tiffany's pct journal
ENTRY 39.
California Section E: Tehachapi Pass to Agua Dulce - Part I.
Days: 116 - 117.
Dates: October 27 - 28.
Trail mileage: 2086.6 - 2094.6.
Distance: 8.0 miles.
I ended that day with a pretty big climb. I was exhausted, but there weren’t any campsites anywhere that I could see, so I just had to keep hiking. I was also thirsty because there was only one legitimate water source that whole day. I was ready to set up camp!
Just starting to get dark
I ran into a campsite a mile or so before the one I was looking at, and thank goodness because my feet were really sore. I was only a few miles out from the road where I was going to try to hitch into Tehachapi, and I was excited to get some ready food and maybe sleep in town. It was freezing that night — the first night in several days I had to pull on my puffy pants.
Good thing I hadn't been walking the wrong way for a couple thousand miles
I got to the road early the next day, after getting really close to a bunch of wind turbines. I had found a trail angel who was willing to host me that night, and I was excited to be indoors that night after that cold previous night. It took me a while to get a hitch into town, and I got dropped off at the bakery for some breakfast.
Getting so close to wind turbines
I had shipped my box to a couple of wonderful trail angels, David and Dalton at a place called Wit’s End. They accept resupply packages for PCT hikers, and used to have a hiker space in town. I stopped by a cafe and they were kind enough to drop off my 2 packages with me there. After they left, I found out that the Tehachapi surrounding area had a power outage. There were power outages all over the place because the very large gas and power company here was shutting down grids for fear of starting and spreading wildfires.
We knew there were fires around, because we could see the smoke on the trail
I knew I had to pick up a hat from Big 5 all the way across town though, and stop by the post office, which was also quite a ways away. My resupply box held all of the food I was going to be shipping to myself for the rest of the trail because my partner had to deal with a family emergency back at home, so I needed to make some resupply boxes and ship them out.
In a little bit of a panic, I called up David and Dalton from Wit’s End to ask if they were willing to drive me to the other side of town so I could finish those errands, then I’d find another way back into the other part of town.
These two were some of the kindest people I met on the entire trail. They not only offered to come pick me up and drive me to the other end of town, but they also took me back to their space and let me put together my resupply boxes there, and let me use their boxes and tape. They even took me out to lunch, and we had great food and conversations. I had one of the best days on the trail here with them, and I hope our paths cross again in the future.
A very cool bench at Wit's End
I had been messaging Yahtzee throughout the day and we decided to get a hotel room, since my trail angel stay had been compromised by the power outages. David was kind enough to drop me off at the hotel, and Dalton was kind enough to drop us off at the trail the next day.
Yahtzee had gotten in contact with Ctrl+Z and Katie, and they were going to split the room with us, so not only was the room only like $25 per person, but it was also a fun reunion that night in the hotel room.
Hikers love continental breakfast. And this hotel had some pretty bomb continental breakfast, so we didn’t get an early start that day. Dalton met Yahtzee and me at the cafe, where I got him a coffee to start paying him back for helping me out so much. I knew it was just barely grazing the surface of a proper thank-you, and I hope I can fully thank David and Dalton again in the future.
California Section E: Tehachapi Pass to Agua Dulce - Part I.
Days: 116 - 117.
Dates: October 27 - 28.
Trail mileage: 2086.6 - 2094.6.
Distance: 8.0 miles.
I ended that day with a pretty big climb. I was exhausted, but there weren’t any campsites anywhere that I could see, so I just had to keep hiking. I was also thirsty because there was only one legitimate water source that whole day. I was ready to set up camp!
Just starting to get dark
I ran into a campsite a mile or so before the one I was looking at, and thank goodness because my feet were really sore. I was only a few miles out from the road where I was going to try to hitch into Tehachapi, and I was excited to get some ready food and maybe sleep in town. It was freezing that night — the first night in several days I had to pull on my puffy pants.
Good thing I hadn't been walking the wrong way for a couple thousand miles
I got to the road early the next day, after getting really close to a bunch of wind turbines. I had found a trail angel who was willing to host me that night, and I was excited to be indoors that night after that cold previous night. It took me a while to get a hitch into town, and I got dropped off at the bakery for some breakfast.
Getting so close to wind turbines
I had shipped my box to a couple of wonderful trail angels, David and Dalton at a place called Wit’s End. They accept resupply packages for PCT hikers, and used to have a hiker space in town. I stopped by a cafe and they were kind enough to drop off my 2 packages with me there. After they left, I found out that the Tehachapi surrounding area had a power outage. There were power outages all over the place because the very large gas and power company here was shutting down grids for fear of starting and spreading wildfires.
We knew there were fires around, because we could see the smoke on the trail
I knew I had to pick up a hat from Big 5 all the way across town though, and stop by the post office, which was also quite a ways away. My resupply box held all of the food I was going to be shipping to myself for the rest of the trail because my partner had to deal with a family emergency back at home, so I needed to make some resupply boxes and ship them out.
In a little bit of a panic, I called up David and Dalton from Wit’s End to ask if they were willing to drive me to the other side of town so I could finish those errands, then I’d find another way back into the other part of town.
These two were some of the kindest people I met on the entire trail. They not only offered to come pick me up and drive me to the other end of town, but they also took me back to their space and let me put together my resupply boxes there, and let me use their boxes and tape. They even took me out to lunch, and we had great food and conversations. I had one of the best days on the trail here with them, and I hope our paths cross again in the future.
A very cool bench at Wit's End
I had been messaging Yahtzee throughout the day and we decided to get a hotel room, since my trail angel stay had been compromised by the power outages. David was kind enough to drop me off at the hotel, and Dalton was kind enough to drop us off at the trail the next day.
Yahtzee had gotten in contact with Ctrl+Z and Katie, and they were going to split the room with us, so not only was the room only like $25 per person, but it was also a fun reunion that night in the hotel room.
Hikers love continental breakfast. And this hotel had some pretty bomb continental breakfast, so we didn’t get an early start that day. Dalton met Yahtzee and me at the cafe, where I got him a coffee to start paying him back for helping me out so much. I knew it was just barely grazing the surface of a proper thank-you, and I hope I can fully thank David and Dalton again in the future.