PCT - Day 33: 5/21/2018 - Tehachapi

Trail miles: 8.8 from 549.7 - 558.5
Miles hiked: 10.6

The wind shook my tent nearly all night, and when daylight started to illuminate my orange dome of happiness, I just tucked my head under my sleeping bag and tried going back to sleep. Sleep however is impossible for me. I am cursed.

Goodbye Windfarm

Ugly Terrain

We raced down nearly nine miles through the ugly terrain of the wind farm & desert, and were hitchhiking into Tehachapi before 10am. Our trail angel Tripod who picked us up was nice enough, but his driving skills might’ve been the scariest thing I’ve been encountered on the PCT thus far.

Hitching a Ride

He dropped us off at the post office, where I picked up a pile of packages which included my resupply, my bounce box, new shoes, and a couple things I’d ordered from Amazon. 

Collecting Resupply - Note old shoes

New Shoes left, Old shoes right

Outside a guy named Kevin saw me sitting with multiple boxes and offered a ride to our hotel. Ziploc and I graciously accepted. Kevin told us about the fabulous German bakery and Thai-Hecapi which is apparently the best Thai restaurant on the PCT. We went there only to be disappointed when we found it was closed on Mondays. It was a little unexpected since thru-hikers never even know what day of the week of it is. We ended up at the bakery, where I had a ham sandwich, chips, a German pretzel, a root beer, and two homemade cookies.

Resupply Work

After lunch, others went to get resupplies while I walked some bonus miles to the hospital to figure out what was wrong with my wrist. After waiting patiently for two hours and unsuccessfully flirting with the triage nurse Ashley, I walked out after she told me it’d be an additional 2-3 hours to wait. I walked to Kmart and found they didn’t carry fuel, so I just bought the essentials; Pizza Combos, Mt. Dew, and a 40oz of Bud Light.

Not So Urgent Care Center

I walked back to the Marriott and watched the Celtics/Cavs game while doing chores and attempting surgery on myself by puncturing the lump in my wrist with a sterilized sewing needle. Soon our thru hiking family came back. I hadn’t finished my bathroom surgery but I had cleaned my water filter, washed my stove and was finished treating a foot blister that started about 15 miles back.

Pre-washing Socks

Blister Work

After I cleaned my blisters and was sizing up my new shoes, a clean showered Chilly Bin poked her head in our room and asked if we wanted to go to dinner. Ziploc declined, but I was starving so I joined Chilly Bin, Socks, and Jeremy. We walked a couple blocks to a pizza joint.

I split a large pizza with Jeremy and drank a really good IPA. Chilly Bin and I enjoyed good laughs with Socks and her boyfriend Jeremy.

Ziploc was still being antisocial when I joined Chilly Bin, HoosierDaddy, Tapeworm, Opera, Socks, and Jeremy at the pool/hot tub for some whiskey and wine. 

Roughing it

We drank until the cheap whiskey was gone then retired to our rooms, where Ziploc informed me that she’d be hiking out tomorrow with a few German dudes rather than taking a zero. I was partially heartbroken, but I also understood why she wanted to press onward. I could never keep up with her pace and could understand why she wanted to move on.

I am going to try and relax for this zero day tomorrow. I have to ship some things at the post office but other than that, I’m ready to be back on trail. I can’t wait to be back at home in the mountains. Fuck the desert, I’m ready for hoards of mosquitoes, dangerous river fords, and post-holing in snow.

For those that follow my blog closely, daily posts will continue but will be posted as cell signal allows since for the next 500 miles the cell service/WiFi is inconsistent at best. Stay tuned though, posts will continue. No shitty ankles or unexplained wrist injuries will keep me from seeing this adventure from continuing.