In 2.5 days we have covered the distance from Agua Dulce (mile marker 454) to Tehachapi (558). It has been a trip of ups and downs, night and day hiking, excitement and frustration.
Ups:
- 30+ mile club. 34-mile hike from Agua Dulce into Lake Hughes propelled us into a club that typically doesn't start until Oregon.
- Going Old School. Taking the Old PCT straight across the Mojave Desert. While it may have required us to hop a few barbed wire fences in the middle of the night, and turn our heads to a couple of warning signs, we reduced 54 miles to 20 miles in an ill advised adventure, again, with no maps.
- Rock Inn. 5 delicious meals at the Rock Inn in Lake Hughes, CA. A flashback to the Old West, and a local town that many PCT hikers skip. We didn't, and we were rewarded with great food, a great atmosphere, and great conversation with the local community.
- Beards. Yeah, they are coming in pretty solid, extremely 'Murican.
- World Cup. We set a goal of making it to Tehachapi for the World Cup. While many called us crazy, we are here. Mile Marker 558.
Downs:
- The Wind. 24+ hours of 30-40 mph sustained winds. At first, I was excited by the 12+ anemometers that I saw. After about 30 minutes, I couldn't hear myself think.
- Night Hiking. What started out as excitement, turned into an exhausting, frigid, wind-filled death march.
- Pain. 74 miles covered in 60 hours has reminded our bodies that more miles is more pain.
We are still working on figuring out the next couple of weeks. We have 18 days until my flight out of Mammoth Lakes. We will keep you all in tune with the next leg of the adventure. In case you were wondering, the American Flag bandanas are out, it's almost kickoff.
We've been singing Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" for about 48 hours. It's time.
- Brandon
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Glad you all are safe! Any other comments need to be heard by only you!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom
Awesome! You guys are amazing. You'll do Oregon in a week!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like there's been a good bit of route relocation since 1990. I went right by Lake Hughes, but don't remember going near Tehachapi. Did you pull water out of the test holes in the LA aqueduct? We used to tie rope to cooking pots, lower them down into the darkness, and then draw the water up. It was kind of cool to be drinking Sierra snow melt in the middle of the Mojave.
I was going to try to send a package to Agua Dulce, but time got away from me. I'm not sure what your schedule is now or where you're going, so I guess I'll wait until it's more clear. Sorry to hear that the snow is such a problem. Be careful in the Sierras, especially south side of Forrester Pass.
soak in your surroundings fellas, you are witnessing the environment that created the greatest human to walk the earth...me. but no really, you passed it a few days ago but that shit hole of a desert was where i grew up until we made the move east to big orange country
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