Day 36 – The Tehachapi Mtns

Miles 277.2 to 596.5

Trail Miles: 19.3

Miles Walked: 19.3

I was on the trail a little after 6 am. My pack was still outrageously heavy – I had nearly 4 L of water left and all that food. Nothing to do but hike, eat and drink my way to a lighter pack.

I ran into Yes Man a little ways up the trail. We hiked together most of the morning. He’s such an interesting person to hike with. He has a PhD in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, but now runs a fashion design company. He’s well travelled and well read. It’s always a fascinating conversation when he’s around.

We ran into Painter a few miles later. He’d received his paint and art supplies in Tehachapi. He’d hiked ahead this morning and was painting a beautiful view of the ridges and valleys to the east. He’d studied in Florence, Italy for 3 years. He was on the PCT to do landscape painting with the help of a grant. What of his work I’ve seen so far is amazing. He’s quite talented.

Painter saying “cheez”

The PCT north of Hwy 58 is very pretty once you get past the initial 5 Miles. I’d never hiked in this area when I’d lived out here. Once I got a taste of the Sierras I turned my nose up at anything else. I wish I’d taken the time to explore this area, the Tehachapi and Piute Mtns. It’s a big OHV area – dirt bikes, ATVs and mountain bikes.

A few new faces on the trail today. Fran and John from the UK. Steve, who was hiking with Doug, the section hiker I met back at Camp Glenwood in the San Gabriels. We saw No Man and Carlos as well as a few others I didn’t get their names.

No Man and Yes Man

The plan was to do 19 Miles. Not too tough of a day. I wasn’t in a hurry to get to Kennedy Meadows and I really liked the group I was hiking with. I planned to go with them into Lake Isabella even though I didn’t need to resupply. I’ve never been to Isabella and I think it’ll be a fun side trip.

We made camp about 4:30pm. It was nice to be done early, hangout and enjoy each other’s company. Every night they do a “high, low and most grateful”. My low was the face plant I did when I tripped in my new shoes this morning. The high was meeting the new faces particularly Fran and John from the UK. We crashed their afternoon break for about 15 min this afternoon. I was most grateful to be hiking with Cherry Bomb, Smokebeard, Painter, Scooch and Fireball. They are fun people and make the trail and journey fun.

These flowers lined the trail today. They smelled wonderful.