Category: On the move

I wake up at 4:45AM to pee. I get out of my tent and decide that well I’m up for the day so I might as well start packing up. I have 4 miles of vertical incline and then 10 miles of a little bit of up-and-down followed by 6 miles of downhill to get to Walker pass.

I start the climb well before the sun comes up. I sign the trail register which was a .3 mile from the start and I notice Long Legs signed it 44 minutes before me. He had the same idea. I power through the uphill climb which ends up being extremely windy and finally get cell service near the top. Time to upload to IG, my blog and backflush snap chat from 3 days ago. My Snapchat chops all the videos and mixes up the orders. Rubbish.

The suns poking over the ridge line and it’s a spectacular view. I feel like I’ve been getting sick of the same views over and over but I can’t see how. I cherish this view knowing I won’t see this kind of view anymore in the sierras. Deserts are over for a while.

Stealthy texts me, “hey Mouse it’s smooth sailing on the downhill to Walker Pass!” he’s leaving Mcgiven Cabin now which is 8 miles ahead of me. I joke with him “maybe I’ll catch you!” He also says he’ll have a pizza waiting for me at Walker Pass campground. Nice. He has a camper van parked in his commercial lot there. He’s getting off trail at Walker pass instead of Kennedy Meadows South to burn time (2-3 weeks) for the snowmelt.

I continue on up the trail through ups and downs and beautiful yellow and purple flowers. I finally get to the road walk section leading to McGivern cabin and spring. It was in my opinion a miserable 2 mile walk uphill on a destroyed ATV road. Luckily I saw zero ATVs but if I had I probably would’ve tossed my thumb out. FarOut comments said to be prepared to jump into the bushes

I get to the trail Junction and decide to skip the cabin, I don’t need the water and it’s another .5 up a hill. I see Long Legs 50’ up the trail eating lunch and applying sunblock. Smart UV index is 10

“What’s up Long Legs, how’s it going?”

“ Good” he says

He was just taking a quick break and is ready to get going again. I join him and we start up the last bit of incline for the day. I tell him the next shady spot I’m going to do the same and grab myself a bit of lunch. I’m not in a huge rush. I told Stealthy I would be at the campground by four. It’s currently 12:30PM.

After a mile and a half I tell long legs. “This is my stop.” I pull over open up my food. In reality he was walking too fast and I didn’t want to keep up with that pace. Legs of long length was correctly named. So I eat some snacks anyways and lay my tyvek out and force chill for a half an hour. 1 o’clock rolls around, I pack some pocket snacks and I’m moving again.

I get a text from Stealthy who says he’ll be back before 3. He’s already hitch hiked, showered, went to Vons and it’s now back in normal life mode. That’s lines up with my schedule. I tell him there’s two Germans behind me who said they’d love burgers at camp. He says “Merica to the rescue, I got them covered.”

I leisurely walk for the last bit on trail and walk into Walker pass campground. Long Legs is here chilling he says he is heading to the highway to hitch hike. There’s 3 different people parked camping here but no one else. I grab a seat at the bench in the shade and walk back up to fill my water from the water cache. Thanks Sergio.

After a half hour of chilling at the bench alone the Germans Fearless and Wigand show up, I say hi. Tell them they can pick a site before I do. So we walk around a bit and pick camp sites. I pitch my tent in the wind and set up my sleep stuff. I step out of my tent and see a white van driving up the road with Stealthy doing the truck drivers horn arm pull motion. Let’s go boys! Tonight’s dinners here.

Stealthy shows up with 3XL pizzas, burgers, beers, Gatorade and cokes. What a guy. An hour later Coffee break shows up, 30 minutes after him Reaper and Stumbles. An hour later Seven walks into the campground completely sunburnt and walked right passed us. I had to yell his name. Zombie mode, headphones in. I toss him a beer and a slice of pizza. “sit down buddy you earned it.” I give him the recliner seat in the back of the van too.

We all hang around and have a great night. Talk about last nights meteor shower which Coffee Break cowboy camped for and said was “AMAZING!”. We watch the sunset together and talk about plans to burn time for Kennedy Meadows. Some people are going elsewhere to keep hiking (Vegas, NorCal, Oregon) some are pushing through the Sierras and the snow. And some of us don’t know what they are going to do like my self. I Kindve want to go to Death Valley or the Grand Canyon but don’t want to drive there.

I say good night to everyone and head to bed. Again at 8:45. Past hiker midnight.

Last night was freaky. Hearing some screams in the woods, not for me. I high tailed to the next suitable spot and pitched my tent. I see the two Germans Fearless and Wigands tent a ways a way. I wake up at 4:15 to them packing up. Damn they’re getting an early start.

That’s actually a good idea. Let’s beat the mid day sun and heat. I sit in my sleeping quilt for another couple minutes hoping to fall back asleep. I don’t though. I wait just till it’s a little lighter out and I start packing up. Fifteen minutes later I’m out of camp by 5:45AM before sunrise.

I start off up the hill in my puffy, usually a bad choice but this morning it’s actually cold out. I get 2 miles in and drop the puffy, I’m running too hot, I cross a stream three times and note that’s the last water source for 17 miles.

I skip getting water as I left camp with 4 liters and haven’t sipped any yet. It’s still cool and the suns not on me yet. I climb up some more and come around a ridge and see a guy sleeping on the ground. Doesn’t look like a hiker but some desheveled looking guy with nothing but a jansport backpack like he was going to middle school.

I hiked 3 full 20+ mile days to get here. How did this guy get here? I say “good mornin” nod, step over him and keep walking. I have suspicions about that guy. I wonder if he was the one screaming last night at the last water source. I’m not interested in finding out.

I turn the jets on and get moving faster. My legs are solid, cool air in my lungs and right now I’m walking on a moderate slope. Let’s go. In my head I know the next water source is my target and I want to put space between me and that guy.

I keep checking my map to see where I’m going. Another mile, another mile, it feels like this water carry is longer than I thought. As I turn the corner to see a nice trailhead area with a chair and hundreds of gallons of water. There was also 5 Germans there. Reaper, Stumbles, Long Legs, Wigand and Fearless as filling up and chatting.

We chat for a minute and joke about how out numbered I am as the only American. They have a great sense of humor, and everyone of their English is actually great. They speak to each other in German for a minute and I tell them they can talk shit about me in English too. I don’t mind. Haha

Just like that they get going again. I regret not getting a picture of everyone here. I sit down and eat breakfast. It’s 10AM and I did 17 miles. Ramen noodles for breakfast today. I need to lighten my food bag.

After some ramen it’s some pocket snacks and then I’m gone again. Pocket snacks are when I take a handful of random stuff and just drop it in my left shorts pocket. I just hit that as I’m walking. You have to eat snickers bars before 10AM or they become like gogurts. Not for me.

After 3 miles I run into a woman section hiker coming SOBO. We chat for a moment and I warn her about that guy I saw. She’s meeting her husband at the water cache later on. She warns me it’s fully exposed the rest of the way so I should move fast and/or take shade when I can.

With that advice in mind I’m moving faster than I was before. Now also sweating a lot more I drank a ton of electrolytes last night. Need to avoid any chafing today. It’s like a blister, stop and address it immediately. Another mile and I’m in a groove on the downhill. I known this won’t last as there’s 2 big climbs before I get to my next camp.

I reach the bottom and see a Joshua tree, that’s my chance for shade. I pop out my tyvek and lay it flat. Soak in the breaks when you can she said. Here’s my seat for the next 45 minutes. Mandatory break, UV index through the roof and sunblock doesn’t fight heat stroke.

After my timer goes off I chug 3 big sips of water and move. I get almost to the top of the first climb and bing my phone goes off. It’s Coffee Break. “yo mouse you hanging with that meth’d out guy at the water cache?”

Wow he must’ve seen him to. Coffee break got to the first cache at Kelso Road and the guy was sprawled out laying down in the sun getting cooked. Wtf was going on?

I ask Coffee Break where he’s at now and he says a mile behind me. I’ll see ya at camp I tell him. The last push is a doozy, I text a buddy and tell him how much it sucks. He hits me back with the stats. Where I am today passing the 1000km mark I have climbed 76,000 feet of vertical gain which is essentially 14.4 miles of uphill. It’s getting easier luckily I keep getting in better shape!

I get to the peak and sigh. Wow look at that view, I stop for a minute and take it all in. Don’t move to fast I tell my self. It’s not a rush or a race even when I feel like I’m rushing to water because I straight up need it. Take a deep breath, soak in this moment and just enjoy it. You earned it.

As I look over I can see where I’m going. I see the end goal for today. Let’s go. I take my headphone out and enjoy the last bit of silence of the trail. I walk down the last bit of trail into a large area that has parking for cars and a nice water cache set up. Without these 2 water caches this section probably wouldn’t be possible to hike. It’s brutally up, exposed and no water.

I grab a spot to pitch my tent next to some Joshua trees for cover from the wind and then grab 4 liters of water. I’ll drink 2 liters tonight and probably grab 2 more tomorrow for the road before I leave.

Long Legs shows up and comes by and tells me and the others dinners at 6PM. He says it’s “a German 6PM” then he says that means 6PM sharp. Yes sir. I tell him I run on military time if you’re early you’re on time if you’re on time you’re late. If you’re late you’re an asshole.

I finish assembling my sleep gear and blowing up my sleep pad and head over to hang out for dinner. Coffee Breaks walking in now and I lost service before we could finish talking about that guy.

“Mouse wtf was that guy doing?” He says

“Dude I stepped over him on trail and said I’m putting miles between us!”- me

Apparently he was stone cold methed out. Coffee break said he was sprawled out in his underwear. He was telling him to go sit in the shade. The guy had no idea what he was doing. We both sat there and said someone should call the rangers before that guy ends up dead. No cell service though. Tough.

Apparently the guy also likes planters peanuts. He kept telling Coffee Break that at least. What a weird interaction.

Dinner time arrives and we make a circle to battle the wind. After dinner I inform everyone tonight’s the second night of peak time to see the meteor shower. Im going to leave my rain fly open so I can see it from bed again.

Coffee break says he’s cowboy camping to watch it. Right on.

As the suns setting it’s a beauty. I enjoy it outside my tent alone, really soak it in. Tried to wake up Coffee Break but he was stone cold out. After that I head in to my tent to get comfy and check the map for tomorrow. I think it’s 20.1 miles to Walker Pass. Stealthy said he might be there with his camper van doing trail magic. I had almost no service today though, so I’ll keep a positive hope for that! Nice.

After looking at the map and getting my game plan down it’s time for bed, 8:45PM. Past hiker midnight again. I kept waking up every few hours to watch the meteor shower. Honestly watching the night sky knowing how big it is makes me realize how small most things are.

My plan was to wake up early before the sunrise and try to get 15 miles in before the days heat hit. I wake up at 5:30 and spend an hour fixing my backpack. This is not how I wanted to start my morning, the carbon fiber frame stay which runs horizontal across my bag fell out overnight. It took me a little while to figure out how it was supposed to go, but there was definitely an added complexity because it was still dark out. Poor design Z Packs. A notch in that frame and a sewn closed spot would make that more secure.

After fixing my bag, I walk like a mile from camp to dig a cat hole. Everything goes swell and I head back to finish packing up camp. Today is a 21 mile water carry day, I am bringing 4.5L which is probably too much to carry with how much vertical I’m doing.

It’s looking like roughly 4400’ vertical with 4000’ down as well. A long day to gain almost no upward ground. As I start off up the trail it’s still gorgeous mountain sides, mixed in with just seas and seas of windmills. Today it is not too windy so the windmills are not moving that fast. Even the ones that are moving the sound as they whip by is extremely loud.

I look at my watch after a handful of miles and it is 10 AM. I’m just starting to climb some actual elevation gain and decide to take a break. As I’m enjoying my second breakfast, I see the German couple Fearless and Wigand begin to pass me. I crack a joke about how I saw him smoking cigs earlier and he can still breathe great. Seeing that gives me no more excuses on why I cannot breathe I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life.

After we exchange more pleasantries and tell each other that we’ll see each other in a couple more miles. A couple of miles go by and I run into them again. We leap frog each other for the next 5 miles and I decide to take a lunch time nap. I lay out my tyvek and find a good spot, I set my alarm for 40 minutes and force my self to relax and rest.

After lunch I get moving again, I run into a SOBO section hiker Kitchen Sink at mile 598. He tells me I’m in for a treat, mile 599 is a mess. Blowdown city, he tells me I’ll have to crawl, climb and work around the huge trees. As I get to mile 599 he was 100% correct. That mile sucked, climbing, crawling and walking around trees.

I hit 600 and am underwhelmed at the stick numbers. 100-500 were more well organized. But I do get it, no one really cares after 250. As I push on to the water source Seven texts me, he’s at mile 605 and says he has a nice campsite. I text back “I’m here tonight man.” I’m staying at mile 603 by the water. I’ll get an early start tomorrow.

I make dinner and hang out alone, I expect Tardy and Greenhorn here around sunset. At least I won’t be camping alone tonight. Greenhorn and I have plans to discuss, we might grab his truck and hit the Grand Canyon when we get to Kennedy meadows. We’re both going to take a week off before entering the sierras but there’s more hiking to do.

After eating I retire to my tent still in daylight to charge my devices and ultimately get out of the sun. After about an hour I hear someone screaming. I can’t really hear them too well but they’re screaming.

I make the decision to pack my stuff up and leave. As I’m doing that Greenhorn and Tardy walk in. I tell them what happened and I’m outta here. Greenhorn tells me there’s a FarOut comment from Stickers about the same thing. Man I wish I saw that I would’ve just kept walking. It’s 2.3 miles to the next camp site it’s 7PM. Sun sets in a half hour we better get moving.

We start off up the trail and Greennhorn sees a spot that’s flat and says guys I’ll see ya tomorrow. Tardy and I push on. We make it a mile and he looks at me as says I’ll see you tomorrow and grabs a flat spot . Ok, I push on and get to the next camp site. The Germans are here, and the frogs are making their noises. What I don’t hear is anyone screaming. Nice. Tonight is also peak meteor shower.

Off to bed.

I wake up at 5 and wander around the hotel. Yesterday I ate 7 tacos from Luna’s Mexicana and a burrito bowl from Chipotle. My stomach today’s in shambles, today is also Easter and 4/20 day. Greenhorn is going to give us a ride to trail at 8:30AM.

It’s 21 miles and 3,000’ elevation gain to Golden Oak Springs and we don’t want to do that water carry mid day. I leave the hotel with 4.5 liters, arguably too much but there’s really never too much if you can carry it comfortably. Drink more and it gets lighter drink less and be dehydrated. I’m trying to stay hydrated, I think being dehydrated is what’s going to get my muscles or joints to fall apart. Definitely will get my mind to fall apart.

Door knocks, it’s Green horn. Tardy, Seven and I jump into Greenhorns mom’s BMW and take the 20 minute trip to the trail head. I got shotgun. As we get out of the car we see two other hikers being dropped off as well. Stumbles and Reaper from Germany. They did the AT last year and are now doing the PCT. We chat for one minute and they blaze off up the trail. They’re fast. Weird comment, all the German hikers I’ve met on trail hike wicked fast. “Must be the German efficiency”-Tardy says…

The trail is entirely up today, it’s a long meandering switchback overlooking the highway and more windmills in the distance. There are no windmills near me right now but there will be later on looking at the map. After 5 miles it’s time for a siesta, I sit down and look forward to crushing my lunch. Fuck I can’t find it. Ugh omg I left it in the hotel fridge. 2.5 days worth of food, I even had frozen grapes I was going to crush in the heat.

I let out six curse words and then laugh about it. The maids living it up tonight. I pivot and eat a melted snickers bar and then an apple. My normal rule is no snickers or chocolate after 10AM. After a little bit and a tick check I’m up and moving again.

Another 10 miles go by and I run into Seven taking in some shade by a big Joshua tree, I’ve been tailing him all day but never caught up. He’s taking his long lunch and avoiding some level 10UV exposure. It’s now 1:30PM and we don’t want to be in the direct sunlight. We sit till 2 and then get moving again.

We roll into the water source around 3:45PM and see Coffee Break, Stumbles and Reaper. Coffee Break got on trail an hour before us by an uber with Long Legs. And wouldn’t ya know it Long Legs is miles ahead. The water source is a spring trough that taste like metal. Yuck.

I look around and grab a semi flat spot to set up my tent. “I’m here tonight.” I tell Seven he can move on without me. He mulls it over, looks at the map and the next camp being 5 miles away and ultimately decides to stay. An hour later Tardy walks in looking ragged, then 4 hours later just before sunset Greenhorn arrived after giving a bunch of rides earlier.

We’re all pushing forward to the next water source tomorrow, which is another 22 mile water carry. Tomorrow’s plan is 4,700 feet of up and 4,000 of down, that’s a lot of up and down for almost nothing in the end. With that in mind, I get into my tent after a lovely sunset and think it’s wise to get up early and beat the heat.

I lecture Tardy about getting all his stuff away from my tent. He’s got bags of food just out and about, and we’re definitely in mouse and bear country. The kid packs so much stuff it’s kindve impressive what he can carry. His ability to calculate macros and make sure he’s eating right is also impressive.

I eventually fall asleep listening to the windmills whipping sound and the smell of Greenhorn smoking a J. Happy 4/20 day my friend, don’t forget to leave cookies out for Snoop Dog.

Tardy mentions something called the “Tehachapi Challenge.” A 24 hour challenge to get from hiker town mile 517ish to Tehachapi mile 566ish under 24 hours passing through the LA Aqueduct. There’s really two options to hitch hike into the town of Tehachapi and we are choosing the first option as it seems easier to get a ride being an actual road way/highway and not a dirt road.

I plan to do this stretch over night. Most people do it over night to avoid the blistering desert heat and make it a big party. This week’s weather for us is nice and cool but we still want to do it over night. We spend the day lounging around hiker town, Richard the owner lets some of us drive his Ferarri and we still can’t believe the hospitality we’ve been shown.

Plan is to leave at 4PM and get moving as a big group. 3PM rolls around and Coffee break, Renaissance and Stealthy are getting anxious. They say “well we’re going to leave, suns good enough for us and we’re getting after it.” Roger that see you boys in 13 hours.

3:45PM rolls around and I get on Seven and Tardy, I tell them let’s get going and catch up. I’m hoping for 2.5-3 mph sustained pace. As we start to walk we pick up a stray, Greenhorn rolled in and says “I’m going to do the first 4 miles with you guys and then camp.” We told him to just push on with us but hey ok HYOH.

A mile down the road we start discussing the evening plans. Are we actually going to run all night long? Will it even take 24 hours? Are we taking any breaks? Are we camping at all? And most importantly…. What time should we eat these mushrooms I got back in Agua Dulce?

We arrive at the ”aqueduct” and mess around for a few minutes figuring out with which direction it’s actually flowing. We pass by a couple of gopher snakes that looked full and we turn left onto the long long road to the first and only water source for tonight.

As we reach the faucet Greenhorn jokes it’s shut off… Damn man that’s life or death for us, Seven left the house with no water at all. Savage. I left with 3 liters, he says I’d be laughing if it was off. I just plan on carrying heavy water 24/7 to keep “training.” I literally can’t drink enough out here.

Another few miles and we say goodbye to Greenhorn and start our actual aqueduct walk. Some of it is literally on top of the pipe. The rivets are hell on the bottom of your feet. It’s right about now I think about switching from Altra Lone Peaks to Altra Olympus shoes next time I swap. I need more cushion. Blurry vision, wobbly legs and destroyed feet it’s a recipe for sore ankles and stumbles.

I toss a handful of “portobello” mushrooms into my mouth and say “right now” this is the right time. I should be riding the wave as soon as we hit sunset. I poke Seven and hand him a bag. “Sharing is caring mate” I tell him. As soon as I get them down the hatch it’s always instant regret, no chaser, no chewing, just swallow them… After about 60 seconds of regret and questioning why do I do this? I then remember how awesome nature is. That’s why.

As we walk the aqueduct we look around and see a rain storm following us. Seven says “if we just walk fast it won’t catch us!” Tardy laughs and I just stare at it mesmerized. I have the gear for rain but right now maybe not the mental gear.

The wind starts to pick up, I toss on some layers and we all stop and sit down. The clocks ticking, I swap a sock and toss more luekotape onto my foot. There’s 3 layers at this point. It’s either a blister or not. No idea. Blisters are just a part of life now, is it infected? No, okay stfu and keep hiking then.

I look at Seven as I’m getting up off the hard ground I realize that’s it. I’m officially an astronaut on trail in California. Smile ear to ear, I no longer care about my feet, the possibility of rain, the next 20 miles, or owing the IRS tax money again, it’s just pure bliss, happiness, sunshine, good buddy’s and beautiful nature.

We laugh and talk about nonsense and even drink a can of Pepsi Seven packed out, we laugh about how much a trip hiker town was and what our Tehachapi plans are. The suns setting now and we prepare to get engulfed in the nights darkness.

I pull out some surprises for the boys. Glow sticks and glasses so no one gets “lost” in the dark. It should also add to the evenings events through the wind farms. I look over at Seven and Tardy and just start dying laughing.

We continue on and watch the rest of the sunset and debate when the moons rising. We’ve been joking the moons been a “full moon” for over a month. Today though accordingly to google it won’t be up until 1 AM. Bummer we wanted that moonlight. I stop 30 minutes later to do a “leg dump” when you raise your legs above your head and then the blood dumps back into your core. Exhilarating.

After laying flat on my back and looking at the sky for a few minutes I shut my eyes to clear my mind. I hear “yo Mouse, Mouse, Mouse!” I open them to this view.

Seven as we’re walking like a parrot announces every mile we hit, good thing because I don’t even know where we are. As we hit mile 15 we say oh man this is great! Almost darkness, headlamps on just a couple lads out in the wilderness. Tardy has no actual headlamp on, how’s this kid surviving? He impresses me more and more each day. He walks between us and just uses our lamp lights to get by.

As we hit mile 18 it’s pure uphill through the wind farm, I can’t see them spinning but I can hear the whooshing as each huge blade swings by. In the distance maybe 900 yards I see a faint headlamp ahead of us. Hmm who’s that? Could it be Renaissance or someone we don’t know?

Tardy stops, points and says “hey look Starlink!” Seven and I shut off our headlamps and stand there in awe. I’ve seen Starlink back home but never like this. It flickered across the sky like 100 satellites long. It looked like it was moving so fast. I stared at it speechless and then just like that it was gone again. Wow.

Another mile goes by still chasing that light in the distance, 2 miles go by and finally we catch up. It’s Coffee Break! How the hell are ya buddy. “Not fucking good, I left my hiking poles 4 miles back at one of the windmills when we took a break, I just hiked all the way back to get them.” Damn man well good thing you don’t have to do the 4 miles back up trail alone, get in line.

He gets in the conga line and asks us how everything’s been going. He can tell by our smiles and laughs everything’s been going wonderfully. He’s jealous he didn’t get friendly with the same guy as I did in Agua Dulce. Next time my friend, next time.

We hit mile 24 and Seven says “let’s take a solid break. I’m smoked.” I zeroed in hiker town, he didn’t. Makes sense he’s gassed out. I say I’m not moving on alone right now as I am, so an hour or two of sleep it is, I pitch my tent in the complete dark and get in it for a bit. The tent uses 8 stakes and I only used 6. Idgaf tonight. Is it standing? Yep, I tuck into my sleeping bag and fall asleep fast, I jerk awake and it’s time to get going again.

I look outside and see Tardy has left, he didn’t even unpack his bag or sleep. He read a few chapters of a smut book, got cold and bailed. Sevens in his tent sleeping, snoring loudly, see ya later buddy and just like that I’m gone up the trail again solo. Moons out now. Hard to get a picture of it.

I pass Rennaisance’s tent and heckle him on the way by. He sleeps till 10 everyday and still crushes more miles than me. It’s now “morning” we hiked all night through the dark.

I catch up to Stealthy who left Hiker Town with Renaissance and Coffee Break taking a weed break on top of the mountain as the suns rising. “Nice spot brah” I tell him and park a seat with him. I cook up some ramen noodles for breakfast, why? It’s literally all I have left. Fully out of food, water and weed until I get to Tehachapi.

Stealthy and I chitchat, he’s pumped for tehachapi to hit Walmart. He wants the pulled pork packets to make trail sandwiches. After a few minutes we say alright let’s wrap this hike up and get moving again. We see all the dirt bike trails going up the mountains and can’t believe someone road them.

We arrive at mile 549 and find a lovely trail angel cache. It had food, games and most importantly water. Thank you to whoever stocks this one. Time for another break.

From here it’s roughly 10 miles to the road where we plan to hitch hike from. Seven arrives at the cache and says Coffee Breaks 20 mins behind him. Stealthy says he’s going to chill and wait for Coffee, Seven and I decide to get moving again before the mid day sun. It’s now 10 AM.

We crush the last bit of steep uphill and enter the wind farm again. This time it’s day time and stupid fuken windy. Who ever suggested this location for a wind farm knocked it out of the park.

I stop in one area that’s not windy, time to pee. Seven stops also and we both say man without the wind this would be nice. With the wind we’re almost being blown off the ridges with each gust. It’s 4 miles to the highway, Seven and I say fuck this let’s just run the last few miles and get this over with.

I take point position as I am “faster” on the downhill. I ignore the shin splint firing in my left leg and enter a jog and just descend in altitude rapidly. As I enter the final .2 miles to the road I pull my phone out to start looking for a ride. There was a list of trail angels on a bench a bit back and I start calling them. All in all we called and/or texted every single number on the list. 4 people answered us and said no, they had work or were out of town. Understandable, the rest we never heard from at all.

I say let’s figure it out and we hit the roadway. Like many dirt bags before we put our thumbs out. We don’t want to wait, it is so windy out I’m actually shivering cold. The second car that drives by Seven lands us a ride to town with a gentleman who’s retired and waiting out the snow to go to Montana for the summer. His plan is to go spend the summer and then come back to Cali in the winters. Kindve a snow bird? He drops us off at the Best Western where we grab a 110$ room and then a ride to the 15$ all you can eat Chinese buffet. We giggle that all the Chinese food places here in Cali we have seen have been “wall” variety.

Renaissance calls me as we eat and says he’s getting a hitch into town by a fire Marshall. I tell him we’re in room 133 and the doors open. He’s crashing the night with us and then heading back to San Diego by bus (4 hours). He arrives and we decide to hit the Mexican place next door. I smash 4 tacos and a Mexican coke to one up the Chinese food.

Renaissance’s journey ends here as he’s taking time off trail to go home, see some family and friends and settle back into normal life. We will see you again Rennaisance. In the mean time safe travels and stay in touch amigo.

Overall what an awesome day. Left an amazing mini town in the desert, walked a famous landmark that gives a major city life, tripped balls with my buddy and hiked 43 miles in one leg to an all you can eat buffet. After dinner I sit in the hot tub and sooth my aching muscles.

Tomorrow’s is a zero day in Tehachapi as I prepare for the long haul to Kennedy Meadows. My official start to the Sierras. Good by SoCal desert section hello Sierras!

Oh the infamous Hiker Town. I sent a 2 day resupply to Hiker Town knowing the two days following would be light food weight and heavy water carry for the LA Aqueduct.

What’s the LA aqueduct section? Well according to the lovely internet:

The Los Angeles Aqueduct section of the PCT is a long, flat stretch of trail in the Mojave Desert, typically starting around mile 517 Hiker Town and running until around mile 540 near the Cottonwood Creek Bridge.

It’s famous for the long “aqueduct walk” which is a large part of the covered Los Angeles Aqueduct, which transports water from the Owens Valley to LA. At times you’re literally walking on top of a huge metal or concrete pipe or a buried channel. This section is extremely exposed and very hot, offers very little shade. Most hikers like my self complete this stretch at night or super early in the morning to avoid the heat.

Because it’s one of the flattest sections of the PCT in the right conditions it’s supposedly easy walking, but can feel endless and monotonous.

Inside of the walk I’ll pass near some massive wind farms as we approach Tehachapi Pass. This section is notorious for having little to no water sources so people often carry 4-6 liters of water to get through it safely. 6 liters of water weighs 13.2 pounds.

I roll into hiker town (see all photos) with a hobble from the days prior, I see Audrey, her partner, Vibhu, and Knorwall already there. I last saw them in Big Bear on the city bus when I was going to resupply. I take a seat and Marta comes out to greet me, her and Richard are the owners. She gives me the full tour and tells me to grab a mini house for the night. The winds picking up.

I “check in” to my room and say this is all I need. It’s a roof over my head and a bed with surprisingly good WiFi.

I get back outside to socialize after dropping off my gear, I meet another hiker Dave who’s in his 50s and we decide to score a ride to the market.

We take the 9 minute drive up the road and order burritos and I grab extra snacks. I ask the woman behind the counter to make mine with out beans and she roasts me for it. I thank her for the roasting as it made me feel like home ordering from Regina’s. Great pizza rude staff. While waiting for our food we hang out in the hikers lounge.

After the Neenach market trip it’s back to hiker town to chill and party for the night. I walk the property and check out the mini houses, each one has a different theme. Casino, Barber Shop, Saloon, Tattoo Parlor etc.

The property also has a few friendly dogs that will hang out with you. I think they wanted my burrito, but I won’t feed dogs people food after having to pick up dog poop off the Boston sidewalk. These pups are obviously built different, but none the less a no no to me.

I see Richard the owner and he waves Dave and I over. “How yall doing?” “Great sir how are you?”… “Jump in let’s go.” He says, and we jump into his truck to get some food at the market again. He also owns the market up the street. He takes us to there to eat with him. The banana bread served was on the house. While there we grab a list of groceries from the store they were out of. He was on a resupply mission of his own. Nice! After that it’s around to show us his property and tell us his life story.

He tells us he was a pilot in the Marine Corps air wing, flew for filming movies like Magnum PI and then moved into being a producer of movies and IMAX when that was coming out. Eventually he transitioned into environmental policy and traveled the world working with regulations. He bought a ton of land here when he knew it would be expanding due to new land grants and highways expanding. I’ll talk to this guy all day.

When he bought the property he did not know what the PCT was, he said “homeless people” kept coming to the house asking him for water and then he realized they were hikers not homeless. His wife one day was making lemonade and hotdogs on the grill and a hungry hiker walked up looking absolutely destroyed. She handed him the hotdog snd ice cold lemonade and he said they’ve been helping us dirt dogs ever since. They plopped one tiny shed property down, and then two, and then now there’s over a dozen on site. I am pretty early in the season I think only 20 hikers have signed the log book before me so it’s not too busy. Again I started only 8 days into the “season.” But come May there will be over 50 hikers here a day.

Richard asks if I want to take the trip to Walmart in Lancaster and then swing towards LA, we can grab some steaks and beer, some extra to grill up later. He has a meeting later he says and we’ll swing back after that. I politely decline, that’s too much travel for me. Dave (Stealthy) the other guy I was with says “sure let’s do it.” I jump out of the truck back at his house and decide to chill out for the day. A zero day at hiker town. The next sections a night hike and I’m waiting to grab a package when Richard gets back. He controls the package deliveries here and I got something for everybody.

Hours later Dave comes back with Marta, they got a flat tire, went to Costco, Home Depot and a grocery store. Now we’re going to Richard’s other project house to help him move something. Which ended up being where they are going to move Hiker Town to. The PCT is allegedly being rerouted and will follow down towards this other house through Tejone Pass. I think in 3-4 years it’ll be an awesome spot and I think touring the trail that way makes more sense.

Richard asks us to spend the night there. He says the darkness where it’s more remote offers amazing skylines and again we both decline. Dave and I take a good walk through and look around and then ask what chores he wanted done. The properties awesome but it’s in no condition for me to stay in.

Cement board Richard says. There is 250 of them needing to be moved out of the back of his pickup truck into the living room. His plan is to redo the entire house. Richard’s 85, so him lifting them is off the table. They are 35lbs a piece, not too heavy but at 4’x3’ they’re awkward. He had three guys coming tomorrow to do it but he needs his truck empty tonight for tomorrow morning. Ok Dave let’s go we’re going to two man this. You stack them off the truck and I’ll load them into the house.

It took us a little bit longer than we wanted but we earned our dinner and stay tonight. Marta’s there and we tell her we’re ready to go back to hiker town. Her and Richard are arguing about something seems business related. We kind’ve step in the middle thinking if we don’t we’ll never leave. She takes us back where we hang out and eat dinner for the night. My second car sick experience of the day as we blast down the dirt roads and actually ran over a rattle snake in the process.

We get back to hiker town and it gets dark quickly, Tardy shows up with Rennaisance. Dave and I sit there laughing about the absolute shenanigans of a day we had. He pulls out a rotisserie chicken that Richard gave us. Huh? Where’d that even come from… Dave gives the chicken to Tardy for dinner. He says he’s never cut one up, I teach him how to slay a rotisserie. I keep in mind him being 18-19 he’s still green on life.

We’re all going to zero tomorrow and wait for some more people to get here. As we head into our bunks for the night I snag a photo to remember the evening. Just a couple lads sleeping with the spiders and mouse shit in poor lighting.

I wake up and spend the morning packing up and hydrating, I plan to leave around 4PM and hike all night long until the next day. We take a few trips back and forth to the store but otherwise is a full day of just chilling. 4 PM rolls around and we leave. Good bye to hikertown, Marta and Richard really treated us like we were friends. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be back but I am going to call Richard about some fuel additive he’s working on when I get done with the trail.

I wake up at 4:30AM and start packing up camp. My goal is to get Farmer John’s house “Serenity’s Oasis” before 4PM. I eat a light breakfast and throw all of my trash away. I camped at the Messenger Flats campground last night mile 430 and they have bear boxes and trash cans. I use the very clean privy and then get walking before the sun rises. Seven and I debate what is the correct name. Outhouse, pit toilet or privy, I have heard them called all 3 back home in New Hampshires White Mountains. He’s never heard of privy. Not once he says.

Starting at bottom of the first climb it starts off in a nice pine forest. Slight breeze on our backs to remind us to start cold. Quickly I rise above the ridge line and the suns now risen. Views for as far as the eye can see! And no more head lamp needed.

As I hit the water source I grab 2 liters. I’m drinking as much as I can all day. At the next source I’ll grab 3 more. This source was kindve stagnant, I think it’ll be dried up in 3-5 weeks. The next water source is one that only runs in the morning. In the afternoon the sun evaporates it to quickly and it doesn’t flow.

As I get between the two water sources I run into crews doing trail maintenance. All volunteers. I ask them how it’s going and they tell me that they have been out clearing brush each weekend for the last three weeks. I respond that it is much appreciated and show the person my legs and how cut up they are. We chat for a few moments about the upcoming section and we discuss the rampant spread of poodle dog bush after the recent fires. They warn me about a stretch of poison oak for about 4 miles ahead. Sweet will keep my eyes open.

After bumping into the trail maintenance crew, it was a nice steady downhill to the next water source where it was actually a beautiful campsite as well. Unfortunately, all the campsites were taken from the trail maintenance crew, but I would imagine if you got there on a Tuesday it would be a perfect spot to camp for the night.

As I come down the hill into Acton I can see a large group of hikers ahead of me, as I catch up to them, I realize it’s a group of Boy/Girl Scouts and they are heading to the Acton KOA RV park for the night. We exchange hellos, they ask me 30 questions about my travels, treat me like a hero and then I’m back on my way into the mid day heat.

I hit the last water source for the day which looks to be in a green valley near KOA. Fully under tree cover with a nice fallen tree to sit on. The 7 minutes it takes to filter water always kills me. ADHD problems, hurry up. This water source is a totally different environment than I’ve been in for the last 15 miles. Mosquitos everywhere, it’s like they got turned on at mile 400. I fill up every bottle I have and prepare for the uphill slog in the midday heat.

After filling up, I start heading out. I have great cell phone service at this point of the day so I decide to call back home and thank my parents for my birthday card. After them I call my Uncle Peter and buddy Dylan. Honestly I needed this, it made the uphill miles go by easier than they would’ve. I think I spent a total of an hour on the phone, that’s at-least 2 miles in my head. Knowing I can charge my phone when I get to John’s, I also don’t care about the battery drain.

At 12:30PM I remember the advice from Seven when he says “brother if your shadow is shorter than you and the UV index is above 8, then you flat out should NOT be outside.” My hands have gotten dark as hell and SPF 50 just doesn’t cut it.

Around mile 444 I find a nice cave to enjoy a shady moment in. I lay out my tyvek and sit down and drink some water. I think about taking a nap but after 20 or 25 minutes sitting there. I kind of feel like there is thing’s moving around inside this cave and decide to get going again. I’m a little bit antsy.

It feels like four more miles and I’m at a huge tunnel that connects one side of the canyon to Vasquez Rocks. This goes underneith the highway.

Vasquez rocks is an absolute beautiful area that reminded me of the inside of the Grand Canyon. I yell into the tunnel to hear my echo. Weirdly I hear people chit chatting, it freaks me out for a moment but I remember I have no reason to be afraid of people. I’m properly prepared to handle my self. As I get through the tunnel and start walking into Vasquez Rocks I finally see the day hikers that were talking. They joke they were talking shit about me because I was yelling. I laugh and say good! That makes me feel like you guys are normal people not serial killers.

15 minutes later I run into two other thru hikers Greenhorn and Coffee Break who I have not met before. I have seen their comments on FarOut. Greenhorn just got out of high school and is hiking the trail for the first time, Coffee break is turning 50 and has hiked it previously and is coming back again to finish the rest of what he started.

I sit down for a few minutes as they leave and then jump up to catch up to them. As I catch up to them I ask them if they mind that I hike with them for a bit and they say absolutely not let’s go. We hike maybe another 2 miles through the beautiful rock formations and we get to the Vasquez Rocks Interpretive Center. We go inside to see if they have both water and anything cool to see and they had both.

Cheap Gatorade and ice cold Sprites, unlimited water and a bunch of animals that are showcased in the park that we could see. I was able to grab a icy Sprite and see a nice gopher snake and rattlesnake up close and personal. That’s as close as I ever want to be. The team took the time to ask us questions and explain to us how the park formed, the importance of the wild life and answered anything we could come up with.

After chatting with the members of the team there, it’s on to the three mile road walk to Farmer John’s. I look at my Garmin and it tells me I’ve done over 21 miles in under nine hours and it’s only 2PM. Coffee Break and Greenhorn joke I should push on and just do a 30 mile day at this point. I feel like and know I didn’t take any breaks today. My left shin feels like it’s on fire but overall I feel motivated to keep pushing myself further and further each day.

I skip resupplying in town on the way by and decide to just get to Farmer John’s and relax.

When I arrive the place is fully stocked. He has everything you could ever need. I mean everything, there was no need to go into town. I grab 2 gatorades and pay 30$ to do laundry, shower, relax and camp for the night.

He gives me the lay of the land and we talk about everything under the sun. He’s a farmer and guitar player, he hands me his Taylor acoustic and says play it for me. I start to jam for him as he does camp chores. The guitar plays very nicely like all Taylor’s do and it feels good to do one of my other hobbies besides hiking. Granted I’m rusty, I haven’t picked up a guitar in 4 months, and my hands hurt from gripping trekking poles all day but I still got it. It’s like riding a bike it comes back to you.

After playing guitar for Farmer John he asks if I partake in that “Cali green”. When in Rome I say. We swap a few buds back and forth from his home grown collection and some purple nugs I got back in Wrightwood. I joke with him “I’m a connoisseur” and his response is “ Variety is the spice of life my friend, I like you Mouse, you’re alright.”

As we talk Farmer John decides to make snow cones for the hikers already here. Flamingo, Long Legs, two folks from Germany and a few others. He slides me a blue raspberry one and it was perfect in the 4PM sun. I crush my snow cone and then jump into a hot shower. Will say, this guys property had the best water pressure I have seen since landing in California. Was like the Seinfeld episode when they get black market shower heads.

Wolf, Seven and Dallas show up a little after dinner, they stopped in town before coming here. Seven brought me tacos from the Mexican restaurant up the street. Nice! Hella friend. After crushing my tacos we all chill out on the patio. The others do laundry, relax and talk about the plans for the LA Aqueduct section and how we want to do it Wednesday night starting around sunset. We plan to grab some glow sticks and lamps so no one gets “lost.”

Around 9:30PM I head into my tent and let everyone around me know why they call me Mouse. I rustle around for an hour and then fall asleep to a light breeze.

Farmer John’s house Serenity Oasis is quite an amazing spot for hikers to hang out. His prices were very reasonable and even beat what I’m calling the Wrightwood Gala Apple index. 1.59$ vs 2.79$.

When you find your self walking through Agua Dulce after Vasquez rocks I would highly recommend stopping by Farmers John’s house and enjoying the hospitality and presence of other hikers.

I set up camp at mile 411 last night. I wake up today to a bunch of birthday text messages. Perks of being 3 hours behind the time zone. It’s looking like 6.5 miles to the Mill Creek fire station where I’m getting a hitch into town.

Last night I got on Facebook and asked around if anyone could pick us up. I was told I would have NO cell service at the road and to organize a ride before hand. We need a ride into Acton to hit the post office and then back again. 45 minutes round trip.

It’s a beautiful sunrise and Seven was actually the first to wish me happy birthday. Even though he was 25 feet away he Garmin messaged me. A minute later Dallas and then Wolf stops by. Awesome way to start 36 off, with your buddies doing straight up hard stuff.

I step out of my tent and immediately I’m sore, I battled a shin splint all day yesterday that’s bothering me and I can’t stretch it enough. As I look at the view the pain goes away, just forget about it I tell my self. I check some email, nice Altra warranteed my Lone Peak 3s, after 220 miles they are destroyed. Nice win for my birthday. I’m going back to the low top 7s. I still think the 7s were the best Altra shoe ever made. I even ordered 2 pairs to put in stock to have shipped out as they wear away.

I leave camp at 7AM and start the walk to the fire station, it’s a lovely downhill morning and the trail is fast, initially I was worried about getting here before 10AM. I don’t want our ride to wait for us. But at our pace I say I think I will be fine.

As I get to the trail head I see signs that say “trail magic!” A gentleman Patrick said he just retired and wanted to give back to the trail. He hands me a Gatorade and starts passing out hot dogs. We chat with him for a while and get to know him. Exchange IG info and then say goodbye.

After that it’s a short walk to the Mill Creek fire station where I meet Scott to get into town. As much as I thank Scott for the ride and appreciate it. We drove too fast into town, I was almost car sick on the ride there.

I arrive at the post office at 11AM. Everything goes smooth, the lady behind the counter was super helpful and nice. I swap my backpack for a new Z Pack arc haul. I ordered it back in January and never got it, did the first 400 miles with my Osprey day bag. I also decided to ship home some clothes. My long underwear, gloves, extra socks, and ship my ice axe and microspikes north to Kennedy Meadows. I’ll have to mail my bear can there also.

The rest of the crew does the same with their snow gear. Seven gets a package of shorts and a sun hoodie, the kid now looks fly in his new clothes and blazingly white legs. He does get bad news that his new Enlightened Equipment puffy however did not make the delivery.

I reach out to our ride back and arrange a time, they say 1:30PM. We hit the store next door and grab some lunch. Wolf gives me half of their Italian sub because I didn’t want to eat before the drive back. I’m glad I did, for one that was an amazing sub, for two the ride back was much more tame.

Megan our ride back dropped us off where we started, we offer her some cash and force her to take it. She drove 35 minutes out of the way to help us out. Thank you so much! After that it’s now 12 miles of uphill to Messenger Flat Campground. I’d say these miles were uneventful, just hot, uphill and I spent most of us messing with the adjustments on my new bag. The one thing you get really comfortable in is after carrying a bag for so long it almost molds to your body shape. 

I leapfrog some hikers we saw the day before Sparks and Kind Heart. They’re heading to the same camp! Will see y’all there. As I hit mile 11 I’m gassed, it’s starting to get dark and I want to mess with my new gear before bed.

I pitch my tent in a forest of pine trees and listen to the wind howl. The moons nice and bright, it’s full in a few days. Everyone else arrives to camp and we sit down for my birthday dinner. I crush the usual ramen, pasta and rice.

Wolf breaks out a perfect pack of hostess cupcakes. how they carried it out without any damage to me was impressive. Sparks had birthday candles and even in the wind I had my birthday cake and ate it too. I sit there after dinner with some tears in my eyes. From people I barely know, to people who are becoming good friends the level of appreciation I have today is huge. The trail is reinstating my faith in humanity. As a Bostonian, I grew up thinking people sucked, can’t say my own observation changed any of that at home. But here people have been amazing.

As I lay in my tent tonight I text some friends back home. I get a text from Sum Mer who I met on Facebook who coordinated our rides today and she tells me she’s prepaid a fried ice cream in Agua Dulce at Terra Dulce for me tomorrow. Again wow, so appreciative, tomorrow is a 27 mile day to get there and I’m going to absolutely crush that ice cream. Lactose intolerant and all idgaf.

Overall- amazing birthday, simple, clean(except me and my clothes), I crushed miles, and spent it with people I truly care about. What more can I ask for? Life is fucking great.

I camped at Islip parking lot and the weather overnight was perfect. I wake up around 5:30AM and my body feels like trash. Yesterday was a physical battle, I’m glad I “won” it but man I feel it today. I imagine this is how boxers feel, yeah I win but man I too got “heat up”

I pack up my camp and walk over to the privy. It’s actually clean. Perks of the road being shut down for years no one comes here. Fully stocked with TP also, I start off my hike through a little section of trail and then I jump onto highway 2 for a 5+ mile road walk around the frog closure. Wolf and Dallas are with me this morning.

Right now you’re probably saying wtf is the frog closure?

The “frog closure” on the PCT at least refers to a trail closure between miles 390 and 393 to protect the habitat of the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa and Rana sierrae). These frogs are native to these parts of Southern California. Their populations have sadly been severely reduced due to:

• Invasive species (like non-native trout that eat frog eggs and tadpoles)

• Disease (especially chytrid fungus) like all of us

• Habitat loss and degradation

The U.S. Forest Service and other agencies sometimes temporarily close certain trail sections especially in sensitive breeding areas to help the frogs recover without human disturbance. Essentially we’re letting the frogs have sex unbothered by us.

As of recently this zone has been off limits to hikers. It looked beautiful from the sign but I guess I’ll see it next year.

After walking around the frog closure I cut through Buckhorn Campground. I have to say what a beautiful campground, they even had fireplaces out side that I would imagine not in fire season would be awesome to sit by. I can remember a few cold nights I would’ve loved that. A nice outdoor fire, your friends and a nice brisk spring evening. There was also privys everywhere as I walked through, not that I’m a huge fan of them but when you have to go you have to go.

After I walk to the end of the campground I read the bulletin board that gives me the heads up about the local wildlife. Of course mountain lions and rattlesnakes. I kindve want to see one of them but not the other. Which one do you think is which?

After a mile on the trail it’s an obstacle course across a river on a huge log. Indiana jones style. I went first, being short didn’t help trying to climb up onto a 55” in log.

From there it was down down down until guess what, another river crossing, I fill up my 2 liters of water and start back up hill to regain what I lost in elevation.

I stop to have lunch and Dallas joins me, Wolf pushes on. Today it’s cheese and pepperoni in tortillas for lunch. Of course a side of gummy worms with it and electrolytes to catch up on the dehydration. Not get ahead of it, but catch up at this point.

We get moving again and Dallas is now 50ish feet ahead of me. I see them stopped staring and then get walking again…. Weird, wtf is this kid doing? I get to where they were and see what they were staring at. A nice old snake standing at attention. I swing at it with my trekking pole and high step it out of there. “WTF Dallas!” I yell. “Yeah it was kindve pissed off at me.” You’re killing me smalls. I think it was a gopher snake, but I didn’t see it good enough.

Probably because I had my head down and was in the zone. Im shooting to get to mile 411 tonight so I can camp at 411 for 4/11 my 36th birthday. Last year I spent 35 at Havasupai with my dad. Honestly I’d say that was the best birthday I’ve ever had. But I’m looking forward to tomorrow to be even better.

As I cross Highway 2 for the last time I look at FarOut. It’s 9 miles to camp. It’s currently 3:45PM and time to get moving fast. I think the sun setting over the mountain makes it look darker than it really is. Before I get up the trail a reminder we are now in bear country.

A few miles in I hit the water source and fill up again. I can’t drink enough water today, I just feel dry. Another couple deep breaths and I find a nice shady rock to sit on.

As soon as I sit down it’s chaos. I didn’t even take my bag off and I got bit 2 times by a horsefly. Last time I saw one of these was back home. Usually Mother’s Day to Father’s Day or if you’re at the beach. Damn they hurt!

I pop up immediately and tell the horseflies it was nice meeting them. Have a good one friend and I’m off again. I don’t stop the rest of the way, just power through the uphill. Power through the shin splint in my left leg, ugh. Makes me feel like middle school soccer, that’s the last time I ever had a shin splint. Most importantly power through my last day as a 35 year old.

I roll into camp and see Seven and Wolf already there. Wolf snagged a sick tent spot.

I haven’t seen Seven since the other day. He crushes the uphill and was way ahead of us. Nice, the boys are back in town for my bday tomorrow. Absolutely perfect. Tomorrow’s also day 100 of my micro retirement. Can you say just completely stoked?? I have to say, it’s been fucking amazing year so far. Cheers to 35 you were a solid year, but 36 hold the fuck on because it’s just getting started.

I camped at Islip parking lot and the weather overnight was perfect. I wake up around 5:30AM and my body feels like trash. Yesterday was a physical battle, I’m glad I “won” it but man I feel it today. This is probably how boxers feel even after a win. Beat up.

I pack up my camp and walk over to the privy. It’s actually clean. Perks of the road being shut down for years no one comes here. I start off my hike through a tiny section of trail and then I jump onto highway 2 for a 5+ mile road walk around the frog closure.

Wolf and Dallas are with me this morning. This highway looks like it would be awesome to do in a nice sports car. Top down, music on low, heated seat on. Ahhhh man to move that fast again… but anyways.

Right now you’re probably saying wtf is the frog closure?

The “frog closure” on the PCT at least, refers to a trail closure between roughly miles 390 and 393 to protect the habitat of the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa and Rana sierrae). These frogs are native to these parts of Southern California. Their populations have sadly been severely reduced due to:

• Invasive species (like non-native trout that eat frog eggs and tadpoles)

• Disease (especially chytrid fungus) like all of us

• Habitat loss and degradation

The U.S. Forest Service and other agencies sometimes temporarily close certain trail sections especially in sensitive breeding areas to help the frogs recover without human disturbance. Essentially we’re letting the frogs have sex unbothered by us.

As of recently this zone has been off limits to hikers. It looked beautiful but I guess I’ll see it next year.

After walking around the frog closure I cut through Buckhorn Campground. I have to say what a beautiful campground, they even had fireplaces out side that I would imagine not in fire seasons would be awesome to sit by. I can remember a few cold nights I would’ve loved that. There was also privys everywhere, not that I’m a huge fan of them but when you have to go you have to go.

After I walk to the end of the campground I read the bulletin board that gives me the heads up about the local wildlife. Of course mountain lions and rattlesnakes. I’d like to see one but not the other. From a far far distance.

After a mile on the trail it’s an obstacle course across a river on a huge log Indiana Jones style.

From there it was down down down until guess what, another river crossing, I fill up my 2 liters of water, chug a half liter and start back up hill to regain what I lost in elevation.

I stop to have lunch and Dallas joins me, today’s it’s cheese and pepperoni in tortillas for lunch. Of course a side of gummy worms with it and electrolytes to catch up on the dehydration. Not get ahead of it, but catch up at this point.

We get moving again and Dallas is ahead of me. I see them stopped staring and then get walking again…. Weird, I get to where they were and see what they were staring at. A nice old snake standing at attention. I swing at it with my trekking pole and high step it out of there. “WTF Dallas!” I yell. “Yeah it was kindve pissed off at me.” You’re killing me smalls. I think it was a gopher snake, but I didn’t see it good enough.

From here on it was a slog uphill the rest of the way, knowing the sun is setting fast and that I’m shooting for mile 411 I put my head phones in and zone out. I pass by camp Glenwood it’s at mile 400. Nice landmark. A private dad’s camp for kids it says. It’s a nice spot out here but is closed up. The water is also off.

As I push that last 11 miles to camp I see Seven and Wolf already there. I haven’t seen Seven in a day or two it’s awesome he made it. He was here first, we all sit down, have dinner and enjoy my last night as a 35 year old.

Tonight I’m lucky enough to grab an amazing camp spot at mile 411 on my birthday 4/11. Last year I spent my birthday with my dad hiking Havasupai. It was his first time to the Grand Canyon and my second time there and his first time backpacking. He absolutely crushed that trip, we had a great time and it was a perfect four days of weather. I honestly think that was the best birthday I have ever had to date. But I’m expecting this years to top that.

35 was an amazing year for me, I met amazing people, got into some trouble, traveled to a bunch of amazing places and did some pretty outrageous stuff. So as I say good bye to my self as a 35 year old I keep in mind that 36 better hold on fucken tight because it’s just getting started.