Day 52: 663-683

​I slept in a bit, got up and packed my things. I called jessica to wish her a good week, this will be the last time I can use my cell to contact her for a while. There is a payphone in Kennedy Meadows, but no cell service. I was on the trail by 7am and it was already pretty warm out. Looking at the elevation map, I knew today was just a shit ton of more climbing. I prefer to knock it out before it gets too hot.

After 5 hours and 12 miles I stopped to take a mid day siesta. I found a nice spot on top of the mountain amongst the conifers, rabbits, and gnats. They are horrendous, constantly trying to fly in my mouth or nose. I want to kill them all. From my lunch spot I only have 7 miles to the next planned camp for the night, so I'm excited to eat some food, nap, and get the last stretch taken care of for the day. It's incredibly silent up here. No wind. The occasional bird song, and the sound of my brain thumping to my heart rate. I love it up here. I wish I could share this with my friends back home. I miss them all dearly.

After about an hour of trying to hide in shade from the sun I packed up and continued to the next stop. Everyone was down at the creek to refill water and we headed to the final stop for the night. The last climb was hot and steep. It's just the beginning of the last mountain we have to hike before we get to kennedy Meadows tomorrow. More and more hikers from the RV park started showing up at our site so we all had dinner together, smoked cigarettes and weed, and talked about plans for kennedy Meadows. Zorro and The Viking (two massive dudes with massive packs) showed up too. I was hiking behind them for a little while last night.

We have a few more days before we have to ascend the Sierra and tomorrow the trail will walk along the kern river for a few miles. I heard it's a really nice spot to stop and swim/camp/whatever. We might just stay there tomorrow instead of rushing to KM. That will mean shorter miles and more time for relaxing on the river. It's a rare thing to have a chill day on the trail. There is so much pressure to crush miles. But I may forego that. The moon is almost full tonight so it's a beautiful evening in my tent writing this post.

Day 51: 652-663

Most of the day was spent running errands with jessica and Mowgly. Scotty hurt his calf so he decided he wasn't going to leave with us tonight. We went to the grocery store and grabbed some lunch at a cafe. I had to square away some business with Medi-Cal because I was having issues with my forwarding address. That took a good hour of my time.

Scotty was accosted by a gun toting redneck outside of the cafe where we had lunch. He was angry with Scotty because while Scotty was on the phone with his mom in Sweden, he unknowingly wandered into the mans yard. The man threatened to choke him out. I stepped in and told him to fuck off and that it was an honest mistake.

We headed back to the RV park to meet the rest of the crew and we packed out bags. Jessica and I said our goodbyes and hugged each other. She is worried about the next section of the trail and how remote I will be. The Sierra has a way of generating boogieman stories and illogical fears. Mostly cause of all the stories we hear from further up the trail about the snow and river ford conditions. I'm with a good group, and I think I'll be okay.

15 hikers walked to the bus stop in lake Isabella. It takes you directly to the trail head 40 miles away. It only runs twice a day 3 times a week. We barely fit in there with all of our gear. It was an hour ride to the trail. The driver drove like a maniac. It was exciting.

We started the next series of brutal climbs up several thousand vertical feet. Hiking deep into the night. I eventually was on my own as the group thinned and spread. Everyone goes at their own pace. My plan was to make it 12 miles in to the next water source and sleep there. I got to camp around 10 pm and rejoined with Mowgly, Speck, Spacejam, and Ten Gallon.

Making the climb out of Lake Isabella with Zorro and Viking  

The moon was so damn bright and beautiful. This is probably my last night in the desert. After tonight, we will be more regularly above 7,000-8,000 feet before we hit Kennedy Meadows. I should be there in 2 days if all goes well.

The desert will not be missed  

Day 42: 554-558

Sunrise was absolutely fucking beautiful this morning. I slept on a hillside overlooking the Tehachapi wind farms. The sun pierces through the hundreds of spinning blades. The turbines sleep at night and slowly get started in the morning, just like me.

My mansion

Getting some shade and shut eye in the blistering heat 

​I hiked super slow and listened to my knee. No pain like last night. A quick 4 mile descend over 1800 feet down to the highway. I got to the highway and was immediately greeted by Captain America and a trail angel. She gave me a ride with her dogs to Mojave and dropped me off at the best western. Sadly, the only thing I wanted was not a shower, but a cigarette. Jessica is going to meet me here and hang out with me today.

Hitch doggies  

​Literally everything that has touched my skin smells like shit. I'm going to do some serious laundry and clean out my gear today. It's amazing what one week can do to all of your hiking gear. I can't wait to smell like fake angels (laundry detergent) again.

She brought me detergent ❤️