chipped away at this big climb in the cool. I’m sure Julian will catch up by end of day tomorrow, (he’s so fast!), but this “old timer” here can’t do those back to back 25+ days like Julian and Keglegs want to do, and I’m sure I’ll catch up with the “youngins” at Kennedy Meadows, and we’ll group up for the Sierra!! 

Thanks for reading!!