Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Partly cloudy and 59 going up to 80.
Up at 6:45. Finished packing. Brad left early to slack pack 7.5 miles that I’m skipping. We will hike 16 miles with no water after he gets back and ships a package from the post office. Should get on trail around 11:00 this morning.
I sent Pit Crew the packing and shipping instructions for my next two packages after Kennedy Meadows. One in Bishop, CA and one in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. Both are due to meds, otherwise I would have just resupplied locally.
I managed to get a haircut. I tried 4 places yesterday with no luck.
I had a good rest in Tehachapi. I really need my new shoes, but will have to make do for 8 more hiking days. My body is doing great other than my feet.
Ugh..just tried on my pack. With a FULL 5 days of food and 3 liters of water, this thing weighs around 36 lbs. I just keep telling myself it will get lighter as the day progresses.
Ubered to the post office so Brad could ship a package to Tuolumne Meadows. We got a ride from a nice lady we met at the post office to the trailhead. On trail at 11:30.
The 5.5 mile uphill to start the day was hard and hot. Heavy pack isn’t helping. We stopped for lunch at 2:10 and 5.3 miles. Rested for just under an hour. We have 10.3 more miles to water. Probably getting there around 7:30. Sunset is 8:05. Gonna be tight to find a camp spot and set up before dark.
We can see a boneyard in the middle distance with several airline planes at the Mojave Air and Spaceport.
Just hiked the rest of the day. Nothing special. We got to a barely trickling stream at about 6:40. I carried out 5 liters of water as we are not sure how far we will have to go to find a place to camp and the next water tomorrow is in 20.3 miles. That much water makes my pack weigh in at 40lbs. That’s a record for me!
Dumb luck, there was an unmarked tent site just .3 miles ahead. Made camp about 7:10. The spots are windy, but it’s not sandy, so I was able to get the tent pitched solidly. At least I thought so until the wind gusts got nasty around 8:15. I think I will be okay tonight, but we will see.
We made dinner at 7:30 and got into our tents by 8:00 as the wind started to pick up. The wind is almost always bad after sunset in the desert. I think I understand the physics behind that.
Overall, a good day back on trail after a Nero and a zero in Tehachapi. One last long water carry tomorrow, then it gets easier the following 3 days into Walker Pass and our overnight stop in Ridgecrest to resupply.
Technical Notes:
- OJ 400
- Chorizo and eggs 700
- Eclair 250
- Coffee
- Mango (3-4p, 49g): 140 kcal, 35g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein
- Fatty: 210 kcal, 8g carb, 14g fat, 12g protein
- Mango (3-4p, 49g): 140 kcal, 35g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein
- Curry noodles 450
- Dehydrated chicken 170
- Skittles 100
- Fritos 450
- Water liters: 3
- Miles: 16.2
- Time: 7:30
- Up: 3944
- Down: 2182
- Calories consumed: 3010
- Calories burned: 3264
- iPhone battery used: 53%
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