This morning it was super windy when I started to get packed up. Lately it’s taken so much effort to rinse all of the sand off my contact lenses in the morning. I actually brought out a whole bottle of extra solution because this always happens in the desert. Usually I can get away with a 2 ounce bottle, but when I’m rinsing them literally three times a night and three times in the morning, then it is not enough.
I made a delicious hot mocha this time with the Trader Joe’s instant coffee and milk packets. That was one of the best mochas I’ve ever had. I always add two hot chocolate packets to my coffee if I have enough. So this was just the tastiest mocha of them all.
I got walking right around 5:45 AM and had a super gradual climb for the first 3-5 miles of the day. It looks like there are only a couple of climbs between here and Hiker Town. Hiker Town is about 25 miles into my day today, so I’m hoping to get there around 2:30 PM. That would be great and enable me to grab food and resupply, but still get a bunch more hiking in this evening.
An incredible sunrise this morning after leaving camp.
The temperature this morning was shockingly cold. I actually wished I’d kept my gloves out for the first few hours of the day. I wore my montbell wind layers though, which were perfect. I was pretty surprised to keep them on until I crossed over the 500 mile marker. By that time the sun came out and I had another climb to begin going up. So I just couldn’t keep the layers on anymore. I can’t believe that this morning I crossed the 500 mile marker on day 15 of the PCT. And if all goes to plan today, I’ll wind up camping somewhere past the 530 mile marker. That would set me up for relatively short day tomorrow. But definitely not a “short” day. The definition of a short day is ever changing in my world.
What a beautiful way to start the day.
When I got out to the top of that next climb, I got service. Yesterday I really never had service. So I wasn’t able to do much of any writing or video work done. And I didn’t get as much done at the campground the other night because I was having too much fun. So this morning I was super productive and slowed my pace down just enough to get a ton of work done. I also wound up talking to Fresh Ground on the phone for a while. He just finished his northbound Appalachian trail feed. It’s always such a pleasure to talk to him.
Even once the sun came up, I swear the views just got better and better.
After that, I talked to my dad on the phone for a bit. I’d actually missed a call from him just before I turned my phone on. I filled him in on my plans for the next couple of days. This morning I also coordinated with a Trail Angel from Tehachapi who is going to bring me into town tomorrow night. I know I could probably hitch but more likely would have to take some sort of a shuttle or taxi. The road at mile marker 566 is a pretty tough hitch. I’ve personally never been successful with it.
I spent most of the morning climbing along a narrow ridge through a grassy and slightly forested area.
This guy Mike is going to pick me up around 5 PM tomorrow evening. I’ll have a better idea once I get to camp for the night today. Then I’ll be able to have a relatively early night in town and hopefully get some chores done. The best case scenario would involve eating tons of food, doing my laundry, sitting in a hot tub, and getting as much writing and video work done as possible.
A sign dedicated to a woman who passed away who loved the trail. Warning of the potential dangers ahead.
I want my zero day on my birthday (May 15th) to be as relaxing and effortless as possible. While I walked I even tried to call a massage place in town. But they didn’t answer me so I left a message. It would be so amazing to get a massage while I’m in town. I’m just looking forward to soaking in a hot tub and eating an insane amount of food. There’s a sushi place in town, a Thai restaurant, and all you can eat Asian buffet. If I have my way, I’ll eat it all three of those between tomorrow night and the following day.
Crossing over the 500 mile marker this morning.
While I walked and had service, I wound up booking a room in town too. It’s funny, when I was in Tehachapi in 2022 I think I stayed somewhere between 3–5 nights. I know I got into town and took a zero because I’d been slogging through snow in the mountains. It snowed about 4-5 inches two nights before I got into town. Which meant I had to do two 30 mile days through the snow to push into town, if I recall. Then once I got into town more snow is in the forecast for the following day. I wound up linking up with a few other hikers and waiting out the storm. Then we finish the entire rest of the trail together, and the rest of history. Those hikers are some of my favorite people I’ve ever spent time with on trail.
This sad little sign was just permanently on the ground.
But because I spent so much time in town, I know that there are a few places to say. Honestly though I want to stay at the place that has the indoor hot tub and pool. It is way too hot most of the time to sit outside and soak in a hot tub. But I want to be in that hot tub for a very substantial amount of my zero day. I think my body would really like that. The hotel is also right by Walmart and all the food and stuff.
As I got closer to Hiker town, the trail passed through some dried up grassy fields.
After a while I got off my phone and just mostly kept my head down for the rest of the afternoon. Time was going by really quickly and I was feeling great. There was occasionally some uphill stretches on the trail, but it was primarily flat and down as I got closer to Hiker Town. I walked by a shady part of trail and stumbled upon a group of about 6 guys. I really hadn’t seen anyone all day so that was a bit surprising. I have a feeling that Hiker town is going to be fairly quiet just because of how many hikers I saw yesterday morning.
Riding the ridge down into Hiker town.
A Trail Angel also told me that all of the beds at the hostel in Tehachapi are booked for Wednesday night. Which is the night I’m going to be getting into town. So there must be quite the bubble of hikers up ahead too. But it just makes a lot more sense for me to get a hotel anyway. I love hanging out with hikers and talking with people, but I also really want to just be able to relax on my own terms. Things can kind of take on a life of their own when you’re surrounded with a lot other people. It’s not every day that I get to take a zero, so I really just want to be able to do with it whatever I please.
The terrain changed drastically as I got closer to Hiker town. We’re really in the desert now.
When I checked my map the next time I realized I was going a lot quicker than I expected. It seemed like I would get to Hiker Town right around 2 PM. Which was great and bought me some more time to eat and resupply. When I actually got to Hager town, I was really surprised that there were no hikers there. I wandered around and wasn’t exactly sure what to do. But eventually, a guy named Bob noticed me and he offered to drive me down the street to the store. Apparently that’s where all the hikers were.
It was super nice of him to take me down the road and saved me time trying to hitch. When I got dropped off, I threw my pack down outside and ordered food right away. I got two cheeseburgers and sweet potato fries. Then I grabbed enough food for the rest of today and all of tomorrow. I also got a bunch of drinks for now and some to pack out. Then I joined the 8 or so hikers who were sitting in the room adjacent to the store.
Arriving at Hiker town.
Once I sat down, I packed my resupply away. Then pulled out my phone and charging block to get them charged up a little bit more. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do that while I ate. Even though I realize I have plenty of charge to get me to town tomorrow evening. But I also have had great service today and hope to get a ton of more work done on the Aqueduct. As long as service allows at least.
Hiker town is basically a spread out hostel, that looks like an old cowboy movie set.
Once the food came out, I ate one cheeseburger and all of the fries. Then wrapped one burger out to eat along the Aqueduct. I probably won’t make hot dinner tonight because it might be slightly later night. I’m also not sure if I’m going to go all the way to the next water source or not. I’m sure I probably will wind up going that far. But on the off chance that I don’t, I won’t have water to make dinner anyway. I packed out mostly Gatorade and other electrolytes from town. No actual plain water.
Embarking on the aqueduct portion of the trail!
After I ate and drank everything, I just finished getting situated. Then went out front to put out some feelers about a ride back to trail. There’s a lady Martha who will sometimes drive hikers around. But apparently she had just left. The huge group of hikers that was hanging out in the store didn’t seem like they were going anywhere anytime soon. I figured most people won’t start the aqueduct at all today. It just makes more sense to start first thing in the morning if you’re not doing huge mile days.
Making my way across the aqueduct.
Eventually a lady she could take me back to Hiker town for three dollars, which seems like a great deal to me. I got everything packed up and unplugged my electronics. Then I was literally back at Hiker town right around 3 PM. Considering I had to get there, get a ride down the road, resupply, eat, order lunch, and get a ride back, I was making killer time. There’s a chance I’ll get to camp right around the time it is getting dark. If I do have to hike in the dark, it probably won’t be too long.
I packed out a Baja blast to enjoy along my road walk.
When I got back to town, I saw all of those guys who I ran into earlier. Plus a few other people who must’ve been off trail at other tent sites when I walked past. I didn’t recognize any of them and hadn’t passed by them. I was back on trail right around 3:10 PM. Lately I’ve been feeling so incredibly productive with the way I get in and out of towns and still get miles in. I feel like I’m truly living the best of all worlds right now. I spend plenty of nights comfortable in beds. I think I’m showering and doing laundry frequently enough to keep my joy at a maximum. But I’m also averaging 35 miles every single day. Obviously the mileage wouldn’t be completely sustainable for the entire PCT. Perhaps it would be, but there will likely be sections which will slow me down for one reason or another. But while I’m able to do it, I’m going to try to get as many miles in as possible every day.
There’s nothing quite like eating a cheeseburger on the trail.
After I was back I on trail I got on to the nice sandy Aqueduct section. An infamously, hot and dry section of the trail. But today the temperatures are fantastic. It can’t be more than 65° and there’s a light breeze in the air. For some time I even wore my wind jacket because I was a little cold. It doesn’t get much better than this. Being able to set out to start the aqueduct at 3 PM sounds wild. Most days of the year this would not be possible.
As I walked, I had amazing service and got a few different things done. I was able to actually do grammatical edits and get a blog post up. Then I got one more video up and some YouTube stuff done. And I got a bit more writing done as I walked. I don’t know how long I’ll have service for, but I at least got some things done. If I have great service for the rest of the day, then I’ll hopefully finish everything by this evening. Having service at camp tonight would be an unimaginable blessing.
As I continued along the aqueduct, I eventually passed the first two hikers. Their names were Frogger & Manzanita. I talked to them for a little bit and then continued on. They were both super nice. Not long after that I caught up to another hiker who is sitting and taking a break. His name was Mock and he recognized me immediately when I went by. He packed everything up super fast and started walking with me. Which was actually amazing. The two of us went up, walking together for the entire rest of the day.
The sun beginning to set as I walked the road with Mock. What an amazing way to end off a big day.
After such a long day, it was so nice to be able to get some miles in with somebody else. And kept my mind occupied and the time went by super quickly. The two of us just talked for about three hours as we made our way to the next water source. The funny thing is, Mock was actually doing off 40 something mile challenge. So he was walking from his campsite before Hiker Town all the way to the road into Tehachapi. Which meant that for the first time pretty much all year I was going to be stopping early, and the people I was hiking around we’re going to be continuing on. It just felt like a really hilarious change of pace.
The Aqueduct walking is so nice and easy and mindless. Though as the day progressed the wind definitely picked up. Within the last half hour before arriving at the next water source the winds were around 50 mph. Of course it was a headwind a lot of the time too. We just kept pushing, making our way towards the water. When I got there, I started looking for tent sites before I even got water. And somehow I found a perfect little spot that was very well protected from the wind. I’m sure it would still be a little bit windy, but it wouldn’t be whipping wildly all night long. Then I filled up on water and said goodbye to Mock. And he continued on walking through the night.
Beautiful puffy clouds off in the distance!
Today I did 43.2 miles and was feeling pretty dang good. My hip has been a little bit tight honestly for a while. I think I remember it flaring up for the first time when I was still in Pennsylvania. But it’s been very subtle and manageable. I’m hoping to get a massage in Tehachapi and maybe some kind of a band for my knee. I don’t think I need a massive amount of rehab or support to make it better. But any little thing would be good.
I’m obsessed with this watch. Being able to track all of my mileage and stacks is truly a game changer. The Coros Vertix 2S does everything and then some.
In my tent, I ate some snacks and got situated for the night. I had a little bit of service so I was able to do a few things. I actually finally heard back from the guy who gives massages in Tehachapi, and it looks like he’s going to fit me in on my birthday. Which is an absolute dream! He accommodates to all of the hikers, and apparently his 60 to 90 minute massage massages are shockingly inexpensive. So I’m very stoked about that. Then after a while, I just rolled over and fell asleep. Tomorrow I will have 31.5 miles to get to the road into Tehachapi. And a Trail Angel named Mike is actually going to pick me up right around 5 PM.
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