At 9:00a.m. this morning I finally awoke after staying up late and watching Caddyshack with Nabor J. Doodlebug, Nitro, Nabor J and Chowda were all still asleep. I made my way quietly out of the room to the continental breakfast room next door for some cereal and milk and to catch up on journaling. Soon there was activity as Badmoon, Happy, Phantom and Whoop Ass came outside with their packs ready to go. My room’s crowd emerged and announced that they were hungry and wanting to go eat breakfast at the adjacent restaurant. I joined them and we ate breakfast/lunch since both were available on the menu. Our great friend Good To Go showed up before we left for breakfast. He had camped near the road into Tehachapi last night because by the time he got there it was nearly dark and he couldn’t get a hitch into town. He was a little loopy from fatigue, pushing big miles to get caught up, but he joined the five of us for breakfast.
While at breakfast Nabor J began lobbying us to stay in town another day for R&R. Doodlebug and Nitro were taking the bait. Already anxious to hike and feeling like I was in town one day too long anyway, I took a firm stand, stating that regardless of who was staying or going to hike, I was leaving town, and soon. Once back at the room and organized to leave, I milled around while Badmoon made some calls to trail angels listed in town for a ride back to the trail. The gentleman who owns the Apple Shed Restaurant, where we ate a fabulous lunch yesterday, agreed to be at the hotel in 30 minutes (at 1:30 p.m.) to shuttle hikers. He came right on time, first loading up Happy, Phantom, Badmoon and Whoop Ass to take them to the road crossing 8 miles back from our re-entry point. About 50 minutes later he showed up to shuttle Doodlebug, Nitro and me to the trail. He gave us a mini-tour of town while driving us, and then walked out just past the trail entrance off the interstate to show us where he hid the other group’s backpacks so they could do the 8 miles as a slackpack. We said our goodbyes then began with a heavily packed load down the trail.
We had lots of water for the next 16-mile waterless stretch, plus 7 days food since we have 133 miles to Kennedy Meadows. The gals were especially sluggish and I pushed out ahead of them fairly quickly. Once we began the long 2,500 foot climb, the wind became a pain to deal with yet again. I took a couple of breaks in areas semi-protected from the wind, but for the most part the wind was beating me up pretty bad. As I gained elevation, the wind worsened to the point it was knocking me down and off the trail and I began hyperventilating again when the wind was hitting me square in the face. The backpack is by far the heaviest it’s been all journey, with seven full days food and 10 pounds of water.
Finally I gained the ridge where the scrub Joshua trees changed to pinion pines and I was able to take a break under cover of trees. With temperature in the mid-50s and heavy wind, I started shivering and could tell the beginning of hypothermia was setting in, so I bundled up a bit and moved to a sunny spot while waiting nearly an hour for Doodlebug and Nitro to catch up. My left thigh was beginning to swell and turn red from an apparent spider bite overnight at the Best Western. Doodlebug and Nitro caught up. We hiked another mile to the summit where we quickly found camping spots under trees that protected us from most, but not all, the wind. We quickly made camp and got in our sleeping bags to escape the cold while cooking dinner. I enjoyed a fantastic Red Zinfandel from Napa Valley that Good To Go brought back from his San Francisco wedding for me. Soon I was in the bag listening to some radio tunes and drifting off to sleep after a really rough 7 miles.
Today’s weather: cool and windy, high 60. Today’s mileage: 7.1. Cumulative mileage: 573.9.
