May 18, 2018

Mile 566.4

 

+ High: Personal Best Record!!!! 28 miles a day!
- Low: n/a
• Favorite gear: Gossamer sun umbrella

 

Day 46

The stretch out of hiker town is mainly flat alongside of LA Aqueduct. It’s 17.6 miles to the next water source in a wind farm and there won’t be any tent site available in 22.4 miles. That means, at least, I have to walk 22.4 miles before I can camp. Papa Bear was right. I probably have to finish this stretch in two days.

I started walking around 6, earlier than usual since a lot of people were talking about night hiking through this section. There aren’t so many shades along the way and they worry about the heat.

It was such a pleasant walk for me, almost completely flat for the first 18 miles. It was hot but also windy, so I didn’t feel the heat at all with my umbrella. I kept the pace at 3 miles an hour till the wind farm. The fastest pace I've ever done on trail.

I got to the water source at Mile 534.9 around 1. I saw Napoleon and Dreamer lying on top of the faucet platform. They left the Hikertown so early that they had to stop and took a nap here. They were exhausted. Napoleon is a funny Dutch girl. She got the trail name because she reached out to her chest pocket too often to get snacks. I refilled my water bottle and felt like moving on. It was hot but the wind was just about right to swept away the heat. I came across a guy, whom I washed my clothes with at the Hikertown, on the bridge next to the faucet. we finally exchanged our names. His name Simba. He has a very warm and cute smile. He and his girlfriend started in the middle of the nght around 1am and now they were exhausted. I was not surprised...

After the faucet, the trail started to go up into another mountain. I was in such a good shape that day that I just kept walking. Passing through couple more water source and stopped at mile 545.1. That's almost a 28 miles day. I never thought I would be able to do 25+ miles a day. It's an incredible feeling.

I met Gourmet at the tent site. He is a hiker from Hong Kong, who is famous for his trail food. I'm really surprised that I've met so many people from Asia on the trail. I never know the trail culture is so active in Asia. Gourmet planned to walk another 10 miles to get to the mountain top after dinner. I wished him luck.

It was a perfect day.

Day 47

It's only about 13 miles to Tehachapi. I did the 3 miles climb from 4600 ft to 6300 ft in the morning and the rest of the day was just a bless. The view of a wind farm was always surreal. I enjoyed it very much. At the summit, I saw "Mile 549 Bar and Grill", a trail magic with water, food, and a spectacular view of the valley. I also ran into these group of 3 hikers meditating on the mountain top. Weird things happen on trail...

The rest of the miles were easy. I got to the trail head by Tehachapi Willow-Spring road around 2pm. The trai angels printed a list of their names and phone number that we could call for a ride. I found it really really amazing. I got a ride in two calls.

And I'm in Tehachapi!

Tehachapi, CA, USA