PCT Days 32-42

In the past few sections I've had pretty bad cell service, so I hope y'all don't mind one big update from Kennedy Meadows. This does feel like an appropriate place to give an update though; 700 miles into the PCT, Kennedy Meadows is considered the gateway to the Sierras. The dry, burnt desert is gone and this week I'll start the climb up to 10,000 feet and perhaps even summit Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. For now though, let's recap the last 10 days.

Day 32

Miles 455-472

Still relaxing on my cot at the Saufley's, I sorted my resupply food into freezer bags and tried to cram it all into my pack. I got some oatmeal cookies in the mail from Kristi Thompson in Ohio, but only half fit into my overflowing food bag. The other half I gobbled down hungrily for breakfast. THANK YOU Kristi!

The friendly dogs, the laundry done by Mrs. Saufley, the welcoming couches and the community food in the refrigerator all make the Saufley's place feel like home. Mrs. Saufley took a picture of Miles and I and gave us both a hug before we walked back to the trail.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that I shaved off my beard! Yesterday I went to the local hairdresser and asked to get my hair cut and my beard shaved. She was more than happy to remove my beard, but she wouldn't cut my hair; she liked how it covered my "receding hairline." Whatever.

More up and down today as I hiked out of Agua Dulce with Miles. I'm still feeling sluggish getting out of town, but I got through the afternoon by trying to keep up with Miles' pace. He's super fast and doesn't take a break every hour, so I have little time to wallow in the heat and post-town nausea.

The Oasis Water Cache is maintained by the Andersons of Casa de Luna. I was thinking about camping here, but this guy was hung in the tree above the campsite. No thank you, I'll camp somewhere else.

After deciding to skip the campsite at the water cache we hiked through the dark until we came across a flat spot. We eventually cowboy camped on top of a ridge a little above the trail. Tomorrow is a nero! I can't wait, more breaks!

Day 33

Miles 472-478

With only six miles before Casa de Luna, it was easy to get up early. We power-hiked the six miles through more rolling hills and burn areas until we got to the highway where we turned off-trail to get to the Casa.

Casa de Luna was incredible. Mr and Mrs Anderson are really welcoming and, just like the Saufley's, have turned their entire property into a hiker's oasis. They put couches and coolers on the driveway, a frisbee golf course in the backyard, and thy let hikers use the giant manzanita forest out back for camping.

Miles and I drank some beers with Zissou, Lee, Peru, and Snort in the driveway before setting up our tents in the big shady manzanita forest.

After setting up our tents, we ate Mrs Anderson's famous taco salad- all you can eat chips, cheese, meat, beans, and salsa. Yum.

Day 34

20 mile road-walk detour from mile 478 to 518

After the most comfortable night of camping I've had so far, I woke up to all-you-can-eat pancakes made by Mr Anderson. I curled up on a couch in the fetal position after eating one too many pancakes and took a quick nap before signing the giant hiker sign on the garage and getting my picture taken with the other campers.

Casa de Luna also marks the beginning of another trail closure. We lost 40 miles of trail by taking a 20 mile detour on roads. 

Luckily, there was a bar 6 miles into the road walk. It's never too early for PBR, chicken, and fried mac n' cheese!

The road walk took us out of the hills and down into an expansive valley. Only 2 miles from our destination, miles and I walked past a small house with 2-foot high fences and five tiny dogs. I made a joke about how cute it was that they had small dogs and only needed a small fence. A moment later all five dogs jumped over the fence, ran into the highway, and started chasing us. I got away safely, but Miles got bit on the leg by a nasty chihuahua. I couldn't help but laugh though, Miles is a big tough diesel mechanic from Tennesee and he lost a fight against a tiny chihuahua. Miles laughed too.

Our destination for the night was Hikertown. Right off the interstate, but still in the middle of nowhere, Hikertown is a series of small buildings and trailers with old western facades. Apparently, the guy who owns the land is a movie producer and really likes hikers. It was deserted and quiet when Miles and I arrived and I thought the place was pretty creepy.

Even though it was eerily empty and quiet and in the middle of the desert, Hikertown was a great place to shower, eat, and get a good nights rest before crossing the Mojave. It's also a good place to pop your air mattress and realize that you left your jacket at Casa de Luna. Double oops.

Day 35

Miles 518-545

This morning we had to get out of Hikertown early to beat the Mojave heat, but I first had to take a few more pictures of the place. It's a little less creepy in the day time and I enjoyed checking out all of the different buildings. 

I also was able to contact Rocket Llama, a few days behind me at Casa de Luna, and she agreed to carry my jacket to Tehachapi where she will mail it ahead to Kennedy Meadows. Whew, I'm glad that's taken care of. Thank you Rocket for saving my jacket!

Hiking through the Mojave was nothing like I had expected. In my imagination there would be sand, heat, and no water. In reality, we walked on the Los Angeles aqueduct for almost the entire day. The path was paved and we often had a nice view of the water even though we had no direct access to it.

So many paved walkways!

Leaving the aqueduct, we walked into a series of wind farms at the base of the Tehachapi mountains. A sign said that this was the second largest wind farm in the United States. Miles and I took a break under one of the giant turbines.

After crossing the flat Mojave section, we climbed back up into the hills until we were too exhausted to hike any further.

Day 36

Miles 545-566

Today was more climbing, more wind turbines, and more heat until we reached Tehachapi.

My mom is the best. She drove three hours to meet Miles and I on the side of a highway, filled us full of beer and soda, and drove us to our motel in Tehachapi. She even left us with a few pounds of freshly made chicken enchiladas. Thank you mom!

Miles and I spent the rest of the night grocery shopping for the next long section and drinking coke slurpees from Burger King.

Day 37

Miles 566-593

It's always tough leaving a town, but Miles and I were on the bus back to the trail by 8:55am. There is a bus that runs between Tehachapi and nearby Lancaster and, with special permission from the operators, they are happy to drop off hikers where the trail crosses the highway.

Back on the trail, we followed old dirt roads for most of the day. Dirt roads can be difficult to walk on because they have less shade than trails and are full of ruts and loose rocks.

More wind turbines today. These smaller ones are older models from the 90s according to the sign we passed yesterday. I never get sick of seeing these beautiful machines!

After the road walk we came to another burn zone. While burnt areas do have a certain kind of post-apocalyptic charm, I'm pretty ready to be past them. I can't believe it's only a week until I enter the Sierras and about 200 miles until I get to the summit of Mt Whitney. For now though, I'm so sunburnt I can't even manage to move my umbrella to take a picture.

Tomorrow is a full moon, but tonight we had an incredible sunset and watched the moon rise over the last of the wind turbines.

Day 38

Miles 593-619

This morning my first victory was waking up to an inflated sleeping pad. I patched it again last night sand this time it seems to have worked.

Today the exposed, hot hills turned into forest just before Miles and I planned on taking an afternoon break. We wanted to try hiking at night in order to escape the burning sun, so we planned on spending a few hours napping and regaining energy before pressing on.

After filling our bodies with cold, clear water at a campground water source we found a spot in the shade to relax. We met Jolly there under the trees and we all ate, rested, and talked about the previous sections and how close we are to the Sierras. 

While we were still resting under the trees, a huge rental motor home came through the trees into the campground. Three men came out of the motorhome and started unloading boxes. One guy came over to us and asked if we needed anything. I explained who we were, the long, hot 6-day stretch we were in, and asked if he had any beer. I couldn't help it. I'm a little short on food this section (my fault) and I'm always hungry and beer is good cold calories. 

Apparently the three guys were setting up for an Alcoholics Anonymous retreat taking place this weekend. Oops. 

After he walked away and I shrugged and settled on my new favorite trail snack- tortilla with cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and hot sauce.

Back to the trail...

Jolly, Miles and I hiked from about 6 to 10:30pm until we were stumbling so much from exhaustion that we had to find a place to sleep.

Day 39

Miles 619-643

This morning I woke up to two bugs having sex on my shirt. I'm not sure what kind of bugs these are, perhaps some sort of oddly shaped grasshoppers, but when they were done they left behind a wet spot.

Before continuing on, we had to scramble off-trail over some boulders and down a gully for a few miles to get to the last water source for over 40 miles.

We reached 1000km today!

Today was really, really hot. So hot that Miles, Jolly and I sat for hours in the shade on top of a mountain before finishing the hike in the cooler evening.

Day 40

Miles 643-664

Today the plan was to hit close to 30 miles and it started out pretty well...

...until we hit a highway and got cell reception. Miles and I decided to try and hitch into town for some food and to escape the 90 degree heat. To be more efficient, I tried to hitch on one side of the highway and Miles hitched on the other. His legs and well written sign against my smile and dancing was a close competition,but I got the first car to pull over.

We jumped into the car with a very nice guy from the Ridgecrest area who was also a fellow hiker. He drove us to his favorite spot in town and even offered to pick us up in an hour and drive us back to the trail.

Once we got back to the trail, we ran into some trail magic from Kimchi's parents. Kimchi is a hiker who I first met at the Deep Creek hotsprings. She just got back from a year of teaching English in South Korea before starting the trail. Her parents gave us more beer, water, and snacks which kept us from getting back on the trail for another few hours.

Back on the trail by 5pm, Miles, Jolly, and I decided to night hike again for as long as possible to make up the miles we missed during our afternoon of relaxation.

Night hiking is like last minute cramming for a test in college. You could stay up really late, reading as much as possible and trying not to fall asleep, or you could get a good night's rest and wake up to study the next morning. I didn't stay up late in college (at least not to study) and I really shouldn't be hiking late to make up miles. I tripped over everything, almost fell off of a cliff or two, and felt exhausted after only a few miles. No more night hiking for Glitter!

We ended our night at a watersource, filling up our bottles with water that the state of California thinks is unsafe for human consumption.

Day 41

Miles 664-689

As of today, I'm a quarter of the way through the PCT. My lips are too chapped for my classic grin, but I managed a small smile to show my excitement.

Today was one of the most physically demanding days on the PCT thus far. Over the 25 miles I hiked, the trail went over three mountains, gaining and loosing 7,000 feet in elevation in the process.

I've felt really drained the past few days, both physically and emotionally. Today, as I hiked alone knowing that it was useless trying to keep up with Miles and Jolly on these ascents, I realized that I haven't really been hiking my own hike. Miles has been really sweet to lower his daily mileage and compromise with me on how far I can go each day, but that's not working for me any more. I've been hiking longer than I'd like, with less breaks along the way, just to keep up with friends who are naturally faster than I am. As I hiked at my own pace today I felt less sore, better rested, and more energetic. I even sang some Janis Joplin, did some hike dancing, and felt much more like myself and less like a hurried, stressed out Glitter-monster.

I'm so excited to be on the PCT and I'm thrilled to be on the edge of a big change in landscape. For now though, more non-potable water to drink underneath an old, crumbled mill.

As we enter the boundary to the Sequoia National Forest, the landscape is already changing. Trees are getting taller, valleys greener, and tomorrow we'll pass a real river!

I'm in love with the cool cloud formations that drift out of the high Sierras. Tomorrow we'll be in Kennedy Meadows!

Day 42

Miles 689-702

Morning routine step one, scrape yesterday's dirt off the bottom of my socks.

More chapped smiles.

Look, a river!

Dun dun DUN! It's Kennedy Meadows! This cute little general store and a few houses are all that make up this town. No cell reception, but they do have a giant deck where hikers can eat and relax in the shade.

I got this sweet note from home today. Thanks Kir, I loooove you!

I'm so excited to head into the mountains this week. Thank you all for your support and kind comments on my blog. I still haven't figured out how to respond to the comments you leave from my cell phone, but I'll figure it out soon! For those of you who asked, my new tent is a Mountain Hardware Super Mega Ultralight tent. Silly name, but it's worked really well so far!