It is not an actual town. A trail angel built an old western looking town on his land. It is pretty cool. We got there in the morning before the heat set in and waited in town for the heat to pass. At night we decided to begin hiking the LA aqueducts.
It is 17 miles of flat land. It was basically like road walking. That night we walked until midnight. It was exhausting. We woke up in the morning and hid under a bridge for the heat of the day and tried to catch up on sleep.
Then appeared my siblings! With sandwiches! It was fabulous. They brought food and drinks. It was one of the few nice things about the day. They were also kind enough to take me off of the trail for the day for a shower, sleep, and general love you can only get from family.
While I was off sleeping Emily kept walking. They made it through the night and even stumbled upon some trail magic, a living room in the forest. They took a quick nap and awoke early to hike the rest of the way to Tehachapi. They were supposed to run into Emily's friend, Alex, on the trail, but they had a missed connection. Luckily he caught back up and gave them oranges and soda. The best trail magic.
Once everyone made it to Tehachapi we got a hotel and slept. I came back from my family adventure and joined the sleeping party. Emily's other friend Megan also joined the fun. She was planning on hiking with us for a few days.
So the next day we waited for the cool afternoon and began up the windmill filled hills. 
Unfortunately, Emily hurt her knee on the way up and decided to rest it. Her and Megan went back down the hill to ice and let the knee heal. I continued hiking for the evening. We saw a beautiful sunset and went to bed. The next day we hiked through wind farms and enjoyed the views. Unfortunately, I slipped on the trail and hit my knee. At the end of the day it started to stiffen up.
The next morning my knee pain didn't go away and the lack of water in the area made my pack pretty heavy. At this point we are going through 20-30 miles stretches without water. Nathan got a text out to Emily and Megan. They met us at a road and picked me and Heather (trail friend) up. But first, I passed 600!
If you are still following this story, Emily is out hurt, I am as well, and Emily's friends are saving us, but Alex is still trying to meet us on the trail. We could not find Alex anywhere so we waited near his car in the hopes of him being around. After awhile we left the car in search of cell service. When we found some, Emily and Megan's phones blew up from text messages from their parents. Alex had yet again missed us on the trail and was in town with no phone or car. So we headed that way.
Once we rounded up all of the friends we headed back to the trail the next day. Emily's friends had to leave and we needed to focus on our trip. The boys walked from where I got my injury to a place called Walker Pass. We decided to meet them there. That way we could rest our knees and be ready to finish the last 50 miles before Kennedy Meadows (the end of the desert)!
At the campground we met wonderful trail angels named Rita and Richard. They keep up a water cache and provided a place to stay and food to eat for people on the trail. They are a wonderful couple. We got to know them well as we stayed at the camp for almost two days. Rita was kind enough to bring us a salad. She was very motherly. It is her first year being a trail angel. I have no doubt she will continue to be a wonderful one.
The boys survived the very difficult stretch and another trail friend (Two Wars) appeared at the campground with Subway, beer, and fruit. Aka magic. We ate like kings. Then Emily, Heather, and I headed out. The boys would follow the next day.
We headed out and were treated to a wonderful sunset.
The next day we enjoyed the last views of the desert. We scraped by with the little water that was left in the area. At night we jumped in the tent qucikly because of the mosquitos everywhere.
Then I woke up to Emily becoming sick. The desert still had one more punch to throw. Emily stayed up all night losing all of her fluids. The next morning we walked to the nearest water source, got Emily laid up, and set up a plan for getting Emily to a town. Heather walked to the road hopin for a hitch and I waited with Emily. Luckily, there was a bird watching group driving by the campsite. They were kind enough to give us a ride. We picked up Heather and went into Kennedy Meadows. It was not the dream way of ending the desert, but we made it. Safe and sound.
Emily rested all day and got her fluids back. I caught up with other hikers and enjoyed the thought of being done with the desert.
That's it. That's the story of how we ended the desert. It wasn't pretty but we made it through. This is where we learned how important it is to take care of your body. The 700 miles we walked have changed us. We are stronger, but it has taken its toll. As long as we pay attention to what our bodies tell us we will get through.
Here is our trail family (tramily) that has helped us make it through these miles. Without these folks I am not sure how I would have made it.
Next... The Sierras. I hear there is water and shade. Sounds like heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment