We are in the town of Mojave, 550 miles into the trail.
I haven't blogged since leaving Hiker Heaven on the seventh, about 100 miles ago. Let's see if I can catch us up.
First stop was the Anderson's place about 25 miles in... another set of trail angels in this section. They are less organized and more permissive. They also feed hikers breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is always AYCE pancakes and dinner is always AYCE nachos. The nachos are to die for. Imagine a plate of the most decadent nachos you can imagine: oozy cheese sauce, insane amounts of sour cream, piles of taco seasoned ground beef. You get the picture... and it is all guilt free. The exercise we are doing each day is huge and we need the fuel. Fat is the best!
A day of travel found us dropping to the floor of the Mojave desert. This is a section that hikers regularly dread. But the temperatures are mild his year. I doubt that it got hotter than the mid 80s. The trail follows the LA Aqueduct for about 16 miles on some flat monotonous desert floor. We chose to hike most of this section at night. Given the mild temps, it was hardly necessary to do so. However, the moon was waxing gibbous and there was no tree cover... perfect conditions for after hours walking.
The next day got us out of the desert and into the mountains again, only to drop into the massive wind farms of Tehachapi Pass. Check them out on Google Earth, halfway between Mojave and Tehachapi.
Today was all about setting up the next month's worth of food drops. We got a main box that we had to split into drops. Then we figured out what was missing and went shopping for the rest. Tomorrow morning we lug it all a half mile to the post office. Right now I am considering a taxi. Then it is back to the trail. We are almost out of Southern California. In another week we will be at Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierra Nevada. Our last bit of low desert is behind us and only one more 20 mile shadeless stretch remains.
Time is short so I am reduced to blurbs. Forgive me.
Lots of hikers have complained about rashes after Hiker Heaven. I think it might be the laundry detergent coupled with heavy exercise . I myself am having some moderate rash issues, mostly on places covered with clothing. Washed clothes twice today to try and fix.
The last section was the first we have hiked mostly alone. Some of our peeps didn't stop at the Anderson's, others left Hiker Heaven before us. We were playing catch up the whole time. Now we are caught up with everyone but Racheopod. She has an appointment that she must meet. Sadly, we probably won't see her until the Sierras.
We did our first 30+ mile day when we crossed the Mojave. I think it was probably around 33 miles. Most likely we won't see those miles again until Northern California. 25's are the norm until we hit Kennedy Meadows. After that our mileage drops to the high teens because of the terrain difficulty.
My heel is not fully healed, but appears to be manageable. Most of the time I feel nothing. Every so often, I feel tightness that stretching can alleviate. I think that another week of inactivity would fix it completely, but I can't sit aside just yet. Currently I am OK with 85% healed as long as things don't deteriorate.
We are carrying 6 days of food plus 20 miles of water out of here. That will be the most weight we have carried so far.
Coulter pine cones are huge. They weigh like ten pounds and are pokey as hell. If one falls on you it will do brutal damage. Google them.
Zm is doing awesome. She has none of the body afflictions I am experiencing and I give her better odds to finish than me right now. Currently I am slowing her down which is an entirely new thing for me to experience. I will try to encourage her to write more in the days to come.
Our AC phone charger was stolen by somebody in Hiker Heaven. I had to get a new one shipped to Mojave. The shipping cost more than the unit.
We are about to enter an area where cell signal is rare. If things go too long I will have my mom post an all clear.
OK it is past bedtime. Night all
:)
ReplyDelete