Day 47 - Kennedy Meadows to Kennedy Meadows campground

Today was almost a zero day.
We woke up to a chilly morning, and Yair took off to Ridgecrest to return his rental car. We were hoping he'd have good luck hitching back.

Bambi and Rudolph relaxing at the "Internet Cafe"

We finally got our laundry done, and had a shower, after the water shortage ended. So we were relatively clean. I then started the task of arranging my food for the next 7 hiking days. It's a long stretch, and we also have to fit about 5 days of food inside our Bear canisters. I managed to get all of my food inside my canister, for the entire 7 days. I just don't eat that much. I hope I won't get too hungry on the trail.
Yair got back just before 13:00, and we decided officially that we'd head out in the evening, just to hike the short, 2.4 miles trail to the campground.
We spent the rest of the time organizing, sending boxes to Lone Pine, eating good meals I got from home (thanks!) and laying around.
At about 18:00 we left the general store, and headed out. We stopped to weigh our heavy packs at the Internet Cafe. Idan's was 40 pounds, Yair's was 35, and mine was just 30. I hope I didn't forget anything.

Entering Bear country

The trail to the campground was easy, and Yair got his first taste of the pct. Once there, we found a nice spot not far from the water spigot, set up camp and made dinner.
A short while later Big Boots, Sock Pot and Twice came by, and made a camp fire in their campsite. We joined in for a while, and it was very nice. Penguin also showed up and camped nearby.
All in all, a very relaxing and easy day.

Day 45 - Joshua Spring to Fox Mill Spring

Today we had quite a day. It was exceptionally hot, and we had a lot of climbing to do.
The first one was in the morning. We managed to do most of it still in the shade, before the sun came over the mountain range to our east.

Crossing the ¼ trail mile mark

From there we went down, and found an unexpected water source just half a mile before the expected one. It was a pretty nice looking creek, and we got good water from it. We also had a nice breakfast there.
And then - another major climb. This one was even longer, and after a lunch break at the "top", we climb a bit more.

Purple flowers in bloom

The day was getting very hot, so at the saddle before the big descent we made another long stop, about 7 miles from the end. But we couldn't bring ourselves to wait out the heat, and headed into the 5 miles hike down at 14:00.
When I got near the Chimney Creek, and the road, at the bottom of the valley, I ran into Bambi. She immediately said "follow me for some trail magic". I literally ran after her to the road, where she gave me two bottles of Gatorade, two cookies, and two tangerines. She also offered a full subway sandwich to split with Idan, but it wasn't vegetarian, and contained ham, so we both didn't take it.
Apparently Steve was just there, picking up Steady for the day, and he gave Bambi and Rudolph all that stuff (and more. They got their share). So we got some awesome magic.
There was also a cooler by the creek. It contained mostly empty cans, but I found one beer can (and so did Rudolph), and Idan drank a diet, decaffeinated, coke. We also had apple squash from there. So all on all - a great stop.
We rested there for about an hour, before the final 2 mile, 1000 feet climb. We got to camp at about 18:00, and found Rudolph and Bambi here. Rudolph hurt his knee yesterday, so they are taking it slow into Kennedy Meadows now. Hopefully they will get there tomorrow.

Days 42-43 - zeroing in Lake Isabella

After the great trail magic dinner up at Walker Pass campground, we also had pancake breakfast for dinner. I failed miserably, and only had one. What can I say? I'm not a breakfast person.
There was another hiker that came in last night, after doing a 40 mile day. And two more that strolled in this morning after doing over 30 yesterday. They were all heading out, and not going into town.
We went out to the highway, and got a hitch in about 10 minutes. The lady who picked us up, Helen, said she just started noticing hikers on this road this year. She leaves in Ridgecrest, and drives over to Lake Isabella every Friday. Two weeks ago she picked up a thru-Hiker from Scotland, and first learned on the whole pct. She was very interested in our hike, and asked a lot of questions about it.
When we got down to Lake Isabella, she said she'd like to take us over to the next town of Kernville, to show us the nice Park over there. So she drove 10 extra miles over there, and we saw the nice Park and the Kern river over there.
Afterwards she got us back to the Lake Isabella motel, and we waited for Big Boots, Rudolph and Bambi. We all shared a two queen size bed room, and Big Boots got to sleep on the floor (and pay less).
We did our laundry while waiting for the room to be ready, and later had a shower. It feels so much nicer to be clean in towns.
Idan and I went over to eat something for lunch. I had a burrito. It was all right, but wasn't made of the freshest ingredients. Then we went to Vons and got supplies for the next, 2.5 days, section to Kennedy Meadows. We also got some town food for tomorrow breakfast and lunch.
Many other hikers arrived during the day, filling up the motel. At the evening Writer came in with a new shipment of hikers, including Penguin. Writer has started a thru-hike on April, and wanted to write about the trail and the hikers. She switched to section hiking, to concentrate more on her writing. She posts her articles on http://howdoyouhikethepct.com
I went for dinner with Big Boots, Sock Pot, Young Oak and Writer, at a nearby Mexican place (a real restaurant, not the fast food from lunch). Writer kept asking us about what motivates us, and what makes us hike the trail. It was an interesting conversation. She got our contact details so she will be able to ask more questions later, for her project.
On our second zero we pretty much did nothing except move three rooms down. And a sand twister took Idan's hat flying across the road, when we went out for lunch.

Day 40 - Robin Bird spring to road crossing on pct mile 625

Last night was even colder than the night before, but I still managed to sleep OK. But this morning was really cold outside.
We took our time, as usual, and left camp last. I hiked most of the day with my wind shirt on, putting on my jacket as soon as we made a stop to eat something. It seemed like it will start raining almost all day long, except that it didn't really, for must of it.

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The hike itself was pretty nice, most of the day, except for a small section of burnt forest.
Our initial plan was to hike an alternate down towards Willow Spring, which was supposedly the last water source for 30 miles, until we reach Lake Isabella. But last night we heard that there is a water cache about 5 miles before Willow Spring, so we figured we'd fill up there and try to hike several miles further today.
When we finally reached the road crossing with the cache, we met Steve, who is supporting his wife Steady, and doing trail magic along the way. We got sodas, snacks and tangerines, and also filled up about 2 liters of water each. The cache itself was empty, and this wouldn't get us all the way to Lake Isabella, but Steve said there is another cache 15 miles further which should be full by tomorrow.
We went further, hoping to get closer to the cache for tomorrow, and hoping we are right to rely on it. Then we met a section southbounder, called GoalTech, who took our photos for his blog, and told us there is a lot of water at the cache. So that put our minds at ease.
We met Big Boots and Steady just at the second intersection with the spring alternate. They were planning to do 5 more miles, but Steady mentioned there's a good camping spot 1.6 miles ahead.
As we were heading out, the rain finally started, and I got pretty wet through my wind shirt. I knew it won't last long, but we agreed we'd tent up at that 1.6 spot until the rain stops, and then figure out what to do.
When we got there, the rain pretty much stopped. I set up my tent, looking for a rock to help me stake in the stakes, when Big Boots and Steady came around, and said they'd go 2 more anyway.
Idan wanted to keep going (it was just over 15:00), and finally he convinced me to take down my tent and head on.

Our camp spot for the night

The next 2 miles were pretty easy, and we got here with Big Boots and set our tents just in time. Rudolph and Bambi came in shortly after. They were planning to get to the next cache, but the weather convinced them to stay, and they also managed to get into their tents just as the rain returned.
We had our dinner inside my roomy tent, while the rain was falling outside. But now it has cleared up, and we even got enough sun to dry my tent. It might rain again during the night, but tomorrow should be warmer.

Day 38 - Tehachapi to Golden Oaks spring

Well, we managed to understand how to catch the Kern bus from Tehachapi back to the trail. We did skip 8 miles of trail, since we got off at Willow Spring Road (mile 258), and got back on at highway 158 (mile 266). Oh well.
Just as we were starting our hike, a trail Angel came along and dropped Happy Feet, Glitter and Path Finder there as well.

Not much shade under those Jushua Trees

At first the trail just went parallel to the highway, but soon it took a turn and started climbing up. We made a short stop on what we hoped was close to the top, but then the trail just kept on climbing and climbing.
At the end of the climb we found a nice tree which already had Happy Feet and Geordi under it. We stopped for a while, and then noticed a cement goats head on that tree. That was creepy.
We went on, and the trail was rather nice for a while, before it got on a 4x4 road for 4 miles. But it wasn't that bad.

More wind turbines

The final 4 miles were rather easy, and we made it early to the spring, only doing just under 17 miles today.
We got some water to wash our socks, and set up our tents, when Happy Feet and Geordi came along. Path Finder, 10 Speed and Rags came along later, as well as Bambi and Rudolph. Glitter should also join soon.
Tonight it will be 3 degrees down at Tehachapi, and we are higher than the town. So it might be freezing here tonight.