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| Reunion with Trail Friends |
After a month on the trail, my decision to flip up to Kennedy Meadows and hike South put me back in touch with some of the hikers that I had first met near the start of the trail. It has been fun to catch up. Everyone has been losing weight, which has been interesting to notice too.
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| Surreal Landscape |
Coming southbound out of Tehachapi, the trail goes quickly uphill into an enormous wind farm. There was also an advisory in effect due to even higher than normal winds--it was extreme. Hiking while surrounded by enormous wind turbines adds a low roar from the nearest turbines, and a surreal aspect as the turbines add a factory sense to an otherwise natural landscape.
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| Walking the Aquaduct |
Coming down from the wind farm there was a very dry section that paradoxically shared an easement with a huge pipe filled with water for the LA aquaduct. Toward the end of the day I found a side road and pitched my tent. The flat desert had no tall plant cover, but I was so remote from anywhere that I thought privacy would not be an issue. Just at the critical moment in my evening toilet, four quads roared by, unavoidably receiving a full moon from yours truly.
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| At Casa de Luna |
Also in this section I made stops at Hikertown, which has a Wild West theme, and Casa de Luna, which bills itself as hipie day care. More on these stops in the photo album for this section: https://goo.gl/photos/PJvvoP7yxQugTCsQ8
You're so beardly! I'm glad that you've been taking so many pictures, it lets us come along with you a little bit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Kevin. This blog is great. Love the pics and the commentary.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever get a shakedown on your pack to get it down from 49 pounds? That sounds painful.
Do you have a trail nickname yet? What’s the name of your Squirrel?
Keep up the good work out there. You’re doing a great job!!!
Ed, I was able to take about 5 pounds off me base weight, and I only very seldom need to carry as much water, so my typical pack weight is probably about 40 pounds now. That is still a lot of weight, bot better than 49. Neither I nor my squirrel have a trail name so far. Thanks for checking in.
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool !!! I truly love reading about your trip Kevin.
ReplyDeleteKevin, if you don't have a trail name yet, please ask your readers for suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI have had a few suggestions like: Beast of Burden (when my pack weighed 49 pounds), Goat (because I don't have trekking poles with me), Steps (because of my hiking plan), and Papa Squirrel (because of my little stuffed squirrel puppet). I'm open to your ideas. If you suggest a trail name, please tell me the reasoning. Thanks.
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