At Wit’s End in Tehachapi

Day 34 – Mile 566

Everything had gone so well – until now.

It all started two days earlier when we arrived in Hiker Town and Bob wasn’t there. No one knew where he was. He was the caretaker of Hiker Town and he would be able to get us our resupply box that he had locked up.

But as the shuttle came to take us to the cafe, Bob still hadn’t shown up so we went to get food and drink in the shuttle.

When we got back, Bob was there but there was no way to get our extra food back to the store where they would send it on for us to Tehachapi …because…Bob couldn’t…and Von the shuttle driver couldn’t because he’d had a martini. But young Dreadlocks Girl in the next cabin said she’d be happy to the next day since she was going to hang out there for the day.

OK. We’re trusting Dreadlocks. Will our box be there in Tehachapi in three days? Will our Amazon order for a fuel pump and selfie stick arrive on time?

The simple answer-no!

Rachel, the trail angel in Tehachapi took us to the post office about 11:00am. Nothing. Then she says, “I’ll drop you at Wit’s End.”

Wit’s End is an amazing place run by Dalton. He arranges all the Trail Angel rides and hosting of forlorn PCT hikers. Everything is a bit quirky but awesomely efficient, kind, and helpful.

We had excellent ribs and beer at Redhouse Barbecue, and then got a ride back to the post office to check the afternoon delivery- nothing. David took us to Albertson’s for a whirlwind shopping for trail food then out to the trailhead. We repacked on the side of the road and then walked down the same trail where Reese Witherspoon (the only place) started her hike and the filming of Wild.

5 miles up we camped in juniper cave at about 8pm, with nothing we expected. We had been at Wit’s End in Tehachapi but we would not be denied our miles for the day.

On Day 35, we marched for 20 miles on to to find a rough campsite just off the trail. We named it Camp Poodle Dog. Why? The Poodle Dog Bush is a loathed plant in Southern California. It can cause serious skin irritations and intense blistering if one comes in contact with it. Our camp was surrounded by it. Better be careful where we expose our (ahem!) skin if we are wandering in the darkness

The following day, Day 36, we ticked off another 20 miles and found a lovely campsite surrounded by big rocks above Landers Trail Camp but they couldn’t keep the strong winds from rattling our tent all night. We slept well nonetheless.

Day 37 found us traversing high desert in stiff winds to 35mph to arrive at Bird Spring Pass. Good water cache but no spring. Again, the wind was really gusting hard and we had to choose the best place for our tent but it was blown noisily until just after dark when it calmed.

Day 38 started with a 1500′ climb of Skinner Mt and then long gentle traverses until our descent to Walker Pass. We were greeted with cold beer and friendly hikers. Clouds were building quickly and we set up our tent just in the nick of time as a thunderstorm plowed noisily over us and dumped some very welcome rain for the high desert.

We have now journeyed 650 miles and have nearly come to the end of what most consider Southern California.