After a very quiet night boxed in the bottom of the canyon, I awoke to the sound of Nightingale’s voice telling Nitro it was time to get up. The plan to get up at 5:30am and to be hiking at 6am was in execution stage. The group was moving slowly, so by 6am I was the only hiker ready and I began the long 1600 foot climb to the high point in the Tehachapi Mountains. Nitro’s dad, Heinz, was scheduled to meet us at 11am; we had 13 miles to hike and I was the designated hiker to get there in time. No problem. After all, I am the Rabbit.
It was a cold start to the morning, and it got even colder and became windy as I climbed out of the canyon into the high exposed ridge. Joshua trees and chapparal and juniper shrubs gave way to Pinyon pines above 6000 feet. Shade overtook sun and it was too cold to take a break with heavy wind whipping through the pines. Finally I stopped for a few short minutes to clean dust and small pebbles from the shoes, then resumed hiking. The next seven miles were a nightmare. Literally hundreds of dirt bike and ATV trails traversed and crisscrossed the PCT, making it extremely difficult to stay on the correct trail despite the PCT’s attempts to block the trail and to mark it with posts. I only lost the PCT twice, then regained it, but it was a challenging section that required lots of attention and some luck as well.
As the trail descended toward the wind turbine electricity generation farms that littered miles and miles of hills and the valley floor, the wind became more and more intense. Eventually the landscape returned to barren grassland with low shrubs and an occasional clump of Joshua trees. The last three miles down to the paved road crossing to Tehachapi, or Mojave (nearby trail towns) skirted close to the massive windmill turbines which were turning effectively in the now bruising wind which was beating me off the trail at times. When the trail would turn to face me directly into a headwind, it was difficult to walk forward despite the descending angle of the trail. A little after 10:30am I made it to Willow Springs Road where Heinz (Nitro’s dad) was waiting with a cooler of cold sodas and water.
I ate lunch inside the car to escape the relentless wind while Heinz and I caught up on trail conditions and happenings. Within an hour Nitro, then Bono and Nightingale and Doodlebug arrived. We rested a bit, then lightened our packs for an easy 8 mile slackpack to Interstate 58. Bono and Nightingale came off trail to take care of some personal family issues. Heinz and Nitro agreed he would meet us at 2:30pm, so Nitro and I took off to do the 8 mile slackpack, with Doodlebug pushing out a little bit behind us. The next 8 miles proved to be the most memorable 8 miles of hurricane force winds I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I was interviewing for a job as a reporter for the Weather Channel. Steve Siedel, Jeanette Jones, and Jim Cantore would be proud. Nitro and I had to laugh as it really was comical how hard the wind was howling and knocking us off the trail. I couldn’t hear myself talk. My ears were hurting and at times I had difficulty breathing normally as the wind blew into my face. There was no place for escape and we didn’t bother to take a break except for a 2-3 minute stop for water. We were surrounded by thousands of whirring wind turbines throughout the barren hills we traversed.
In the midst of this miserable trudge, Nitro stopped abruptly and tried to tell me that the rattlesnake on the trail was my next step…too late. I couldn’t shuffle my steps and nearly stepped on the baby snake. Thank goodness it was cold and windy. He didn’t strike, instead he crawled down into a hole dead center in the middle of the trail. Updated rattlesnake score: Phantom 10, Rabbit 8. At 2:30pm, right on time, we walked across the overpass over the Interstate to Heinz waiting in his car. Our miserable 8 miles of 70 to 80mph winds was over. Heinz drove us to the Lodge at Camp Woodward West, the premier skateboarding/BMY/inline skating camp in the US. Heinz has a long time friend who runs the camp and was kind enough to offer us free lodging for the night. We were about 10 miles outside of Tehachapi, but happy to have showers and bunk beds.
Heinz returned to the trail to pick up Doodlebug while we showered and cleaned up gear. Once all five of us were back together, Heinz drove us into Tehachapi where we hit the Laundromat. We split 2 loads amongst the five of us. Heinz babysat our clothes, transferring them to the dryer, then pulled the clothes out and separated them. Meanwhile, we were down the street at the public library using internet computers for an hour. Next was dinner at Jake’s Steakhouse in downtown Tehachapi. It was graduation night at the local high school, so we had to wait for a table for six. We feasted on lots and lots of great food, then returned to the Lodge at Camp Woodward for the night, with a goal to return to the trail tomorrow. I continued to do some work getting pack items cleaned and organized to return to the trail.
Today’s weather: sunny to cloudy. Low 40, high 62. Today’s mileage: 21.7; cumulative miles: 566.6.
