Day 49- glen pass

In the sierra mountain range on the pacific crest trail there are 5 major passes and many more smaller ones. All the major passes range from around 12000 feet to the mid 13000s. Forester pass is the highest and we have already gone over it. Today we went over glen pass (major pass number 2). Although this is one of the shorter major passes, it was by far the most exhausting so far. The switchbacks were covered with snow meaning we had to go straight up the side of it. At the top it was all worth it because of the amazing views looking out across snowy mountains and alpine lakes (many of which were frozen). Another reason this pass was so hard was because we started the day climbing back up kearsarge pass at 11700 just to rejoin the pct. This tough day was magnified by the fact we had 7 days worth if food in our packs and the stupid bear canisters. Tomorrow we will get at least the next pass in Pinchot. If we are feeling really strong we may go up and over Mather pass.

Day 48- zero

We shopped, we laundered, we packed, we showered and then after all out work was done we enjoyed what lone pine had to offer. The Dow villa motel was a dive but it did have a pool and hot tub. The hotel was so bad that the rooms did not have a bathroom or shower just a community one on each floor. But the price was right. Later in the day we went to all you can eat Chinese food that definitely did not agree with my stomach. We just hung out with other hikers and talked about our hike. On the way to my diner at carls jr there was a dust storm in which it got real windy, and the clouds covered the town. It turns out that this town of lone pine is where many movies have been filmed including iron man, tremors and most the John Wayne westerns. Tomorrow we will leave early and go over glen pass.

Crossing forester

Walking through the high sierras

Dust storm in lone pine

On top of forester

Top of Whitney

Climbing forester

Day 47- kearsarge pass to lone pine

Woke up in camp with tibetten, busted magic and noodles romanoff. They are a very interesting threesome hiking together. They are attempting to carry 12 days I'd food and go all the way through the sierras. I can honestly say that I enjoy hiking with my group more. We left camp at 7 and began our climb up the hill to the cutoff to kearsarge pass after crossing some frigid creeks. The climb up the hill was tough especially with numb feet from the near freezing water. After we reached the cutoff we walked through some completely snow covered meadows that were pretty icy due to it being early in the morning. It was extremely tough to keep on the trail since it was so snow covered and the footprints were mostly melted. We saw the trail above us and climbed up some scree passed bulldog lake to where the switchbacks over the pass began. It was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen with the reflection of the mountains off the lakes and the pine trees surrounding it. There were multiple waterfalls from the snow melt that added to the beauty. Kearsarge was not a tough pass and we crossed it with ease and glisaded some down the other side. As we were coming down to the road we saw gnar and rachiopod for the first time in many days and continued down to onion valley. Sadly hot cheese dislocated his shoulder by falling on snow and may be out for a while. Once we got to the bottom dr Chonzy (Ryan) and escalator reset his shoulder with an android first aid app. Then we took the bus to lone pine and got a hotel for 50 a night and squeezed 4 people in it. The night ended with the spa enjoyment.

Beautiful alpine lake

The view from camp. Looks like the materhorn ride

Day 46- forester pass

Today I climbed the highest point on the pacific crest trail. It's forester pass at well over 13000 feet. It was a bit dangerous in parts. The pass began about 7 miles into our hike at tindall creek. It was covered in snow there. From that treacherous creek crossing requiring all four of us to hold each other up, we crossed a 7 mile snow field. It was very hard and tiring walking. We lost the trail a few times but Ryan seemed to be very good at reading maps and he got us trough the part escalator and hot cheese did not remember from '09. Once we got to the base of the real steep climbing, we made sure our crampons and microspikes were all tight then scaled the icy face. We got to near the top and hooked up with some switchbacks in the rocks. When we were only a few feet from the top we had to cross a very steep ice bridge. At the top we had hot chocolate to celebrate just like Whitney. On the other side we glissaded down thousands of feet of switchbacks. It was really fun. Then a good five miles of snow walking to our campsite in the beautiful kings canyon to round out our 21 mile day. Tomorrow we head over kearsarge pass to independence and hopefully lone pine for a day or 2.

Day 45-Whitney up and down

After camping within 3 miles of the top of Whitney, we made it to the top pretty early and spent nearly four hours up there. The views were amazing. Mountains on all sides covered in snow. The trek up was not so easy and I used my crampons in the icy early morning to have enough traction to walk. After walking some sheer ice cliffs, I could finally see the shelter on top. We had made it. One small snow field and then it was to the top. We made our hot chocolate at the top and really enjoyed it. Lil Buddha, Ryan, crew and myself were first up and I was pleasantly surprised to see goodness and Zim show up in time for our hot chocolate party. After this we walked down a couple miles and then glissaded down cutting off many switchbacks. It was really fun. We finally got back to crabtree meadows after seeing many old faces on their way ip the trail to attempt Whitney tomorrow. At camp I had some mashed potatoes and couscous (only meals I have left). Since Whitney is not directly on the pct (8mile side trail) forester pass is the highest point on the trail at well over 13000 and that is the pass we will climb over tomorrow.

Conquered mt Whitney! Highest in continental USA

Day 43-Whitney

Whitney is a monster of a mountain, the highest in the continental united states. It is also full of snow in this record snow year. The morning started out with the climb out of chicken spring lake and then down to rock creek which was flowing very heavily. Our fiercesome foursome was still escalator hot cheese and Ryan and we flew through the day. Once the 16 or so miles were done we stopped and camped at crabtree meadows and it was beautiful. There was a golden marmot and many deer in the meadow. Around eight four of us decided to hike up Whitney and camp on top. After losing the trail many times; having to cut steps, and then ending up scalage a rock face with no sign of the trail we decided to camp. We are within a mile of the top and will summit very early tomorrow. The climb was definitely one of the scariest things I have ever done. Without a doubt we are camped at over 14000 feet elevation.

Chicken spring lake frozen over

The sierras!

Amazing views!

Day 43-gaining elevation

The morning was cold. There was ice on a couple of the tents from the morning dew. I was cowboy camped but with my acquired knowledge that camping under trees helps avoid the morning moisture, I stayed dry. I took my time this morning in order to let the slower people get ahead, as we would all be camping together. Then after a solid breakfast and some hot chocolate that i got from the Kennedy meadows hiker box, I headed out. Shortly after leaving i caught escalator and hot cheese who we call the french legion together because they sing while they walk. Ryan was also with them. We all walked the rest of the way and played some games with naming actors colleges and countries. Frequently throughout the day we passed lil Buddha, for now, and Noah. Around 2 we finished our second day of fifteen miles and arrived at death canyon creek. We set up camp, ate lunch and created a washer set up similar to the one Tom has at Kennedy meadows except we used our trekking pole baskets instead of washers and cooking pots as the holes. We played all evening. Everyone rolled in to camp at different times. Most notably the last few were squirrel and little bug (couple), canadoug, and finally crew and his brother Justin who we have named search and rescue because he always gets lost. For dinner I ate mashed potatoes with tuna and they tasted pretty good. We made a fire tonight and hung out for a while before everyone drifted off to bed. The one thing we all seemed to have in common tonight was the need for some pressure equalization. Tomorrow the plan is 21 miles to chicken spring lake which is said to have snow and be very pretty. So far the snow conditions are patchy at around 10500 feet.

Day 42-into the sierras

We woke up to toms breakfast, as was usual and had our coffee with it. I put some finishing touches on this pack from the hiker box and got my stuff ready to go. One more game of washers and then we headed out. We left around 11 and 4 miles in learned we were hurting. Me and lil buddha began to feel our stomachs get a little queasy. It seemed we were some of the few that felt the minerals from toms faucet react with our stomachs. It was not fun. It was the hardest 15 miles of the trip by far and we (along with crew and his brother Justin) averaged under 2 miles an hour. after ten miles we came to a meadow and could see the sierras all snow tipped and off in the distance, it was amazing! Then after that it was a tedious 4 miles to camp where our Sierra group of probably 15 was waiting. I had a big dinner because I finally felt like eating. The Spanish rice and mashed potatoes were great. I am exhausted even from the short mile and going to get some recover sleep right next to this south fork of the kern

Day 41- death canyon creek

I felt much better today. I had the ability to hike without too much fatigue and could keep up with the fast group of escalator and hot cheese. It was a good quality day. Ryan hiked with us as well. We hiked to the tune of some trivia and movie actor naming as we climbed a very monotonous hill. It was only a 14 mile day which ended at a nice creek where we made our snow baskets course. It was only 2 in the afternoon and we played for the rest of the night.

Day 40 meadow

Today u felt real sick on the long 14 mile day that seemed to just drag on. Little buddah and me both seemed to have a similar sickness. It was lil buddah me and crew who hiked together most of the day through beautiful meadows with streams running through them and great views if the sierras. We are almost into them. Only 2 more days until we really get into the high sierras. Hopefully I end up feeling better tomorrow. It seems to be some kind of stomache problem that is leaving me with no appetite.

Day 39- a hold up

We were going to hike out today, on the summer solstice (naked hiking day). But one of the people in our group, Justin (crews brother) had some bad foot issues so we reluctantly zeroed again. Everyone agreed we would leave Kennedy meadows tomorrow. So we spent the day like a typical zero. Ryan, hot cheese, escalator, and myself played lots of washers and went swimming. Down at the river we saw the water was a bit higher than the previous day, so we came up with a game. We would start down river and race to see who could walk 100 yards upstream the fastest. We did it twice and escalator and myself were the winners. After this I decided to deal with my pack. After investigating my options, I decided to take advantage of the rare find of a pack in the hiker box. A hiker box is where people get rid of whatever they don't need. There are stoves, food, clothes, shoes, all kinds of tools, and on the rare occasions packs. I sewed it up with some dental floss and got it usable. I then mailed home my broken pack along with 13 other pounds and when I had the new pack all loaded up it was 48 pounds. It must have weighed a ton with my older heavier pack. The night ended with sitting around the campfire listening to hot cheese and escalator use there amazing voices and musical talent. I am ready to leave leave Kennedy meadows and get into the real sierras.

Day 37 and 38-24 hour walk

Today I hung around walker pass deep into the third day I had been there. This culture that exists on the trail is just so amazing it makes you want to immerse yourself in it. Then about midday (because I knew I would be leaving today) I thought of a way to challenge myself. I was going to walk the 50 miles from walker pass to kennedy meadows in 24 hours (actually 50.5 if you want to be exact). The hardest part was actually leaving walker pass because such great people kept showing up. In the end I left about 9 at night, after finally forcing myself to leave all the people at walker that I had not seen in a while. I began to walk. It got real dark quick and the moon was not up until deep into the night. I was walking by head lamp, but I was walking real quick. After about 5 hours of walking I took my first two hour nap. I figured in the end the sleep would help me more than it would hurt my attempt. I woke up, packed my stuff up real quick and began walking again. This time I had to pull out the jolly ranchers to suck on in order to keep my concentration in the real early morning. But at the same time as being a bit tough, it was a nice time to walk. The temperature was cool, the stars and moon were bright, and my legs and feet felt good. Before I knew it, I already had 20 miles down. The simple fact of still having 30 to go at around 7 in the morning made the task seem pretty daunting. But I just kept walking. Somewhere in the section I took my second and much needed nap. This one was nearly three hours. I woke up and then it was all business. I saw Ryan who I had met earlier and hiked with and we hiked probably over ten miles together. He then decided to stop at the small creek just before we got to the kern river and about 8 miles from Kennedy meadows. I was so close that I figured I could not stop now and should just try to push on. So I did. I flew through the first half of the eight miles with excellent views of the distant sierras, then it began to get dark. I began to drag, my feet began to hurt, my legs were cramping up, but there was no way with my competitive nature that I could quit four miles short of my goal. So through the aches and pains of my body I walked that last eight miles. I finally made it to the road to kennedy meadows and dropped. I needed to sleep. It was only a half mile walk down the road to the tiny town but I had no more miles in me. I had made it! I would go into town for breakfest the next morning. Sometime during this long day of hiking one of the bars on my pack had snapped clean in half, creating a pretty big problem going into the sierras. I noticed this after I had begun feeling some unusual pain, stabbing into my back, hopefully it is fixable at least until I can figure something else out. After this long day of walking I have two days to recover before our excellent group is off into the Sierras. 702.2 miles done and I still enjoy it!

Day 36-helping out

Today I figured that if I wanted to go into the sierras with this group I have been with then I will need to slow down a bit. It is a good idea to enjoy the best section in the trail. So today I helped with some trail magic at walker pass. Between rides food stocking caches, I kept busy and picked the brains of the experienced people for the sierras. I still should be in Kennedy meadows real soon to begin the sierras!

Day 35 it's proven

Well with having to make some phone calls and deal with the real world again, I did not end up getting any miles in today. I'm not worried, I have already found a group to hike the sierras with and it does not matter whether I wait for people at Kennedy meadows or another place. Everyone says the main thing is to go real slow and enjoy this next section. That's the plan! After all I have already completed southern California (the largest of the 6 sections). So I went into lake Isabella, a pretty terrible town, washed a pair of socks, updated the blog finally, and then jumped in the community pool. I also watched the Stanley cup finals with a Canadian and showed off my rattlesnake skin to everyone. I'm gonna get some trail cred now! Tomorrow I may hike, I may not I am literally under 100 miles from the sierras and I want to hike with this group that has done it before because it is over 250 percent of the average as far as the snow pack goes this year. Judging by what I have done the past few days I can make it all up in northern California. So tomorrow I may hang out with canandoug and lil Buddha to figure out their Sierra plan because they will be very fun to hike with and they have the experience.

The next section

So the deal is during this next section I am going into the sierras where it is supposedly the best part of the trail but I may also mean I go days without service. I am already scheduled to go with good people into this record snow year and will continue to blog every day, it just may be days between when I can post and it will be multiple days posted at a time and hopefully some amazing pictures. Thank you everyone for following me through the trip of my life. I will post as much and as many good pictures as possible.

One of many amazing sunsets I have seen!

Day 34- push to walker pass

Today I was woken up by little buddha before 6. It was time to get up. So I got up, had a poptart, and began my day. By my math I had about 31 miles to get to walker pass campground where I heard there was some trail magic (dinners) going on. So I vegan walking at a real good pace and caught lil' Buddha. I was walking over 4 miles an hour for 5 miles to catch him and when I finally did we hit it off immediately and hiked the rest of the day. He has hiked over 15,000 miles in the past 5 years after quiting his job. We both cracked jokes for 25 miles. About 24 miles in we came across about 12 hikers sitting near a semi gross looking spring. Lil Buddha and I both took about a half liter before realizing it was gross water. One of the ladies, half steps asked us if we have been treating the water on the section. But when we told her we haven't treated water in nearly 400 miles, she freaked out. It was funny but neither of us have gotten sick. After this we walked a mile to get some good water and a real campground bathroom. Here I took lunch around 4 and then after our long rest we destroyed the last 7 miles and made it into the campground for our drinks and burgers! It was amazing trail magic. Hiking with lil Buddha was great because he has hiked the trail and he gave me lots if tips and pointer on where to stop and how to do certain sections. After my 94 miles in three days I am very tired.

Day 33-the legend with no pants

Today I did laundry. No washer or dryer necessary. No detergent although it may have been necessary. It was about 315 and I was 19 miles into my day, and there was a stream about a foot deep. Recently even I have been able to smell myself so I knew it was time to wash and do wash. I stripped down to my compression shorts (underwear) and washed all my dirty clothes then set them out in the sun. I ate my couscous and rice while I waited and rested. Finally I got antsy to get going and my clothes were not wet with the exception of my very thin shirt which was damp. So I strapped, tied, and clipped over ten articles of clothing to my pack and began walking. Did I mention I was hiking in my compression shorts with no pants. This went on for over 3 hours and ten miles. Don't worry, nobody saw. Around 700 when I reached kelso road I put shorts on. More to stay dry than anything else and hiked another 5 miles.

Today was the total opposite of yesterday. I was real tired and unmotivated yesterday. Today I was just into hiking. I racked up 38 miles today! It's amazing what a good full night sleep can do for you. Even if it is in a windfarm. Today was filled with lots of hiking along the edge of the dessert. Sometimes in pine tree forests. If you want to get technical (as the fault lines go) I am in the Sierra Nevadas, although it does not look like it yet and there is no snow. Today was also the second time that I ended up running out of water. It was pretty hot and I drank more than I expected and had to hike 2 miles without water. I survived it though and drank plenty the rest of the day. Tomorrow I should be in walker pass campground where I heard a rumor that some trail angels are hosting a dinner! Il try not to expect too much. Then after that I should be in Kennedy meadows in two days. The real Sierra Nevadas!

Day 32-no one

Today I didn't see a sole on the trail. It's because most people stayed in tehachapi or Mojave so they started the day 10 miles behind me. Even so, I did not feel like hiking today. I took many many breaks, with about half of them being long ones. I attribute the lack of motivation to not sleeping well the past few nights. The scenery today was made up mostly of hills that bordered on mountains. Many of which had wind farms on them. It was especially tough to start out too, because I had to climb over 2000 feet to get up into the mountains. Here I had to put my headphones in to fight through the tiredness. It was the first day I have listed to music since day one. Well I got through it all and pushed myself to make it to the water source that was 15 miles in. I filled up and got in 6 more miles. Bringing my daily total to 21 very hard miles. I thought eating good food would make me feel better so I had gnocchi for lunch and spanish rice for dinner. Both were excellent and hopefully they help my motivation for tomorrow. I even stopped pretty early today to try to get some extra rest and I was checking out this bump I have had on my dirty leg for a while and found a nearly half inch thorn in it. I got it pulled out and some ointment on it, but maybe that will make me feel better too. I am camped in a wind farm because many people have said that is where there best nights sleep has been and I need a good one. A little over 100 miles to Kennedy meadows. Then the extremely snowy (record snow year) sierras! Can't wait.

Bonus coverage

It's a month into my hike and I have most of it figured out so I wanted to give all the wonderful people following me a little insight into the stuff other than walking that goes on:

Food: I almost always either eat granola with dried fruit and raisins in it or a poptart for breakfast. I usually supplement it with some dried fruit. Lunch and dinner are interchangeable. I only cook one meal a day and I try to do it when I'm near water. This means it's lunch or dinner. It consists of mashed potatoes most often for non cooked meals. But I do also have dehydrated hummas with chips or beans with chips if it is soon after a town I had a resupply package in (mashed potatoes are easy to get in stores). My cooked food can be anything from rice and couscous with a flavor packet to fettuchini Alfredo. To list a few cooked meals I have had lentils (terrible), gnocchi (decent), eggs and hashed brown (ok), pad Thai (excellent), rattlesnake (one of a kind), mexican rice (ok), chicken and noodles (pretty good), spam (forgettable), and Mac and cheese (average).

Camping: most people do not like to dry camp(water near by) but it does not bother me. I usually get to snappy I like between 7 and 8 and make a quick easy meal, and pack up all my food so no animals get in it. I then lay out my pad and sleeping bag. Usually change clothes to sleep in something different and write my blog once I am all situated. After that I can star watch or sleep. In the morning since most my stuff is packed up and I keep my breakfast in an outside pocket, it doesn't take long once I'm out of my bag. I change, shoes and socks, brush teeth, put sleeping bag in stuff sack, strap it all on and then I am good to go.

Big 2000 foot climb to start the day today

Day 31-living up to my name

Some people walk the pacific crest trail, I experience it. Ryan and I began about 7 miles away from the road that I was going to hitch to tehachapi from. The miles blew by. We walked through a pine forest, then into the windfarm. It was amazing how many wind turbines there were. Easily thousands. We saw the road after about 5 mikes, but in the typical pct way, we had to take many switchbacks twists and turns to actually make it. Here I parted ways with Ryan. He was going to walk 8 more miles to the highway where his friend would pick him up. I walked up to the road and used my growing skill of getting a hitch. It is always strange when someone pulls over for you, and the second before you open the door you are a little worried who it might be. This time it was a seventh day adventist on his way to church. He was a little strange but he took me all the way to kmart so I can't complain. I picked up a few things then walked to the post office where I got new shoes! I decided to keep the old ones and try to make some Sierra shoes. I bought some screws at home depot and will play around with creating some traction. After this I was all set. I just needed a small brick of cheese (a nice novelty food that is gone within a couple days). I walked down the street not even trying for a hitch but a lady picked me up and drive me to a store that had cheese. It was still early so from here I decided to try to get back to the trail and try to get some more miles in. I walked for maybe 5 minutes with my thumb up and a guy that works for the windfarm picked me up. I was pretty interested in why they had so many and where the money for the wind turbines came from. He said they were hoping to more than double the thousands they already have. He also said the biggest ones cost 4 million dollars. He dropped me off and I began to walk to the highway. I had a very heavy pack with eight days of food and two pairs of shoes. But I kept walking through the windy fields.

Then suddenly I heard a rattle. One I had heard before. It was loud and coming from about 15 feet away. When I looked there I saw the most poisonous rattlesnake, the Mojave rattler, curled up and rattling franticly only a couple feet from the trail. I threw some rocks to scare it off. No luck. So then I afghani hit it with a rock and it went crazy. Snapping and lunging at the air around it. From here I decided to just go all the way. I got a big rock and put it out of it's misery. But out here on the trail we don't waste things or leave trash, so I decided to eat it for dinner. I cut the head off and buried it, skinned the snake. I kept the skin and the rattle safe and then walked just far enough to be a safe distance from the highway and cooked it over an open fire. A little salt and a side of mashed potatoes made it so good. The three foot rattler made a great meal!

Second wind farm

The mojave dessert we walked 24 miles across

Day 30- a new hiking partner

As I lay here about 6 miles away from the road to tehachapi, I am so amazed at everything that we have hiked through in the last 24 hours and 30 miles. We started in pine trees yesterday, then dessert foothills, the California aqueduct, the LA aquaduct, the true dessert, some foothills into canyons in the dessert, then up an over the surrounding mountains, a burned section atop the mountains, then back into pine trees. These changes are what make the trail amazing and not to mention the outstanding views.

Today I woke up with about 9 or so miles to the faucet and cottonwood creek in the dessert. So I started walking. I went three miles then sat on a cement piling on the LA aqueduct. I ate lots of snack food, then smartass and Ryan showed up. I walked with them the rest of the 6 miles. It was terrible road walking or on the cement cover of the aqueduct today until we reached the edge of the dessert.we sat under the bridge over the creek for probably 30 minutes and rested. Dreamcrusher and tenderfoot showed up when we were about to leave. At that point Ryan and I walked across the scorching heat to the next water 7 miles away. It was a tiny creek but we stayed there out of the heat for over 3 hours. While we were there, little Buddha showed up. I didn't realize how funny he is. He has also done the trail before. We talked and got water and finally around 430 Ryan and I decided to get in ten more miles to shorten tomorrows hike. We climbed about 2000 feet to the top of some bare naked windy ridges. It was a bit cold. After a depressing walk through a burn area, we were both ready to call it a night. Then we saw a great cache with apples and water. We didn't need water but the apples immediately lifted our spirits and we got 3 more miles in.

The wildlife today consisted of literally millions of crickets hoping all over in the foothills of the dessert. They would hit your legs arms eyes face. Little Buddha said he was having a problem with them nailing him in his shaved head. There were lots of lizards. I saw two more mice, and many chipmunks. I also got a cool little video of me holding a horny toad. Well I can see tehachapi from the ridge I am sleeping on, so it should be a short walk then a town day. No big plans. I may hike a few miles out of town tomorrow evening if I can get everything done, or else I heard of a field near the post office to camp in.

Cottonwood creek, the only water for 17 miles. A creek through the middle of the dessert.

Day 29- night hike

The day began with me rising much earlier than everyone else camped near me at mile 503. I walked through the pine trees, downhill for the most part for 7 miles. Then I got to the edge of the dessert. From here I went up, over, around and between dozens of little foothills and finally the trail turned and I walked a couple miles straight into the dessert and then to hikertown. Hikertown was a guy, bob's, property which was kind of set up like a western town. It was a great set up for the hikers. I relaxed here for a while and watched many people come and go for a few hours. At this point I had hiked 15 miles and was looking on getting a few more miles into the dessert in the evening. The problem was so many people I have seen or hiked with kept coming in soni kept getting side tracked. By the time I finally left it was nearly nine. I figured I could get in a few miles. So I walked. We walked along the California aqueduct first then the Los Angeles one. It was a nice night. About 65 with a slight breeze. I decided to stop around 1145 due to tiredness and wanting to be able to hike well tomorrow. The walked totalled about ten miles. It was a very peaceful ten mile night hike than I enjoyed. I could see some big city lights at my back. LA? Either way it was a nice change from continual day walking.

Oasis on the edge of the dessert

Day 28- the real world

Today I finally left the andersons. With poison oak on my ankles knees and wrists, it was not very comfortable hiking. Even so, I got in 25 miles. The day began with a big uphill coming out of green valley and then was relatively flat until the end when we climbed about a thousand feet to a water tank. Along the way I saw a coyote walking down a dirt road, a kangaroo mouse run down the trail, and way too many flies.

Today I also had to make a couple phone calls to the real world, and it was strange. There may be different and difficult people out on the trail, but we all seem to have the same similar attitude. While on the phone I realized how much more uptight with more stress it is in the real world and today that is exactly how I felt. I think all of us hikers out here in the backwoods have a simplified view of life at the moment. We eat, walk and sleep for the most part. Our biggest challenge is finding water. We are thankful for every little thing, even just a real chair. It was a bit of an eye opening day. Now tomorrow I will visit hikertown and then possibly walk 15 miles across the dessert If its not too hot.

Day 27- poison oak

I think I'm going to stay one more day. The poison oak I got ended up getting pretty bad. I think it would be a little uncomfortable to walk and probably a little smarter to try and put some stuff on it. Then I will try again to start back up out of the andersons to hikertown hostel (42 miles away). Hopefully I get rid of this uncomfortable itchy stuff.

Day 26-zero

Not much new. I took a zero here at the andersons. It's a great place to relax. I think I will try to head out again tomorrow. Basically we just sat around, had fun conversations, played frisbee golf and had a good time. Another dinner of taco salad was amazing. They know how to do it right here. But it is definitely set up for the younger croud here.

Well I definitely ended up getting poison oak yesterday on my legs. There was so much on the trail it was unavoidable.

Joe Anderson making us 26 hikers all you can eat pancakes!

Day 25- the andersons

Even though they are only a solid day 24 miles) apart, the andersons and the saufleys are polar opposites. The saufleys are very organized with everything labeled while the andersons just have piles of trash everywhere. Even so, I love them both equally much. The andersons tend to cater toward the younger group while the saufleys are for everyone. I am thinking I may do a nearo here tomorrow (low mileage and stay here again tomorrow). Then it will be off to tehachapi. On a side note the taco salad that Teri Anderson makes is so good I have to stay another night. 

On the trail today there were a few climbs that were a bit tougher than the map made them look like. Even so I felt pretty strong. I passed robin and pat as we made a 2000 foot climb and did not see them again. I made it ten miles in and took my break. From this first little water cache it was only about 7 more miles to the famous oasis cache. It was hot and I was tired from pitting in 80 miles in three days. But I made it. The cache was amazing, with a few snacks, pop, beer, decorations, and a notebook to write a little message and sign. I like these notebooks because you can write little funny things or leave messages for people behind you. From there it was a definate struggle. I had 6 miles to go. It drizzled, my feet hurt, and I was tired and hungry but I pushed through it. With 4 miles to go we came up on this huge canyon and you could see the trail go all the way around it. It was kind of nice to see what we had left, but 4 miles is a long way. At least it was mostly flat. When I was about a mile from the road into town it started to rain. So I started to run. I made it most the way but the noticed a pct sign in book. So I stopped signed it and ran the rest of the way. After probably 15 minutes of attempting to hitch into town in the rain, a guy with a truck picked me up and I was into the unique world of the andersons.

The wildlife has been very unique. I have seen many of these large green snakes that according to other hikers are real dangerous. The last one I saw I ran and jumped over after a good picture. I have also seen deer, pools with lots of tadpoles, and many colorful birds. The hikers are the same as always and it's funny how big some of the beards are. I am still having a great time. So far the best part about everything is how fast things change. In 20 miles you can see snow, mountains, walk on ridges, through the dessert, and even through pine forests. There are people walking the trail for very intense personal issues and they have said the trail saved their life. The culture is so different and amazing than anything I have ever experienced. 

2 pictures of hiker heaven

Day 24- heaven

Today was a tough day but it ended in heaven. I woke up with 21 miles to go and I wanted to get in early in the afternoon. I got up and was strong even after my long day yesterday. I did my usual 3 miles and then ate a breakfast of granola at the ranger station. I then put in another 8 miles and made it to an rv park where I met some people walking their dogs. They were so interested in my trip that I gave them my blog. They even offered to take me to their house, do laundry, eat, and shower. But I had to say no because I wanted to make it to hiker heaven. A little ways into the second half of my walk I saw gnar who had not taken the yellow legged frog detour, so I hadn't seen him in a couple days. We walked together, but both hit the wall with about 3 miles left. We sat down, took a break and both finally decided to push on. It was interesting, we walked through a hundred yard tunnel under the highway and then through the amazing Vazquez rocks. Finally we got to a fork in the trail and we took the one that looked like it would get us to the town fastest, not the pct(trail). BIG MISTAKE. we walked 4 miles extra, and did not get any closer to town. We were on the right road just a long way away. After already walking enough to have gotten to the saufleys, we finally got picked up by a nursing home bus. They took us to the center of town. We still had a mile left and got picked up by a hiker who was driving over because she lived close. Talk about lucky!

We were finally at hiker heaven. The first thing that happen was Donna saufleys gave us the tour. She said pick out any cot, their yard was covered with event tents and cots inside, she said she would do our laundry. It must be heaven If someone else is doing laundry. There was a shower, bathrooms, food, tons of hiker box goods, and the best of all, lots of hikers. This place is awesome. There are too many hikers here to try to name or describe them all, but I have the best hiker name for sure. I don't even know where to begin about describing this place. Just awesome!

Vazquez rocks

2 days ago Baden powell climb

Day 23-pushin it

Today was a big one. I woke up with 53.6 miles left to get to agua dulce. I decided I would do it in about 2 days. So I put in 6 hard miles before i met Chris redbeard and one other that I can't remember the name. It's funny because Chris wears all camo all the time and he is the one without a name. Flying through their camp I began one of 2 big climbs I would have today. I made it to the top and saw all the amazing rolling hills (not quite mountains) around me. It was pretty cool. Then another detour started due to a burned section. It wasn't even a trail just 7 miles of dirt road: LAME. At the end of that was the Mill creek ranger station and I decided to eat lunch here. It was about 18 miles into my day. Since I was eating next to the highway, in mid bite a car with two women who had on reflector vests asked if I was ok. I was somewhat shocked. Did I really look that bad. Then I looked myself over and saw that my clothes are very dirty my whole body is brown with dirt, I smell terrible, and I am carrying everything I have on my back in the middle of the dessert. Maybe the ladies had a right to wonder. From that highway the second climb began. 1700 feet up the side of cliffs. Some amazing views, but also some sketchy trail. This is about the point I decided to leave those I have been walking with behind. At the top I made some very good dehydrated beef enchilada casserole with my esbit stove, packed my stuff up and decided to get a few more miles in because I was feeling good. Right when I was leaving dreamcrusher and her boyfriend, tenderfoot, came by and I almost scared them off the cliff. I was quite a bit faster then them and walked until dark. A day totaling 32 miles. Only about 21 to get into agua dulce tomorrow. From where I am camping I am just below the ridge (out of the wind) but can still see 3 different city lights. It looks pretty cool.

Day 22-detours

We finally finished our 18 mile detour to only go twelve trail miles. Now everything counts. The worst part about the detour was that we had to climb 2500 feet in the last 2 miles. The yellow legged frogs better make a comeback from the endangered species list because I did my part.

As for the rest of yesterday I ate lots of mashed potatoes for my meals. They really arnt so bad anymore. For dinner I had some very good Thai noodles (dehydrated) that were nice and spicy.I also got a pretty good streak going of being able to use campground bathrooms instead of just the woods.

After rachiopod goodness Zim and me had walked 20 miles with lots of elevation change, we got to a boyscout camp and saw slip and slide there. They decided to do the roadwalk detour. We had a big fire, stayed up pretty late and had another fun night. I may not see them again because they are pretty slow. I should be in agua dulce in 2 days and I will stay at the legendary saufleys.

Day 21-three weeks

It's been three weeks. I have a trail name, I've nearly walked 400 miles, I've met tons of people, and I'm still into it. Today we walked up Baden Powell mountain today. There were some amazing views, but it was a little cold and windy. After that we lost elevation real quick and crossed highway 2. At that point I had lunch and a long nap. I started back walking after I had a snickers dipped in peanut butter. I gotta eat the five pounds of that I'm carrying somehow. I met back up with the people I've been walking with and they really wanted to take the detour around the endangered yellow legged frogs. I didn't want to because the detour is more miles, but i went anyways. The detour was through a very cool canyon. We were basically scaling the walls of cliffs to walk along it. Now we are camped in the very end of the canyon next to the creek. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful day.