We saw Epic at the cinema, four bucks and we had the most amazing lime and cherry frozen slushy. I can't say what I enjoyed the most about the film, it could easily have been that it had a ton of greenery which I hadn't seen in over a month, or it was simply that amazing slushy. Either way I had fun.
We ended up hanging around in Tehachapi until well after six and didn't have any trail angel numbers to call for a ride back to the trail, so we try for the old hitching technique. The one with the thumb. Not the dodgy thumb, the normal one. Just before we were about to give up and walk to the Appletree Inn to try find trail angel numbers a married couple in a massive Ford pickup stopped, and despite just arriving at their friend's house where they were about to have dinner they offered us a ride to the trail. The Wife chattered to us as the Husband went in to advise their friend of the change of plans, they were celebrating his success in attaining a job as a doctor after being in the US for over two years on food stamps (I think they were from Latin America). Apparently he was mighty excited.
It was interesting driving out as neither myself nor Rebecca or Rocket Llama could say where the trail began (as we skipped 8 miles of dry hilly windmills) and it was on a four-six lane motorway. We ended up driving almost the entire way to Mojave, where the Wife seemed very eager to drop us rather than on some motorway in the middle of the desert at sunset. She was very motherly. Finally we stop at an overpass, and somehow it was exactly where the trail resumed. The Husband said a quick prayer for our safety and we headed back into the hills.
The hike began with a 1 - 1500 feet uphill, which was a slog, and full of wildlife. First we saw a pair of beady eyes reflected in our head torches lurking amongst a stand of Joshua trees. Then Rebecca briefly saw a 'deer-sized' animal above us, followed by a skunk rushing down the trail towards us (luckily no spray, although I suspect it would generally make a hiker smell better). And another large animal dashing just out of sight, it was a nervous night with all the talk of mountain lions and bears previously.
At about 10:30 pm we camp, waking late at around 7 am we set off trying to beat the heat. We don't at all beat anything, crashing under a tree we see Coyote Jodie, Vagazzle and Safari pass us heading for the water source, at which point I realise I'm out and Rebecca only has 1 litre left. It's the heat of the day and we're around 2 hours hike from this water. It goes cloudy for a while so we pack up and head out, the clouds clear almost instantly. We have to crash an hour on until late afternoon or risk even more serious dehydration. It was uncomfortable but we survived.
There were about ten or twelve other hikers resting at the water by the time we got there, and a thirsty bull also decided to join us at one point. Lets just say we filtered the water and used the Steripen. It was a wonderful trough full of tadpoles and cow spit, with only a trickle of water that wasn't spit-flavoured. More night hiking through creepy burned skeleton forests, and a rocky campsites crawling with giant ants to rest our tired bones.
The next day we hike through our first proper forest with real green grass on the ground. It was amazing, we made it to Robin Bird spring and rested extensively, Coyote Jodie and Vagazzle apparently saw a bear that day too. Safari picked up a baby bird in the hopes that it was a hawk he could raise, I don't think it was. I hope it's ok, but I think the whole circle of life part that Mufasa glossed over in his Simba-talk may have claimed that baby bird. We had a great close encounter with a deer then camped near a grassy (grass!?) meadow. While hiking through yet more burn-zone we startled a sleeping fawn lying under a charred tree trunk the next morning. Descending about 1000 feet we found ourselves in what can only be described as the worst desert section excluding the Mojave proper. It's like mid spring when you think winter is finally over and several days of shit weather hits you. We thought we were so close to being out of the desert it would get better.
It was in this section that I began thinking 'why the hell would anyone hike through a desert? Testing yourself? Physical endurance? Or some sort of sick punishment? Why the hell not just hug a ****ing cast iron stove, it'd be a hell of a lot quicker and cheaper!'
Lets just say without the two strategically placed water caches that section would have been a hell of a lot harder, I think there was one natural water source in over 50 miles and it was 1.8 miles off trail. At sunset, after spending a draining day under Joshua trees dreaming of cream tea and English baking, Rebecca almost stood on the head of a Mojave Green Rattlesnake. According to Vagazzle that one's the most poisonous, with not one but two neuro-toxins (one being named after the snake itself). It didn't move, but as soon as we tried to dodge uphill it coiled back, hissing and rattling, fortunately it slid downhill rather than towards us. Waiting a few moments after it slid out of sight we continued on. At a road crossing a few miles on we met Horny Toad, an Israeli guy who had to skip 400 miles of the desert because he started too late and all the water caches were used up. He'd been to the water source 1.8 miles off trail earlier that evening and encountered a thirsty mountain lion. So we hear this just before dark and we intend to hike several miles further to the next water cache. Needless to say we camped early, and not just because Rebecca was feeling ill.
The next day we hiked 27 miles (43.5 km) to Walker Pass. It was hot early, with a wonderful 1000 or so feet climb nice and early. I could feel every tendon in my body by the end of it. But Pippin sourced us a ride from a lady who was riding the trail, I can definitely respect someone riding. Two more pairs of feet to look after, more food and a hell of a lot more water to worry about. Her brother gave us a ride in, Vagazzle and Coyote rode in the back with no seat belts. They regretted this when we found out half way to Lake Isabella that the guy was still quite drunk when he asked Safari to take a breath test on a machine attached to the ignition. He'd had it fitted after a previous DUI. He offered us a ride back, but he was going fishing so we figured he was drinking more.
We hit Nelda's diner first, it was the first authentic American diner we went to. And it was great, two whole pages of crazy milk shakes and coffee with unlimited refills! After we'd all finished a pair of middle aged guys came up and started asking us questions, it turned out they were making a documentary for the The Discovery channel and were cruising around The States on BMW bikes (they were very obviously sponsored by them) seeking out people who seek crazy adventures. Then interviewing them, so they asked us a bunch of questions about why we do this stuff. We threw them a bone and gave them some juicy stuff, especially since I'd had three whole coffees! Essentially they took what they wanted from what we said, edited it and produced something with some sort of point. The best part was when they paid for our breakfast, there must have been at least 9 hikers so it didn't come cheap.
We hit up the supermarket for food, got plenty of fresh fruit and berries then headed to the Lake for some chill time. It was too hot for chill time but we did what we could. Later Rocket Llama, Rebecca and I walked back in to town for pizza and grabbed 1.75 liters of spiced rum and 4 liters of coke and back to the lake again for a wild night where we met Steve the Italian-Mexican ghost, roasted marshmallows on the fire, listened to classic rock and danced under a half-moon. It was Coyote's birthday, but she was at a bar with most of the other hikers drinking themselves sick. So Steve drunk their share of rum.
I remember Rebecca sourced a ride to the Lake after buying that rum using her poshest English accent, the guy still asked me if I had any weapons on us (apparently the town is full of old people and meth heads). We said no, I think Rocket Llama had her knife but she didn't say. She's pretty adamant about always having an 'edge'.
In the morning Steve made us ravioli by opening a can and sticking it in the fire, he also made coffee which we put marshmallows in and a side of crisps and bread. It was perfect. I learned later that while Rocket Llama was on the phone to her Mum he said "I'm gonna kidnap you, marry you, murder you and divorce you!"... it didn't make much sense but I'm glad he didn't follow through. Apart from that he never swore in front of ladies and always reminded us to respect women. It was odd. I also remembered asking him about his military service, it was a really bad idea. It was so much worse that the end of First Blood, you know the part where Rambo is sobbing and you can't understand him. Steve had most definitely been to Vietnam.
After many hugs given to cheer Steve up he seemed ok, I assured him he wasn't a ghost and he was real to us. It was nice. We went back to Nelda's for breakfast, it wasn't as good. Probably because it wasn't free. We get a ride out to the trail with Junior (another Pippin sourced ride) and wait until around 6 pm to set off. It was still hot but we played word games until dark and camped on a rocky goat-perch spot. It took us two and a half days to reach Kennedy Meadows, along the way we went over a steep mountain pass with sharp rocky teeth rising dramatically around us, camped in an eerily silent camp ground, walked more barren burn zones and saw the land turn from the dull browns, reds and golds of Southern California into the silver-grey of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The most exciting part was when Rebecca saw a bear cub dash across the trail maybe 15 meters in front of us. She questioned it at first, but there had been quite a few warnings about bears hanging about water sources in the section since Lake Isabella and there wasn't anything else that looked much like a baby bear out here.
This made us quite nervous for the next mile, making sure any foraging bears knew where we were by talking and whistling. We came across a proper river, and I saw a real tree! Not a scraggly pine, but a real tree! It was haloed by the sunset so it was pretty awesome.
Upon arriving in Kennedy Meadows Tom whisks us of to Irelan's for homestyle cooking by lamp light, it was definitely a classic mountain house place. The owner even regaled us with tales of her husband wrestling a bear in his underwear in the back room when one got in, and how when they shot it five times two bullets went through the floor and also killed the ice machine. Damn was she upset about that ice machine. It was an experience eating there. We went for burgers at the general store today, they were massive and great with free refills of lemonade! I'm tired of writing now, might hike out tomorrow, it's crazy to think we're only a few days from Mount Whitney and we've been in Sequoia National Park for around three or four days now. The trees still aren't that big.
The next day we hiked 27 miles (43.5 km) to Walker Pass. It was hot early, with a wonderful 1000 or so feet climb nice and early. I could feel every tendon in my body by the end of it. But Pippin sourced us a ride from a lady who was riding the trail, I can definitely respect someone riding. Two more pairs of feet to look after, more food and a hell of a lot more water to worry about. Her brother gave us a ride in, Vagazzle and Coyote rode in the back with no seat belts. They regretted this when we found out half way to Lake Isabella that the guy was still quite drunk when he asked Safari to take a breath test on a machine attached to the ignition. He'd had it fitted after a previous DUI. He offered us a ride back, but he was going fishing so we figured he was drinking more.
We hit Nelda's diner first, it was the first authentic American diner we went to. And it was great, two whole pages of crazy milk shakes and coffee with unlimited refills! After we'd all finished a pair of middle aged guys came up and started asking us questions, it turned out they were making a documentary for the The Discovery channel and were cruising around The States on BMW bikes (they were very obviously sponsored by them) seeking out people who seek crazy adventures. Then interviewing them, so they asked us a bunch of questions about why we do this stuff. We threw them a bone and gave them some juicy stuff, especially since I'd had three whole coffees! Essentially they took what they wanted from what we said, edited it and produced something with some sort of point. The best part was when they paid for our breakfast, there must have been at least 9 hikers so it didn't come cheap.
We hit up the supermarket for food, got plenty of fresh fruit and berries then headed to the Lake for some chill time. It was too hot for chill time but we did what we could. Later Rocket Llama, Rebecca and I walked back in to town for pizza and grabbed 1.75 liters of spiced rum and 4 liters of coke and back to the lake again for a wild night where we met Steve the Italian-Mexican ghost, roasted marshmallows on the fire, listened to classic rock and danced under a half-moon. It was Coyote's birthday, but she was at a bar with most of the other hikers drinking themselves sick. So Steve drunk their share of rum.
I remember Rebecca sourced a ride to the Lake after buying that rum using her poshest English accent, the guy still asked me if I had any weapons on us (apparently the town is full of old people and meth heads). We said no, I think Rocket Llama had her knife but she didn't say. She's pretty adamant about always having an 'edge'.
In the morning Steve made us ravioli by opening a can and sticking it in the fire, he also made coffee which we put marshmallows in and a side of crisps and bread. It was perfect. I learned later that while Rocket Llama was on the phone to her Mum he said "I'm gonna kidnap you, marry you, murder you and divorce you!"... it didn't make much sense but I'm glad he didn't follow through. Apart from that he never swore in front of ladies and always reminded us to respect women. It was odd. I also remembered asking him about his military service, it was a really bad idea. It was so much worse that the end of First Blood, you know the part where Rambo is sobbing and you can't understand him. Steve had most definitely been to Vietnam.
After many hugs given to cheer Steve up he seemed ok, I assured him he wasn't a ghost and he was real to us. It was nice. We went back to Nelda's for breakfast, it wasn't as good. Probably because it wasn't free. We get a ride out to the trail with Junior (another Pippin sourced ride) and wait until around 6 pm to set off. It was still hot but we played word games until dark and camped on a rocky goat-perch spot. It took us two and a half days to reach Kennedy Meadows, along the way we went over a steep mountain pass with sharp rocky teeth rising dramatically around us, camped in an eerily silent camp ground, walked more barren burn zones and saw the land turn from the dull browns, reds and golds of Southern California into the silver-grey of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The most exciting part was when Rebecca saw a bear cub dash across the trail maybe 15 meters in front of us. She questioned it at first, but there had been quite a few warnings about bears hanging about water sources in the section since Lake Isabella and there wasn't anything else that looked much like a baby bear out here.
This made us quite nervous for the next mile, making sure any foraging bears knew where we were by talking and whistling. We came across a proper river, and I saw a real tree! Not a scraggly pine, but a real tree! It was haloed by the sunset so it was pretty awesome.
Upon arriving in Kennedy Meadows Tom whisks us of to Irelan's for homestyle cooking by lamp light, it was definitely a classic mountain house place. The owner even regaled us with tales of her husband wrestling a bear in his underwear in the back room when one got in, and how when they shot it five times two bullets went through the floor and also killed the ice machine. Damn was she upset about that ice machine. It was an experience eating there. We went for burgers at the general store today, they were massive and great with free refills of lemonade! I'm tired of writing now, might hike out tomorrow, it's crazy to think we're only a few days from Mount Whitney and we've been in Sequoia National Park for around three or four days now. The trees still aren't that big.
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