Early rise today. I’m so pumped to get into Kennedy Meadows and end this segment.

Ate a breakfast of “fun size” snickers bars and butterfingers. It would be more “fun” if they were a little bigger. The world needs some cynical marketing. I propose “Starvation Size”.

Found some Tang powder at the bottom of my bag. One of the gals woke up and threw me a melted Kind bar. I’m down to one package of Ramen noodles for the day. At least my pack is a lot lighter.

The girl group was just getting up when I dropped my tent. One of them was playing this goofy song called “Business Time” by Flight of the Conchords. Too much estrogen in this campsite. Packed, strapped, and hit the trail at 6 am.

I decided to rack my trekking poles today. Felling more confident in my leg and I want knock down the miles. First thing was a climb from 6.5k to 8k over a couple of miles. Had my music on and was in the zone, trying to keep my pace under control so I making miles but not breaking a sweat. Looked back at my trace and saw I was averaging 3+ mph uphill. Looming starvation is a good motivator.

Somewhere along the way Espresso said “Hi”. Scared the crap out of me. She wanted to pass, then later I caught up with her. We hiked together for 3 hours.

Espresso is a Corporate over-achiever who used to run a patient survey organization in a large midwestern hospital group. She’s also run 9 (I think) marathons. Was fascinating getting into the business of Medicare/Medical reimbursement incentives (really a penalty) based on patient survey results.

The deal is that a hospital is required to request a patient’s response on a standard set of questions following their discharge. Stuff about attention from the medical staff, pain management (which I think is bullshit), how clearly the medical options were explained, etc. If the annual results fall below some threshold, then the Government claws back 2% of their hospitalization payments.

There are all sorts of strategies they have applied to improve these scores which include time logs requiring hourly visits to the patient and even scripting the words the staff uses with the patient so they more closely match the words in the survey. That one is called “scripting”. Sounded to me like yet another misguided corporate initiative that dehumanizes the way we treat staff and patients. The other side of this is the patient. What if they guy is a meth addict responding to the survey vs a rational law abiding farmer. They each get the same vote, but one is much more likely to be a douchebag. If I was a nurse, I’d hate this system.

It was interesting that she said most dramatic improvement came when they started asking the staff what they needed instead of telling what to say/do. Suggested some interesting reading in a book called “Patients Come Second”. That is going on reading list.

Anyway, we hit a bunch of other topics. She was a great hiking partner. We were both surprised how much mileage we knocked down. Espresso’s wife is driving an RV supporting her as she goes up the trail. They are going to reunite in Lone Pine. Hopefully I’ll run into them some time up the trail.

Landed at Manter Creek around 10 am. 10 miles before 10. Back in the groove. Sat down and made my last meal of Ramen. I just dumped everything I had left in my condiments baggie. Hot sauce, soy sauce, some parmesan packets, and a beef bullion cube. Espresso gave me some kind of squirt bottle flavoring with caffeine. That was a win.

Others started showing up ready to rest for the last segment. Rise and Shine, Snakebite, Cake, Land Mammal, Sinatra, bunch of others. Espresso took of with some of them and I pulled out a few minutes later.

Trail continued to drop after Manter. The highlight of the day was turning a corner and seeing the South Fork of Kern River. Soooooo much water. After drinking out of trickling streams and plastic pipes, this is the finally the real deal.

Hell Ya

Passed Rise, Shine, and Snakebite sitting on a rock. Probably thinking the same thing. A mile later I ran into a gal south bounding. She was from Mammoth and told me about a recent storm that dropped another 4 to 8 inches of snow. Snowing in June.  FML.  My hike is cursed with snow.

Rise, Shine, and Snakebit caught up with me and we hiked together for a while. One of them does promotional work for various equipment brands of which one was Gregory. My backpack is a Gregory and it is rare to see this pack on the PCT since it is designed for heavier loads. She took some pics from behind me. Maybe Salty J’s backside will show up in a promotional brochure some day.

Crossed mile 700! The gals wanted a picture so they just flopped down in the dirt while I took it for them. I got one as well. They all stand up covered in dirt from neck to foot. Then Snakebite walks a couple feet away to pee behind/beside a 2 foot bush while her friends sit back down in the dirt. I’m impressed. Frankly I can’t stand to be that dirty and I’m even a little more modest on my peeing venues. Women are going to dominate the world soon.

I left them and walked the rest of the way to Kennedy Meadows Camp ground. It was so gratifying walking up to the store at 2 PM. Folks there applaud each hiker as they come in. We all know this is a big milestone. Did 21 miles in 8 hours.

I ran into Bottom, the German guy I met before Big Bear. He was out on an injury for a while. Got to know him a bit. He was born in East Germany before the wall came down and has since relocated to Munich. I wanted to probe that some more, but I kept getting distracted by his goofy trail stories. What a character.

Met some others I knew, Juniper, Unicorn, Capt Underpants, Murphy’s Law, and others. I bought a couple of 12 packs over course of the day and left them on my table. Cans of beer are friend magnets.

There is no cell service and the internet connection is useless. But plenty of food if you have the coin. Ate several burgers, a bag of chips, a bunch of chocolate, and drank way too many beers. Setup the tent at 9 and just before I went to sleep I checked my InReach for messages. Have a family emergency.

My buddy Darrell offered to pick me up and bring me home tomorrow. I didn’t get much sleep that night….

It is nice to wake among the trees again. First there is the twilight which gets me half awake. Then the birds start their racket. Then the early hiking crowd starts shuffling by. No point trying to sleep through all that.

I left a respectable deposit for the forest before I left.  That should get the ecosystem going.

Zach’s crew left ahead of me.

The terrain is definitely improving. The trail never dips below 5k now. Also the trail is following some rugged mountains with steep drops and lots of exposed granite. It might sound odd, but I can feel the Sierras seeping in. These trails feel more and more like what I’m used to there. The winds can be nasty, but only over the peaks. There is a nice chill in the air. I’m crossing streams that have decent flow, versus the pathetic springs over the last 200 miles. I’m almost home….I can feel it.

Ran into various hikers on the way up. I am now in sync with a group running for the next logical campground (Fox Mill ). On the way up I ran into Zach’s crew taking an early lunch. Here is a pic of Zach in his ideal resting pose. Face down with his hands tucked into a special warm place.

The highlight today was this exposed ridge line at 676. Coming up to it is fairly protected, but I could tell it was going to be a nasty crossing. Took this video before I got into the exposed section.

Blow Me

The ridge is a saddle between two taller peaks. All the wind is being compressed by a huge valley to the west and then getting pushed up and through through this narrow section. Just looking at the trees, you could tell this place is often a wind tunnel. To the east, it is a straight down drop…so if you get picked up by the wind something bad is going to happen when gravity takes over.

Sure enough, crossing did not disappoint. The wind was a constant 40 mph with nasty gusts of who knows what speed. I was crouched down, leaning west into the wind running from tree to tree trying to time the gusts. Most of the time I had my hands touching the ground scrambling. Cold and scary. Got to the other side and below the worst of the wind I stopped to put on my gloves and warm up.

Others popped out while I was there. We were all coming off an adrenaline high. Shaking either from the cold, the fear, or a combination of both. Wish I could have taken a video of some folks going through.

Anyway, after that it was a pleasant downhill run to Chimney Creek. Zach’s crew was there with Sinatra and a few others. I managed to Yogi some Ramen and a bag of crushed cheeseits from a gal (Monarch) who had food to spare. Sinatra borrowed a couple handfuls of the Cheeseits to spread over a flour tortilla covered in mustard. It seems gross writing about it, but at the time I thought it genius.

After a bit, most of us loaded up and took off. Zach and Seabiscuit stayed to rest for a bit but that rest turned into an overnight stay for them. Last I saw Zach he was face down in his classic resting pose.

Hauled ass up to Fox Mill Spring and joined one of 3 large groups of tents. Sinatra was setup next to me. Finally ran into a gal named Unicorn. Been waiting for weeks to find someone named Unicorn so I could tear off a piece of my unicorn duct tape to stick on his/her pack. Turns out she already had some…..figures.

Unbeknownst to me, the group of tents I parked next to was giggling girlville. Apparently they call themselves the hobo’s and every night someone reads a chapter from Harry Potter to the group. Sinatra volunteered for that and was doing his best to imitate the voices of the characters.  Oh how lame cute.

It was cold, I was tired, and could care less about Harry Potter’s ass. I zipped up and went to sleep to Sinatra’s poor attempt at Dumbledore’s voice.

Did a 20 today. I’m at 683. Tomorrow it is 20 more miles to Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierra !

 

Woke to this

The Third Circle

The wind just never stops man. I feel like I’m in one of the circles of Hell. F@#$ this wind. F#$% this desert. I’m sick of all this burned out terrain.

Packed my wet sleeping bag, did all my morning stretches, and bugged out. It was 7 miles to Walker Pass. Most folks hitch into Lake Isabella for a day, but I plan to push through.

For the last 5 days, I’ve been really missing my hiking bubble. While I never really hooked up with a group, I have been hiking among the same group of people. I miss them. Bam Bam, Joe Dirt, Trash Panda, Hiker Daddy, Manny Pack, and all the rest. Not sure what to call this. Bubble-Displacement? Bubble-Envy?

I’ve been checking the trail registers to see how far my group is ahead of me. Started out I was 6 days behind. I’ve been making up some time. If I skip the Isabella stop, I’ll be 4 days back. One positive is that I’ve noticed Bottom (one of my favorite German dudes) is only a few days ahead of me. Maybe I’ll catch them in Kennedy.

Anyway, made Walker at 9:30. Trail angels have been busy here. They left us a ton of sodas in ice chests, a dozen loaves of bread (almost expired, who cares), Nutella, and peanut butter. Ran into a nice group of folks hiking together: Land Mammal, Cake, twin girls named Rise and Shine (heh), and Snakebite. Sinatra rolled up to join in. We all hung out together for a couple hours picking through the snacks.

Hikers keep rolling in and there are angels shuttling in more goodies. Donuts!!! Later Land Mammal turns up with pizzas for his group and I manage to yogi a couple slices.

Then my old buddies Zach (Sizzle) and Austin (Seabiscuit) show up! Finally some faces I recognize. We spend some time catching up. They are now hiking with two gals, one Danish and the other Dutch. They are full of stories. One of them is that they took a zero at some town, visited a thrift store and bought a vcr/tv combo + the lord of the rings trilogy on VCR tape for $20. They watched one or two of them, then left the lot at the hotel. Funny dudes.

I’m looking at my meager food bag and finding that I’m running short. Got a couple mountain house meals, some candy bars, a tuna packet, some instant oatmeal, and a single serving of peanut butter to last me for 3 days and 50 miles.

Back on the trail around 12:30 for some climbing. 5k to 7.5k over 7 miles. Back up in the trees and mostly protected from the wind. It was a pleasant section.

Seabiscuit and I hiked together for a while. Ran into Jan (a german dude) staring at the owen valley below. Said it reminded him of Germany. Dunno, all I saw was brown misery. Guess the guy is getting homesick.

After that it was back down to 5.5k to Joshua Tree Spring at mile 664. Nice and protected. Plenty of water. Zach’s crew was camped in the heavily wooded area next to the creek.

I threw my pack down in a potential tent site and walked down to chat with the crew. While we were chatting it dawned on me that one gal’s voice was not matching any of the participants. Turns out it was the Dutch girl….she was 30 feet above me in a tree. Hmm… To each their own, I suppose.

Anyway, I climbed back up the hill to setup and saw ants covering my bag. Bad spot. Brushed them off and setup a few hundred yards away by myself. Finally a good night’s sleep.

Dusted off the sleeping bag and packed the ground sheet after a couple hours of sleep. Back on the trail at 7:30.

 

This wind just never stops. I really, really hate it. Sand keeps pelting me in the face.

The Windy, Sucky, Desert

I ate my last pop tart on the go, then started feeding on a family size bag of peanut M and M’s. Passed a couple hiking together after a little chat. They caught up with me a couple miles later when I was taking a break. Said they have been finding peanut M&M’s on the trail which they were picking up and eating. Turns out I was leaking a slow dribble. 🙂

Woke up around 3:30 for the next segment. Given the boost from last night, I figured I could take down some big miles. Hit the water cache for a reload and ran into Indigo (the tree counting gal) and Kara again. Sinatra was there stocking up on free food. Some other gal rolled up, sat down in the dirt, and stuck her face into a single serving Nutella cup that our trail angel left us.

Next came a mega climb from 5.3 to 7k over 3 miles. The youngsters passed me on the way up. I’m getting used to that. After this climb I was rewarded with mile after mile of burned out terrain. Used to be a nice forest here. Now it is a bush filled sadness.

This wind will just not stop. I got on some dirt road and started scouting for a camp spot around 8pm. Found some hikers cowboying it in a dismal spot. Moved on. By 9 I was getting a little desperate and settled on a spot under a lone tree around mile 642.

Stopped, and started setting up the tent in this nasty wind. Lost a tent stake when the wind tore the tent out of my hand. Finally got it up. Blew up my air matress, pillow, took off shoes, changed into my sleep clothes and buttoned up.

Laying there the wind is relentless. I can hear the tree crackling. For some reason, the wind is whipping around and hitting my tent violently from opposite sides every 30 seconds to a minute. First it blows from the left and the sides deform to hit me in the face. Then the other side which deforms and hits me in the back of the head. Face…Head….Face….Head…. Screw this.

At 10:30 I reversed the whole process. Deflate the mattress, pillow, change back into hiking clothes, put on my shoes. Take the tent down, put on my puffy, look around for my missing tent stake (never found), pack everything up into my bag, throw a rock at a couple kangaroo mice who I have decided to blame for this mess. I turned my tracker back on and started walking.

Left the dirt road and got back on the trail. I was stumbling around, super tired. Finally I got on the East side of a hill which was blocking some of the wind. Kept looking for spots, but nothing good. Around midnight I finally found a narrow spot that was semi-level between some bushes. Threw down my ground sheet, pad, and fell asleep in my bag.

I figure I’m camping around mile 645. That makes it a ~20 mile day, so I guess that’s good. I need to get back into sync tomorrow. Will this desert shit ever end?

Woke this morning still feeling dehydrated. Most of the folks are packing up and leaving to get some miles in before the heat. I decided to lounge around today near the water and get my mojo back. I’m not leaving until there is no trace of yellow in my piss.

Washed my clothes in the stream and hung them out to dry. Setup my solar panel and charged all my bats. Grabbed my pad and spent the morning blogging while watching hikers trickling in. Went from a couple people to 30 by 11:00. All were laying around for the day in two clumps.

 

Hung out with Thirsty Detour for a big chunk of the day. He’s an actuary from Salt Lake. He is averaging 15’s, so I probably won’t see him much after this. I think the Camels he is smoking might have something to do with the mileage numbers 🙂

While we were chatting, the sick dude from a couple days ago showed up to chat. Apparently he had setup yesterday around the same time as me, but has been laying in his tent all day. His name is Payless. He told me that every time he thinks he’s feeling better he loads up, gets a few steps in, then barfs. He’s a young, slim, fit kid. Not much fat reserves.

Thirsty and I felt bad for him. Payless thought maybe some food with lots of fiber might help. Thirsty dug into his pack and found a nutrition bar. I just threw him my food bag and said to pick out anything he wanted. He ended up taking a couple granola bars and all my trail mix (bunch of nuts and stuff). Fine by me, that mix sucked anyway.

Plenty of hiker sympathy, but nobody wanted him to be too close to him. He must have already picked up on that, because his tent was setup alone far from the group. He wondered back to his isolation chamber and went to sleep. Later I wondered by his tent and saw a gigantic rattler slithering a few feet from it. Must have been 5 feet long. That got him a little excited. Poor guy can’t get a break.

By 3, I was feeling the urge to get on the trail.  I’m pissing clear, potable water.  I should bottle this stuff!

I’m sick of this heat. I’m sick of all this wind. I’m REALLY sick of the desert. I’ve been hiking the desert on and off for 6 weeks and enough is enough. Decided that I’m going to rock the trail tonight.

I wrapped up my right leg in a new compression bandage using some tips from a guy with a similar problem. Picked up my pack, said my goodbyes, and clocked in at precisely 4:00. I’m hiking second shift tonight and there is plenty of overtime available.

SECOND SHIFT
I left with 5.5 liters of water, so I’m back to a 40 pound carry. The temp was 80 and dropping. I’m feeling pretty good.

There was some small climbing up to about 6.9k. In the tree line so the trail was pleasant. There are some streams during the 6 to 8 mile stretch before the decent into desert misery.

It was nice to actually see more than a trickle of water. I’m water loading as I walked sucking down 2 liters in 6 miles. I refilled at one of the stream crossings.

 

Stopped for some dinner at 7 at a camp site. Most folks are setting up, I’m going to keep moving.

Trails continued to be nice for a few more miles.

It was cool walking into the dusk. As the sun was setting to the West, the moon was rising to the Southeast. Looked like a full Moon.

Crossed some burn then headed downhill. The few unburned trees began to disappear around 11. Had my headlamp on, but only needed to use it occasionally. Most of the time I was just hiking by moonlight. Had the headphones blasting music from my play list. Then it happened.

Werewolves of London starting playing.

Looked into the sky and saw a full Moon…..

And let out a long howl….

…..and Salty J was transformed.

The rest of the night was a blur. Hiking by moonlight until 4 am through crazy 25 mile/hr winds with nasty gusts to 40. Sand blowing everywhere. No shelter, even on the lee side of the hills. Passing hikers cowboy camped in sad little piles trying to get shelter from the wind. None of this bothered the Wolf.

Sleep came about 4am.   Woke up a few hours later at 7am laying on a ground sheet under a Joshua Tree with my sleeping bag covered in a sand. There were some instant coffee packets and snickers bars missing from my food bag.

No hikers were harmed during this episode, but a few may have had their tents peed on. I’m pretty sure the Wolf peed on my left shoe during a particularly bad gust of wind.

Did 25 miles that night (mile 627). I’m finally back in the groove!