Day 45: Mile 558.5 - 572.9
The problem with trying to get a ride to leave a small town on Sunday morning is that, well, it's Sunday morning. So people will be at morning services and whatnot. But luckily for Runts and I, we were able to find an Uber--Michael, the sole Uber driving operating in Tehachapi at the time--and he got us back to the Willow Springs trailhead. And so we started out, where we had left off, at around 11am. When it's hot.
So for the 8 miles from Willow Springs to Interstate 58--the next landmark--the trail wanders through a wind farm. This section is traditionally very very windy: all the people in Tehachapi who I talked to who had been through this section corroborated this account. Yet when we walked it, it really wasn't that windy. Breezy in places, sure, but for the most part, as we walked the hills between the windmills, not windy. Runts had started out ahead of me (I went back to where we had crossed Willow Springs road and crossed it back, then re-crossed it, due to my OCD graph connectivity syndrome), and when I finally passed her, I said I don't know whether to be happy or sad that it isn't more windy. I'm sad, she said immediately. Yeah, it's hot, I replied. And it was. But one benefit of my "hike every Saturday, rain or shine" is that I've hiked in 90+ and 100+ degree weather and--while this wasn't necessarily the smartest thing to do--it does build a certain hea tolerance. So while I was certainly slower than I would have been in cooler weather, still, I could make it through with only on-trail breaks. (On-trail breaks are when I stop to catch my breath--I mean, take a photo--or when I stop and lean on my poles for a beat or two or three while listening to my heart pound, or when I stop to fiddle with a piece of gear that I've been trying to adjust while on the move but that's failed. In contrast, off-trail breaks are when I get off trail and take an actual break, usually by getting in the shade and taking my shoes off.) And it was kind of interesting watching the windmills at work. Some were spinning, lots weren't. And, as Gretchen had pointed out when I bumped into her in the lobby of the hotel yesterday, you can see multiple generations of windmill technology. There's the really old ones on the black towers which are being gradually decommissioned, then the newer ones on the white towers but they're still small and have red-tipped blades, then the newest ones on white towers, huge, with the name Vestas emblazoned in blue on the side. I wondered if the windmills rotated to better catch the wind, then started speculating on how that algorithm would work (sensing pressure on the blades?, tracking speed of rotation then a walking algorithm to the optimum?, but then how much energy would you burn in searching?), but when I mentioned it to Runts she just said, I think they're fixed. Eh, she's probably right!
Eventually the trail crossed over a ridge and dropped into the Interstate 58 corridor. Here the wind picked up, but only in spots: it would be calm and I would go to get my umbrella, then I'd turn a corner and it'd get really windy and I've stow the umbrella, then it would be calm and I'd go for my umbrella, rinse and repeat. Eventually I wised up and just took the heat. The trail descended down, joined up with a road. And of course here I stopped by the side of the road to take a leak, and of course as I'm doing my business a car passes by, and of course the driver gives me a friendly honk and waves, and of course, well, there's nothing I can do but look like an idiot. Anyway, the road eventually becomes an overpass over the freeway; I crossed, found the water cache on the other side. I climbed a little past the water cache, took lunch, snoozed a little, then went to get water: 4 L in all, since the next water was 16 miles away so I'd have to camp in between. And when I went down, Runts was there, doing the same. We synced up: she wanted to get to a campsite 6 miles away, where it was advertised that there was shelter from the wind, I agreed and headed out.
The next bit followed I-58 east for a spell, then turned north and started heading up the other side of the corridor. This was a climb again, and one which--with 8 days of food and 4 L of water on my back--was a slog. The incline wasn't bad--give me a day-pack and I'd be fine--but with the weight, it was tough. But here I found myself thinking of an email I'd gotten from Sydney Jones of the Laguna Canyon Foundation. I volunteer with them for trail maintenance, and in an email she'd mentioned my PCT trip and said to try to enjoy every minute of it, even the cold, wet, and tired ones. And I found myself resurrecting the "go back to Saturday" mentality, only this time it had nothing to do with community or identity or belonging, but instead just, hey, I've haven't walked this before, this is new, let's walk it and see what it's like. And when it gets dark, I'll set up my tent--so I don't have to go back to the car--and so I don't even need to worry that the hour is getting later and later and yet I'm getting further and further from civilization. And that simple idea, that was enough to get me up the mountain and to the campsite 6 miles away. I got into camp late, around 7pm, but did make it and, thankfully, it was sheltered. Up here, the winds blow pretty strong--there's a reason they set up a wind farm around here--and even a quarter of a mile away from the campsite I was wondering, how are we going to get a sheltered spot up here? And it turns out there is: a grove of trees, short, but tall enough that you can set up tents under them, and that's where I set up. And that was the hike!
Some notes:
-- Tehachapi > Willow Springs > Wind Farm > Interstate 58 > Campsite
-- Today I met Michael, who was our Uber driver. He's both the Uber and the Lyft driver in the area, and he had been busy: 40-50 rides over the past couple days. He likes the hikers--Tehachapi survives for these couple months off you guys, he said--and only had gripes with a couple rides (usually those rides to far away places, since he has no fare on the way back). But he had a lot going on: selling a house, buying a new one, starting a business (an app to for small businesses), his primary job working on film sets, a lot of stuff. But he was giving us a ride, and we were thankful: we hadn't heard back from the trail angels that we'd called, likely because it *was* a Sunday morning. I'd never used Uber before so this was my first experience: I hope the good rating and the tip went through!
-- Today I re-met Magic Man, sitting on the back of his pickup truck, as if he'd never moved from the last time. I was heading back to where we'd left the trail a couple days ago, and when he saw me he said you're going the wrong way. Really, I said, feigning surprise. But no, I said, and briefly mentioned the graph thing. I spoke with him a little bit, mostly about his plans. He was heading up to Kennedy Meadows soon and not staying too long, so I won't be able to see him there, but he was also going to give rides from Kearsarge, and that was a longer stint, so I might see him there. I thanked him, said that maybe we'll see each other again, and then continued on my way, going the *right* way up the trail.
-- Today I met Magic (not to be confused with Magic Man) at the campsite. Magic was cowboy camping--and hoping the ants who live here would soon go to sleep (it's almost as if they knew that people camped here or something)--had his setup all laid out when I arrived. We talked a bit about the trail: I talked about the lunar eclipse (which he'd missed), and he talked about the blood moon the day after (which I'd missed). And then he went off to enjoy the sunset--which was magnificient (and it happens *every* *single* *day*) while I finished my dinner. Oh, and Magic sleeps in these purple pants--I have to say, those pants are awesome, I said and that got a chuckle--and he loves them: they're soft (almost look like velor), they're shiny (got some rayon in them I tihnk), and when it gets hot he pulls up the pant legs to just below the knee to cool off. Everybody asks him what they're made of--heck, I did!--but he lost the tag before he thought to look, so he doesn't know. Too bad: if I knew, I'd get a pair for myself!
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