May 12, 2016

Oak Creek Canyon (mile 558) to Highway 58 (mile 566.3)

Miles: 8.3

“You’re going to Mojave? I’m sorry.”

That’s what we’ve been hearing from trail angels and hikers for days now. Almost everyone is headed into Tehachapi, but not us.

A cheap room and a shower were calling our names.

We woke up at 4am to hike 8.3 miles by 8am. We had arranged a ride and didn’t want to be late.

By 4:45am, under the cover of darkness, we set off. The temperature was mild and the breeze refreshing.

We were excited to finally be night hiking, something we’ve wanted to do for a while.

Laurie decided to lead us into the darkness.

“Three squeals and I’m taking over” Andy told Laurie.

“Okay.” She replied with a smile.

The hiking was tranquil and enchanting. Rolling hills, wind turbines and an orange sky.

Wow.

Wind farms are huge! The wind turbines themselves are large (each blade requires a semi truck to be transported). Dirt roads wind through each farm, big enough to allow a semi truck to comfortably make the turns.

We hiked through the green hills, passed cute cows and down to Highway 58, getting there at 7:50am.

8 by 8. Check!

Paisley arrived exactly on time and greeted us both with a warm smile and deep hug. We instantly felt comfortable with her, as if we were seeing with an old friend.

We were so thankful for the ride and conversation.

Thanks Paisley. You rock!!

We arrived at Motel 6 before 9am. We were given a room and informed that there was no hot water but that they were working on it.

We were really looking forward to a shower, but alas, we were presented with another opportunity to practice patience and accept change as it happens. We could have taken a cold shower but weren’t that desperate yet.

We picked up our resupply packages and a special package from Laurie’s friend, and went to our room.

“Brownies!!” Laurie said with sheer excitement.

Since we couldn’t shower, and to keep Laurie from eating the entire bag in one  sitting (though she was standing), we went to the supermarket across the highway.

We walked back to our room with a rotisserie chicken, potato chips, hummus, salad greens, carrots, a bell pepper, apples, an avocado and 6 liters of water for the waterless stretch ahead.

We devoured the chicken with salad greens, ate the rest of the brownies and washed it all down with water. Andy has a headache which is probably from the lack of sleep, but hydrating doesn’t hurt.

Laurie was really excited about watching movies on TV. She was in heaven crunching on an apple while watching Miss Congeneality.

We relaxed, made phone calls, wrote emails, did laundry and organized our food for the next section.

Where does the time go?

Andy finally tried the shower and wouldn’t you know it, the water was hot.

We each enjoyed a nice warm shower and may even dabble in the life of luxury and take another in the morning.

Once again it is far too late. So many distractions when there is wifi and TV! We look forward to getting back out to the stars and moon.

From what we have gathered, these next 6 days are the driest and most remote of the desert section. We probably won’t have service but will upload posts when we can.

Tonight we are grateful for warm showers and avocados.

May 11, 2016

Tylerhorse Canyon (mile 541.5) to Oak Creek Canyon (mile 558)

Miles: 16.5

The alarm went off at 5:15am. Not enough sleep for Andy. He snoozed for 15 more minutes, then finally got going.

We were on the trail at 6:15am, determined to conquer the two climbs of the morning before the heat consumed us.

This stretch of trail is especially pretty at this time of year. We are loving it. The wildflowers, the green hills and the sometimes cold wind are awesome.

At 9:30am we turned the corner and ran into trail magic. Yatzee!!

Chairs and water and recycle bins and trash cans. Wow.

Laurie and I took our shoes off, relaxed and massaged one another’s feet. After about fifteen minutes a truck pulled up. We waved and they waved back as they drove away.

A few minutes later we heard a car again. It was the same truck. They must have driven up the road to turn around and come back. They were Robert and Patti, locals who maintain this wonderful oasis along with Robert’s brother Donald.

Every few days come out and check on the supplies. This morning they brought more water, green apples and oranges. Apples and oranges!!

We both helped ourselves to fruit and thanked Robert and Patti multiple times for their support. The random acts of kindness continue to amaze us and touch our hearts.

Thank you Robert and Patti! We really, really appreciate it.

At 10:30am we finally shouldered our packs and headed on down the trail.

We didn’t make it very far as we were distracted by the wildflowers, horny toads and lizards. We saw flowers of all colors today along with 4 honey toads. The ones here have red horns. We’re not sure if they are females or males.

We took a few dozen photos in a handful of miles. We gave ourselves permission to do this because the temperature wasn’t too bad, especially with the cool breeze blowing.

We descended through a burnt forest, chatting about this and that and making to do (and to eat) lists when we get into town tomorrow.

At 3pm we found shade under a tree and took it. The wind had died down and the temperature had risen. It was hot. We felt lethargic and didn’t want to move, but with less than 3 miles to go before camp, we encouraged one another to get up and get going.

With the wind turbines buzzing overhead we descended into a shady oasis and looked for campsites.

It’s dry but buggy here. But there’s shade! Laurie was fading but we quickly put up the tent and she crawled in.

“All I want to do is lie down” expressed Laurie.

“You got it” Andy reassured her.

We got into the tent and drank electrolyte drinks, ate a few snacks and felt better.

Since we had service, we blogged, posted on instagram, made phone calls and relaxed.

We want to go to sleep at 8pm tonight because we have to wake up at 4am tomorrow morning. We have a ride scheduled for 8am at Hwy 58 and we have 8.2 miles to hike.

8 by 8. We’ve got this!

Tonight we’re grateful for suprise fruit in the desert and blooming desert plants.

May 10, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 522.1) to Tylerhorse
Canyon (mile 541.5)

Miles: 19.4

Our campsite last night was a huge score. The wind died down to a pleasant breeze – just enough to keep the bugs away, the temperature remained mild and the ground, soft.

We both woke up excited for different reasons. Laurie excited to take pictures of the sunrise and Andy because he finally slept a night without his IT bands hurting. He may have figured out a system to sleep without waking up 4 or 5 times to reposition. The experiments continue…

We set off around 6:30am with the heat steadily intensifying. We walked on the widest trail yet – pavement covering the aqueduct and adjacent dirt road. We wandered back and forth – walking on both surfaces to offer variety for our feet.

Andy figured out how to attach the umbrella to his pack and happily walked along under a 3 foot circle of shade. After a shoes off break around 9:30am Gabriel loaned his umbrella to Laurie and the 3 of us continued on walking 3 abrest before the heat of the day scorched us. It must have been in the 80s before 10am.

Because of our early start and flat miles we completed our first 10 before 10 (10 miles before 10 am.) Suprisingly it felt anticlimactic – as if we already knew we could do it.

Talking with Gabriel as we walked provided a nice distraction for both of us and helped the miles roll by.

Around 11am we made it to Cottonwood Creek. At this wonderful oasis trail angels had left Gatorade and filtered water in a cooler. The city of Los Angeles maintain a faucet that unleashed beautifully cold water, and a bridge provided shade. Shade!!

We couldn’t believe how many hikers were taking a respite under the bridge.  Some had stayed here the night before while others, like us, walked there throughout the morning.

We were reunited with James, Oolong, and Meta, hikers we hadn’t seen since Ziggy and the Bear’s. They all thought we were ahead of them and we thought they were ahead of us. Funny how that happens.

It was interesting seeing people again after a few weeks. Everyone looked a little more weathered: dirty, bearded and happy.

We rolled out our Tyvek, sat down and enjoyed lunch.

Soon we decided we’d wait out the heat of the day and hike again around 3pm.

More hikers we knew showed up, including Pornstar and Amanda. We also met new faces, including Tank Girl and High Roller.

We stretched, journaled and chatted with other hikertrash. Periodically we inched over as the sun encroached in our shade.

Finally around 3:30pm we got 7 liters of water for the 6 miles to a dry camp. Our hike was mainly through a wind farm and as the name suggests, it was very windy.

We had strong headwinds and knock-you-sideways winds. As strong as the winds were, we appreciated the cool air they delivered against our hot and sweaty bodies.

At 6pm we made it our projected campsite at mile 540.3. Two hikers in separate tents were already set up there, so we decided to hike on.

We climbed back into the wind and 1.5 miles later switchbacked down to Tylerhorse Canyon.

Many flat campsites greeted us along with a running stream. We don’t know what’s feeding this stream but we are very grateful for it.

We quickly chose a campsite and put up the tent, allowing Laurie to make our home for the night while Andy went to the stream to get water for tomorrow and the day after. We have a 25 mile waterless stretch ahead of us and are going to take 6 liters each- enough to last us until we get into the town of Mojave 1.5 days from now.

But tonight, we did not concern ourselves with this. We instead enjoyed falling asleep to the sound of crickets and a babbling brook.

Goodnight.

Tonight we are grateful for bridges providing shade in the desert and intimate conversations with other hikers.