Water cache at 10:15 and 9.1 miles. Pounded 3 liters of water here.
Day 43 Water Cache
Napped in the shade of a few Joshua Trees for 90 minutes by the water cache.
Napping in the shade
That was one nasty, hot, steep 3.5-mile climb after the water cache. I had to stop every .2 miles when a tree made a little spot of shade and rest. Glad I took 4 liters of water from that cache. I just drank two of them. Fortunately, I only have 9.5 miles to camp and water.
Day 43 Long Hot Climb
It’s 1:15 and I’m taking an hour break before moving on. Maybe two hours.
I got my first view of the Sierras. Way in the background. You can’t see it in the photo, but there is snow on some of the mountains up there!
Day 43 Sierras in the Distance
Reached the water and camp at 6:30. Long, hard day, but great water. Most people are camping in the cabin here, but I prefer my tent as I’ll be up much later than the others. I had dinner at 7:30. Everyone else was asleep by 7:15.
Day 43 Cabin
Looking forward to a town day tomorrow before getting back on trail on Sunday.
Day 43 Map – Mile 623.1 to McIvers Spring
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Thursday, June 4, 2026. Clear and 57 going up to 75.
Up at 5:30. Blisters feel okay this morning. On trail at 6:30.
I stopped to take care of my blisters and get water at 9:46 and 7.4 miles. Blisters are back again today. Lost Brad about 4 miles ago. Trail magic is supposed to be in 7.4 more miles from 11:00 to 5:00 today. I should be there about 1:30.
Trail Magic and water cache at mile 17.1 at 1:40. Snacks and beverages and shade. Good water cache too. We have 6-8 miles to go to camp, and then another 9 miles to water tomorrow morning. It’s HOT out here today. We hung out until 3:30.
Day 42 Kelso Road Water CacheDay 42 Desert Trail MagicDay 42 Desert Trail Magic
Hiked 3 miles with 4.5 liters of water. Ugly inclines. Stopped for a break in the shade of a Joshua Tree at 4:45.
Day 42 Shade
Camp at 6:00 and 21 miles. Probably should have gone 2 more miles to make the 9 miles to water in the morning shorter. Really gotta nurse my water this evening and in the morning.
Day 42 Map – Mile 603.3 to Mile 623.1
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Partly cloudy and 55 going up to 80.
Up at 5:30. I might have gotten 2 hours of sleep last night due to the insane wind. My tent stood up well, but the wind kept threatening to rip it down all night. Extremely noisy. Windiest night so far.
Packed, ate, and on trail at 6:30. Picked up more water just .5 miles after camp. Taking 4.3 liters with me today for the 20.3-mile water carry.
More windmills on and off all day.
Day 41 Wind Mills
Lunch at 11:19 and 11.35 miles with Bobbie and Kellie. Chilled for over an hour.
Day 41 Lunch with Bobbie and Kellie
I just opened my last litter of water with 4.6 more miles to water. Unfortunately, 2 miles of that is steep uphill.
You run into some odd things on the trail.
Day 41 Odd Things on Trail
Crossed the 600-mile mark late in the day.
Day 41 600 Mile MarkerDay 41 600 Mile Marker
Reached water at 5:00. Lots of people here, but most are moving on. We decided to camp here instead of going 2.3 more miles. Feet hurt and great water here.
I found out why I was struggling today. Those new insoles I started using yesterday gave me blisters on both heels. I never get blisters! I don’t know if I have what I need to treat them. I’ll make something work. Will have to see how they are doing in the morning. Very frustrating.
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
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.
Day 40 Haircut in Tehachapi
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.
Day 40 Mojave Airport and Spaceport Boneyard
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.
Up at 7:00. Had a light breakfast at the hotel. We Ubered to the post office and picked up resupply packages, then Ubered back to the hotel.
We walked to Walmart and picked up a few items I needed, including new insoles. All they had were Dr. Scholl’s, which aren’t great for my needs, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Packed up food from Walmart and put the new insoles in my shoes. The jury is still out on the insoles. Grabbed lunch at the café downtown.
Prepped supplies for the next leg of the hike and planned out resupply boxes for KMS, Bishop, and Tuolumne Meadows. I will talk to Pit Crew and walk her through how to package things for KMS this evening. That needs to ship in the next few days.
Day 39 Tehachapi Food Prep
We shipped an Amazon package for me (new air mattress and breakfast powder mixes) and a REI package for Brad (new shoes) to trail angel Lonnie. He delivered them to the hotel around 4:30. Thanks again, my friend!
Orange Man and Trail Angel Lonnie Harrison
I finished the last of my resupply packing and shipped a few extra food items home to Pit Crew. They will make their way into future resupply packages for me.
My pack is HEAVY with five days of food and three liters of water. My food is heavier than in the past as I’m eating more.
I finished my blogs, including the video editing from the Aqueduct Adventure. That was a pain. Hence why I try not to edit videos in my blogs. It’s good to finally be caught up on blogs!
Dinner at a nice pizza place, then back to the room to wrap blogs. Planning on leaving around 10:00 tomorrow. Nasty 5-day section to Ridgecrest, CA.
Sunday, May 31, 2026. Clear and 53 going up to 73.
Up at 6:00. On trail at 7:15. I am dying to get into Tehachapi, get real food, shower, do laundry, and relax.
We hiked into the largest wind farm in North America and stayed in that wind farm for the rest of the morning.
Day 38 Wind FarmDay 38 Wind Farm
We reached Willow Springs Rd at 10:05 and 9.0 miles. We tried unsuccessfully to hitch a ride. I had no cell service, but Brad was able to contact a trail angel who picked us up and drove us and 2 others to town. We got dropped off at Walmart since we had 4 hours to kill before our hotel was ready.
We walked a block to a laundromat and started our laundry at 11:30. I used their bathroom to strip off all my clothes and socks and put on a pair of shorts and my fleece. Everything went into the wash, and we went next door to a restaurant for a nice big breakfast. I moved the laundry to the dryer during breakfast, and everything was done when we finished eating. Nice!
Day 38 Tehachapi Lunch
We ran into a hiker we met back at Hiker Town. She was doing laundry and waiting for her father to pick her up. He arrived just as we were getting ready to try to hitch a ride from Walmart to our hotel. He gave us a ride to the hotel. Good luck once again.
We dropped our packs at the hotel lobby at 1:30 and wandered town while waiting to check in at 3:00. That took all of 15 minutes. We stopped at a very old school diner/cafe for a few beers while killing time. Love these kinds of cafes!
We checked into the SureStay at 3:00, and I got my first shower since the LA RV Resort 7 days ago. I soooooo needed that shower! I worked on blogs, and we discussed hiking plans between here and Kennedy Meadows. I am trying to convince Brad to do a short day on Tuesday in order to break up the nasty 24.5-mile hike with zero water that we need to do when we leave Tehachapi.
If we don’t break up that first day, then we have 4.5 days to Walker Pass and our next resupply, followed by 2.5 days into Kennedy Meadows (KMS). KMS is where we need to get our bear cans, micro spikes, and other High Sierras gear and start Part Two of this great adventure.
I decided to not join the gang for an early dinner as I had a bunch of planning to do. I had a nice steak and lobster dinner to celebrate making it to Tehachapi. Then back to the room with some seltzers and watched TV until 10:30.
Day 38 Celebratory Dinner
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Saturday, May 30, 2026. Clear and 58 going up to 78.
Up at 6:40. We have a lot of boring hiking today with a lot of ascent. We filtered water at the spigot provided by the LA water department by our campsite and got on trail at 7:45. I got a decent but short night’s sleep.
We hiked the first part of the day through the wind farm that we entered last night.
Wind FarmWind Farm
Long hard hiking with a nasty 4-mile uphill ending at Mile 549 Bar and Grill for a water cache and a long break. My feet are killing me. Lots of people ended up here around 5:00 as it was the only water all afternoon. We made dinner here then hiked on .7 miles to a tent site for the night.
Day 37 Mile 549 Bar and Grill
We made camp at 6:45. It was a difficult tent pitch due to sandy soil. The wind got crazy after sunset and I almost had my tent collapse twice. I had to get out and go find some much bigger rocks around 8:30 to anchor the tent.
We are really looking forward to a Nero tomorrow then a Zero on Monday in Tehachapi. Our bodies really need the break and recovery.
Day 37 Map – Cottonwood Creek To Mile 549.7
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Friday, May 29, 2026. Mostly sunny and 45 going up to 60.
Up at 7:00. Had coffee and a great burrito at the cafe. Everyone is just hanging out at the cafe, eating, charging electronics, and chilling until late afternoon when we will start hiking the LA Aqueduct.
I had a busy morning working on logistics. I ordered new shoes at the gear shop in Kennedy Meadows South (KMS), finalized my inhaler refill for June 5, ordered resupply food items to home so Pit Crew can add them to my resupply boxes in the Sierras, booked a hotel for Tehachapi, planned out my KMS resupply details for Pit Crew to pack and ship next week, added a bit more to my dinners for the next two nights, and uploaded blogs.
I was all packed and ready to go by noon, but we are not leaving for many hours. There is really no reason to night hike with the current weather, but Brad and I want to hang with the big group and they want to leave in the early evening. Normally it would be in the 90s as opposed to the current mid-50s. Stay tuned for more on that!
We hitched back to Hiker Town from the market around 3:00.
Hiker Town Hitchhiking
Everyone spent the late afternoon getting ready for the Aqueduct Adventure. Glow in the dark face paint, glow sticks, and various lighted doodads.
Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureEmmett and Matthew Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureNatalie Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureMash Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureKellie Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureEmmett Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureEmmett Doing Face Painting for the AqueductGetting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureJacob Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureBrad Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureNiaal and Mash Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureTJ Getting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureBrad and Orange ManGetting Ready for the Aqueduct AdventureGroup Shot Before Aqueduct
The plan was to depart at 4:00, but we did not get moving until 5:10 when we did a conga line out of Hiker Town.
Hiking Beside the AqueductStarting the AqueductGreat view of the Aqueduct and MountainsHiking on the AqueductHiking on the Aqueduct – Don’t FallHiking on the AqueductSingle File on the Aqueduct Shadows on the Aqueduct Hiking on the Aqueduct
Hiking with the group was a blast. Natalie polled the group and put together a massive playlist and she had a big USB speaker. One big rolling party with music playing as we hiked along the LA Aqueduct. We put on our glowing and blinking stuff at sunset and things got more interesting.
Sunset From the AqueductHiking on the Aqueduct near SunsetHiking on the Aqueduct near Sunset
The group broke up after about 5 hours and spread out. We enjoyed hiking the last 2 hours alone and in the silence of the desert. The full moon and zero clouds was amazing. Very bright with no need for headlamps. Very difficult to explain just how awesome the desert is at night. Extremely silent other than the wind.
We stopped about 11:00 for dinner on the side of the dirt road. We reached the wind farm at 11:45 pm. It was a sea of red blinking anti-collision lights. And the sound at night is…odd.
We made camp at 12:30 am. It was a tough tent pitch due to sandy soil and wind, but I made it work. I ate some snacks and finally got to sleep around 1:30 am. What a day this was!
Thursday, May 28, 2026. Cloudy, foggy, 35 going up to 55 and windy. Chance of rain.
Up at 6:40. It was COLD last night. And wet. Just above freezing.
Cold windy wet morning. Temps around 38 until we descend below cloud layer later in the morning.
We crossed the 500 mile mark!
500 Mile Marker500 Miles Baby
Descended below clouds and into sun at 10:40 and 9.5 miles. That sun feels soooooo good!
Took a break at 11:00 and 10.3 miles to dry our gear out and eat lunch.
Drying Gear on the way to Hiker Town
The last 5 miles into Hiker Town was frustrating. We could have gotten off trail and road walked and cut off 3 miles.
We arrived at Hiker Town 3:30. It was very cold, heavy overcast, and crazy windy. It’s going to rain in the next few hours. There is no shelter at Hiker Town. It’s like an old movie set with fake facades. Just tenting and a few exposed gazebos. I put on all my layers to stay warm. We had to wait about 90 minutes for a ride to the Neenach Cafe & Market about 8 miles away.
Hiker Town
The market has mediocre resupply options, but I got enough to make it to Tehachapi. The grill is great! I had an awesome double cheeseburger, a sandwich, and fries, and many beers.
Hiker Trash at Hiker Town
I was dreading pitching a tent at Hiker Town with this wind and cold and rain. Brad and I scored a “room” behind the market. It’s not much, but out of the elements and warm. It’s basically an upgraded garden shed.
Small Shed at Hiker TownSmall Shed at Hiker Town
Got my resupply all packed up. Confirmed my meds are getting refilled. Started working on resupply planning for the next 4 stops on trail.
In bed at 9:30. Very thankful to be indoors tonight!
Wednesday, May 27, 2026. Cloudy, foggy 43 going up to 55 and windy. Chance of rain.
Up at 6:40. Slowly got ready for the day. Wearing rain gear today as it’s drizzling on and off. At least I’m a bit below the cloud layer….call it 500 yards.
Brad headed out at 7:15. We plan to meet at a campground in 15 miles. I got packed, dried my tent as best I could, and got on trail at 8:00. I called Pit Crew and wished her happy birthday as I had 1 bar of cell service.
Hiked downhill 2.25 miles to a paved road and had second breakfast at a picnic table blocked from most of the wind. The sun is trying to peek through the clouds. Sticking with my rain gear as all the foliage is wet from the rain.
I have a steep 3.5 mile climb from the road followed by a steady uphill grade to Sawmill Camp. Should be there around 4:00 this afternoon.
Walked through a major burn area in the late afternoon. There is a ridiculous amount of Poodle Dog Bush throughout this area. Some is taller than me.
They are not kiddingPoodle Dog Bush Every In The Burn Area
I stopped for a late lunch at 1:00 and 9.83 miles. Back on trail at 1:30.
I met Brad at the turnoff to Sawmill Camp at 4:00 and 15.4 miles. With this nasty weather, we decided to camp here instead of continuing on. We found tent sites on an old sunken road bed that got us mostly out of the wind.
The wind was very strong all night with rain on and off after 7:30 pm. The temperature dropped to about 33 degrees with a sub-freezing windchill. Coldest night on trail so far. Not pleasant at all! I got in my tent at 5:00 and did not come out until the next morning.
Surprisingly we had two bars of cell service. I have been wrestling with my Insurance in order to get my meds refilled in time to get them shipped to Kennedy Meadows by June 10. They won’t pay for the early refill, but I got a compromise of refill on June 5. If Pit Crew ships my Bear Can that day, it will get there just in time!
I also sent the trail angel in Tehachapi tracking info for my two packages.
Day 34 Map – Mile 483.6 to Mile 498.2
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
