My socks are standing up on their own. Everything I own needs a wash. I need a wash. I am stinky.
It was a cold morning and I did not want to get out of my bag. When we woke ZuZu was gone. Pretty sure she was a figment of our imagination.
We only had 9 miles to walk today to get to the road so we could hitch into Tehachapi. We were walking through the wind farm, again, although weirdly it wasn’t really that windy. There was definitely a change in the air though and the weather is on the turn. The clouds are gathering and rain is forecast for what is supposed to be the hottest section of the trail.
We ran into Eyore and Sue at the road, and we got given soda and Oreos. Again!! A man called Daniel was waiting to give rides to hikers and he took us into Tehachapi.
Our original plan to stay at an old airport in our tents soon went out the window when it started raining and we checked into a Best Western, the town is really accommodating for hikers – check in is at 3pm but we arrived at 10am and got into our room straight away. We got asked twice if we needed a ride in the 100 yards we walked to the hotel.
We went to get food straight away. A huge lasagne that completely defeated me.
We took showers, I combed my hair for the first time in over a month and I found out whether my legs were tanned or dirty…
(80% dirt 20% tan). We did our laundry, well Cool Breeze did all our laundry – clean socks are such a delight! And we went out for dinner with Julien, Jesse, Marathon John, Dana and Alison. I had cheesecake for dinner. Then we spent the rest of the evening in the hot tub.
I love the hot tub.
Tomorrow we have to do all the chores we were supposed to do today…
If you liked that, then you might like this...
Adventure with purpose.
785 million people globally don't have access to clean water. That's 1 in 10 people. In 2020 this is not ok.
I fundraise for Just a Drop in the hope that if I walk thousands of miles for clean water then the people who need to won’t have to. Find out more
You 3 went Left, and we went straight ahead to highway 58. Swiss Army then went back to Tehachapi and I went right to Mojave. The previous year I had picked up hiker in Manning called, “Gear Slut”. Horrible trail name, but good guy. A programer in silicone Valley taking the time off to do the trail.
He recommended Mojave to me as cheaper, not as spread out as Tehachapi, and a good spot for a zero before the last push to Kennedy Meadows. I think it was a good one, but Tehachapi was certainly more picturesque. Even though at the time I was beginning to think going to Tehachapi would have been more fun, but having my package already mailed, my fate was set.
On the 15th, I caught a ride with Rootbeer Lady for a ticky tour of Tehachapi. She and Eeyore were staying at Mojave but driving to Tehachapi for some appointment or something. So, I had some time to kill walking around the spread out town. That is where I ran into you guys again. I thought it was a Mexican restaurant, but reading your post, maybe it was Italian. I assume you were staying in the same Best Western Motel as the Swiss Army where I stopped to see how their resupply shopping was going. I looked at everything they bought, and wondered how they would get it all in their packs.
One Trail Angel who was really doing yeoman work out of the Mojave Motel Six was Jetta Blue… Did you meet her?
She was an unemployed truck driver filling the time running hikers all around. She had left a note and some apples on a table at the Tehachapi road crossing. I picked one up on the way to highway 58 and was waiting for the bus. On a whim, thought I would call her and thank her for the apples, and she insisted that I cancel the bus reservation, and she would come over and pick me up.
She was taking selfies of every hiker she picked up, and wouldn’t you know it, at the end of the trip and out of the blue, she texted me with a copy for my album.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f10r2vnzcx45hrl/IMAG04121.jpg?dl=0
BTW, on the 15th, it was a terrible day to be going up the mountain from Highway 58 trail head. That is why I took another zero. Early in the morning, Jetta Blue had taken 3 Israelis up. (The Israeli Army). I had looked at the mountain, and in Palmdale fashion it was all shrouded in clouds. It was blowing like stink in Mojave and I said to myself they are crazy. In 1 hour or so they were calling back saying it was blowing 70 mph, and raining sideways and don’t send anyone else up. Too dangerous.
A good day to zero.
The apple and phone number that got me a ride to Mojave.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h0epdleqn2eukv6/2015-05-13%2012.51.26.jpg?dl=0