Friday, June 21, 2013
Hiking Uphill: 4,052ft
Hiking Downhill: 3,421ft
Distance Hiked: 18 miles
Post by Nick:
I left Melissa and Tom at the Dam Corner Restaurant around 10:30am and walked out to the main highway to attempt a long hitch back to Walker Pass. To aid me in my attempt, and appeal to folks altruistic leanings, I put together the following sign.
Despite the financial incentive, I had no luck for over an hour. Several folks had stopped and offered me a ride part of the way but I didn't want to deal with obtaining a second hitch. Eventually a sedan had stopped and I quickly grabbed my pack, ran over, and opened the passenger door. The car was full of trash and the driver was a very large woman on supplemental oxygen while smoking a cigarette. She clarified my destination and the promise of $20 at which point, albeit extremely unneasy, I loaded my pack and climbed into the front seat amid the trash. She pulls onto the highway, but soon thereafter, she makes a sharp right turn into a residential area and clarifies that she needs to make a quick pit stop first at her house to pick up her belongings. She tells me that this $20 will provide her with the gas money needed to reach Lancaster. She's promising it'll be quick ... and I'm dumbfounded and contemplating how to extricate myself from the situation. I notice that she's swerving around through the residential neighborhood on the wrong side of the road and eventually pulls into her driveway and walks into her house for about 10minutes. I overhear some loud shouting in the house and her mother(?) comes outside and warns me that I shouldn't be riding with her because she's unstable, a patient at the local hospital, and heavily medicated. I take this as my definitive queue for a departure and as I hoist up my pack the woman comes out and asks why I'm leaving. I explain that I'm no longer comfortable with the situation and give her $10 just so I can get away and partly out of pity. I start walking back to the highway and it takes me ~10min to get back.
Around noon a young guy in a small mazda sedan passes by and then does a u-turn to come get me. I luck out and catch a ride all the way to Walker Pass with no drama. We chat along the ride, I explain the PCT and I learn that he getting married and expecting his first child soon. As he drops me off, I give him the $20 and he quickly runs to the back of his car and hands me a can of beer, soda, and some jerky which I graciously accept :)
While enjoying my newly received treats at the Walker Pass campground, I meet an older gentleman there that rode in on his motorcycle. He's drinking a can of beer and smoking some weed. I'm just sitting there munching on the jerky but he's talking at me about some of his life story and his various conspiracy theories...one of which was that all of the planes involved in the 9/11 disaster were actually government planes with no actual passengers...the goal being misdirection by the Bush administration to influence the American people into focusing away from domestic issues and mobilizing for war. wow...
Walker Pass is supposed to be the boundary/entry point into the Sierras and after leaving the campground I was looking forward to seeing pine trees but alas I was still seeing cactus and Joshua trees. I ran across the below monument honoring Joseph Walker.
The view after passing Hwy 178, looking East.
Some of the scenery along my hike...
More of the infamous Poodle Dog bush... I can't seem to get away from burn zones. I'm hoping as I get into the Sierra's I won't be running across this anymore.
Our water report warns of not getting water from this source unless we like drinking uranium...not sure where a joke or not. I opted to skip and wait till the next water source.
The sun is getting lower on the horizon but I still have a couple hours of light. I end up hiking late and finding a camp spot in the dark near Spanish Needle Creek.
Post by Melissa:
Nick and I packed up and checked out of the Lake Isabella Hotel. We walked with our packs on down to the Dam Corner Cafe for another great breakfast. I had been in contact with Tom, the Trail Angel from Kennedy Meadows and we agreed to meet at the restaurant. When we were finishing up our breakfast, Tom showed up and Nick said his goodbyes. He was going to start his hitch hiking attempt to get back to Walker Pass to resume his hike.
Tom had picked up 3 hikers from Walker Pass on his way into town and had dropped them off to resupply and run errands. He had asked them to meet us at Nelda's at 1pm for lunch. In the meantime I jumped in Tom's truck and ran errands with him for a few hours. He had a few things he wanted to take care of in Lake Isabella, including visiting some friends.
At 1pm we make our way to Nelda's and I ordered a cheeseburger with bacon and avocado and instead of regular fries I upgraded to the chili cheese fries. I haven't had chili cheese fries in years...it was an awesome treat.
After lunch we piled into the truck and headed to the store one more time to grab a few last supplies before getting back on the road. The other hikers were Emily, Aime, and Bootie. This was my first time meeting them. I shared the front seat of the truck with Aime and learned she is also an accountant working for PwC from the east coast. Very cool girl and we had so much in common.
We dropped the hikers off at Walker Pass and made our way towards Kennedy Meadows. It took a little while to get to Tom's house as he is nearly 60 miles from Lake Isabella and up a very long windy road a little off the grid. I gave him money for gas and his time and thanked him profusely for coming to get me.
When I arrived at Tom's I was escorted to a trailer to put my things in and I would be staying here for a few days while I waited for Nick. I then made my way over to where the other hikers were hanging out and I was happy to see that Royce, Tank, and Tweek were still there hanging out. They were going to be leaving soon but we got a chance to hang out before they left.
When night fell I was excited to see that Tom had a huge outdoor movie screen and seats and they were showing Django. I had never seen this movie before and it was really good. I was snuggled up in a sleeping bag under the stars watching the movie...wondering how Nick was doing out there on the trail.
Hiking Uphill: 4,052ft
Hiking Downhill: 3,421ft
Distance Hiked: 18 miles
Post by Nick:
I left Melissa and Tom at the Dam Corner Restaurant around 10:30am and walked out to the main highway to attempt a long hitch back to Walker Pass. To aid me in my attempt, and appeal to folks altruistic leanings, I put together the following sign.
Despite the financial incentive, I had no luck for over an hour. Several folks had stopped and offered me a ride part of the way but I didn't want to deal with obtaining a second hitch. Eventually a sedan had stopped and I quickly grabbed my pack, ran over, and opened the passenger door. The car was full of trash and the driver was a very large woman on supplemental oxygen while smoking a cigarette. She clarified my destination and the promise of $20 at which point, albeit extremely unneasy, I loaded my pack and climbed into the front seat amid the trash. She pulls onto the highway, but soon thereafter, she makes a sharp right turn into a residential area and clarifies that she needs to make a quick pit stop first at her house to pick up her belongings. She tells me that this $20 will provide her with the gas money needed to reach Lancaster. She's promising it'll be quick ... and I'm dumbfounded and contemplating how to extricate myself from the situation. I notice that she's swerving around through the residential neighborhood on the wrong side of the road and eventually pulls into her driveway and walks into her house for about 10minutes. I overhear some loud shouting in the house and her mother(?) comes outside and warns me that I shouldn't be riding with her because she's unstable, a patient at the local hospital, and heavily medicated. I take this as my definitive queue for a departure and as I hoist up my pack the woman comes out and asks why I'm leaving. I explain that I'm no longer comfortable with the situation and give her $10 just so I can get away and partly out of pity. I start walking back to the highway and it takes me ~10min to get back.
Around noon a young guy in a small mazda sedan passes by and then does a u-turn to come get me. I luck out and catch a ride all the way to Walker Pass with no drama. We chat along the ride, I explain the PCT and I learn that he getting married and expecting his first child soon. As he drops me off, I give him the $20 and he quickly runs to the back of his car and hands me a can of beer, soda, and some jerky which I graciously accept :)
While enjoying my newly received treats at the Walker Pass campground, I meet an older gentleman there that rode in on his motorcycle. He's drinking a can of beer and smoking some weed. I'm just sitting there munching on the jerky but he's talking at me about some of his life story and his various conspiracy theories...one of which was that all of the planes involved in the 9/11 disaster were actually government planes with no actual passengers...the goal being misdirection by the Bush administration to influence the American people into focusing away from domestic issues and mobilizing for war. wow...
Walker Pass is supposed to be the boundary/entry point into the Sierras and after leaving the campground I was looking forward to seeing pine trees but alas I was still seeing cactus and Joshua trees. I ran across the below monument honoring Joseph Walker.
The view after passing Hwy 178, looking East.
Post by Melissa:
Nick and I packed up and checked out of the Lake Isabella Hotel. We walked with our packs on down to the Dam Corner Cafe for another great breakfast. I had been in contact with Tom, the Trail Angel from Kennedy Meadows and we agreed to meet at the restaurant. When we were finishing up our breakfast, Tom showed up and Nick said his goodbyes. He was going to start his hitch hiking attempt to get back to Walker Pass to resume his hike.
Tom had picked up 3 hikers from Walker Pass on his way into town and had dropped them off to resupply and run errands. He had asked them to meet us at Nelda's at 1pm for lunch. In the meantime I jumped in Tom's truck and ran errands with him for a few hours. He had a few things he wanted to take care of in Lake Isabella, including visiting some friends.
At 1pm we make our way to Nelda's and I ordered a cheeseburger with bacon and avocado and instead of regular fries I upgraded to the chili cheese fries. I haven't had chili cheese fries in years...it was an awesome treat.
After lunch we piled into the truck and headed to the store one more time to grab a few last supplies before getting back on the road. The other hikers were Emily, Aime, and Bootie. This was my first time meeting them. I shared the front seat of the truck with Aime and learned she is also an accountant working for PwC from the east coast. Very cool girl and we had so much in common.
We dropped the hikers off at Walker Pass and made our way towards Kennedy Meadows. It took a little while to get to Tom's house as he is nearly 60 miles from Lake Isabella and up a very long windy road a little off the grid. I gave him money for gas and his time and thanked him profusely for coming to get me.
When I arrived at Tom's I was escorted to a trailer to put my things in and I would be staying here for a few days while I waited for Nick. I then made my way over to where the other hikers were hanging out and I was happy to see that Royce, Tank, and Tweek were still there hanging out. They were going to be leaving soon but we got a chance to hang out before they left.
When night fell I was excited to see that Tom had a huge outdoor movie screen and seats and they were showing Django. I had never seen this movie before and it was really good. I was snuggled up in a sleeping bag under the stars watching the movie...wondering how Nick was doing out there on the trail.
so tough to split up, but sounds like the right decision. can't wait for the change of scenery too!
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