June 1st, 2021
Mile Marker: 485
Miles Hiked Today: 27.7
Conrad woke up at 4:30 am this morning because we had all discussed about it the previous night. The desert heat is becoming worrisome as it is getting up into the 90s now. Siestas and water are must to hiking during the day and planning is truly critical right now.
Since he got up, we all kind of followed suit. We had planned for 5 am anyways, so what was 30 mins earlier.
We filed out and knew we had water in 5 miles after climbing up for the majority of the morning. It was a tough uphill but even without the sun up, we still walked through warm spots. Pretty quickly I became unsure of how long we could walk during the day today.
We all met up at the 5 mile spring. The water was a very slow trickle and we had to take long turns filling up our water bottles. We sat and ate breakfast in the meantime and shared laughs for the day. It feels so good to be in good company.
We then hiked out and had 15 miles to a fire station for a water cache and spigot. 15 miles and the sun was really starting to show its heat. We also wanted to make it there to siesta.
We ended up taking a short 5-10 minute break every hour or so and then trudging on. What made everything so hard was that we had full food bags AND had to carry at least 3 liters of water. Our packs were ridiculously heavy which is frustrating when you put in effort to have a low base weight.
After a couple hours I plugged in my head phones to jam out because I needed something to distract me from the heat and pack.
Towards the last 3 miles around noon, us three girls were feeling it. We were sweaty and hot and frustrated but all knew that we needed to continue on if we wanted water.
So that’s what we did. We ended up taking a short shade break 1 mile from the cache and then basically ran down the mountain filled on adrenaline for more water and shade. Planner and I talked about how it’s such a mental game and how we can’t get too much in our heads in the heat. If we freak out about how hot it is and how little shade we have or little water, it was going to make everything worse. Instead we had to keep our minds positive and focused and trudge on confidently.
Water and shade.
How wonderful both of these are.
How grateful we truly are for these.
We then made it to the fire station where they have a picnic table and big pine trees for us to siesta. I’ve never wanted anything more.
We then sat trying to eat as much food from our food bags as we could and making plans for the rest of the week.
It is going to be hot, there is another fire closure, and the famous aqueduct are all in line before we can make it to the town of Tehachapi. Night hiking is going to be a must and knowing where the water is is an even bigger must.
We came up with a tentative plan, full bellies, and laid under the pines until the sun had started to go down and cool off.
Around 6 pm we finally got the motivation to head back out for the final 7.7.
My motivation was slim as I felt like the sun had zapped me empty but once we started groovin, the energy came back.
To top off the long day, we had an incredible sunset with amazing colors.
We once again are living the get into camp late, cowboy camp life. It keeps things simple.
We all shared laughs and some of our favorite movies and I could hardly keep my eyes open as my head hit my sleeping pad.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 