Done with Southern California!

Okay so from the last post to now we had to walk 144 miles in 7 days to get through the last of Southern California.  We figured that would be no problem.  We figured we had to do just over 20 miles a day and the thought of the Sierra Mountains would keep our spirits high and help us push through the last of the desert.  Boy were we wrong.  This has been the hardest week - not only physically but also mentally - of the whole trip so far.

5/28 - Day 33 - 20 miles - Mile 558 to 578
The day before we had decided to take another zero day in Mojave due to bad weather.  We had heard that there were gusts of wind up to 78 mph in the high desert... We figured the storm would blow over and this day it would be safe to leave.  But it wasn't.  We took off around 9 in the morning in the middle of a rain storm and had to walk through another wind farm. It was absolutely miserable.  We were cold and wet so when we saw another person had set up their tent behind a large bush that blocked most of the wind, we decided to follow suit and wait out the storm.  We had walked only 4 miles by this point.  We were just considering giving in and going back to town to try again tomorrow when the rain stopped and the sun came out a bit.  The wind was still blowing like mad but at least it wasn't raining.  So off we went and again, we thought that maybe we had seen the worst of the weather that day.  But then we had to go up a mountain and found ourselves literally walking into the storm.  We were just on top of the mountain being blown every which way by the wind.  I had no idea how we were going to sleep that night in the wind but we found a great spot with a couple of other hikers where the bushes were large enough to block most of the wind.  We even slept really well that night.  And I guess we were lucky that the weather we saw that day wasn't worse... later on this week we have been able to talk to some of our hiker friends who took off the day before and it sounded like they just had the worst time ever. One of our friends said she was actually stuck on top of the mountain because the wind was so strong that she couldn't move forward.  She ended up sitting there for half an hour or so and then crawling her way across till she found some refuge.  So all in all I guess our day was pretty miserable but hey, at least we weren't out there the day before.

5/29 - Day 34 - 24 miles - 578 to 602
Gosh, what a great day this was. Probably the best one of the week.  It started off going through some more wind farms and through a really burnt area of trail but ended in a really beautiful area with trees and the ground was a little wet and we had enough water that night... oh it was amazing.  MudD even saw a bear!  He said that as he rounded a corner in the trail, he saw it maybe 20 yards ahead of him.  They made eye contact and then the bear took off running down the trail!  It was a pretty hard day but we made good time and even had enough time to take a really nice lunch break in the middle of a really hard but beautiful climb.  Our spirits were soaring at the end of the day - we were certain that the trees and the bear were a sign that the desert was officially over and the road to Kennedy Meadows (the official end of Southern California) was going to be fun and easy. But our hopes and dreams were crushed that night when we looked at the water report for the next day.  We were at mile 602.  There was water at 609... and then no water on the trail until mile 664.  What?  How is that possible?  There were a couple of water sources about a half a mile off the trail and a couple of other water caches that trail angels might have left on the trail but other than that, nothing.

5/30 - Day 35 - 29 miles - 602 to 631
So we went hard this day.  We heard that water cache at mile 631 was pretty reliable and we could get water at 621 if we went about 1.5 miles out of our way.  Somehow we also walked out of the beautiful trees and smack dab into the desert again.  The real desert too with small little shrubs and no place to sit in the shade to cool down.  Luckily the water cache at mile 615 was completely full so we both drank a liter of water there and kept heading on.  It was only 10:30 and wasn't too hot out.  I think as soon as we were about a mile away from that water cache it got extremely hot. Boy were we sweating hard.  This was not fun.  And the worst part about it was we had to keep going and get to the next water source.  It was too hot to not drink a ton of water and so by the time we had 5 miles to go, we both only had about a liter and a half left... so we had to do it.  We were dead tired, probably pretty dehydrated, and to be completely honest, not having any fun at all.  Those last 5 miles really took it out of us.  They were hard, hot, and uphill.  Plus the ground was really sandy and the wind had picked up so it felt like every step forward was just an absolute struggle. We made it to the water cache and luckily it had plenty of water.  We tried to find a place to camp out of the wind but it was back and blowing hard again.  Both of us felt slightly sick and had to force down water and food which we knew our bodies needed but we had no desire to consume anything.  After sitting for a while and relaxing in the shade we started feeling better.  That night we tried (but failed) to get a good night's sleep because we knew we had 33 miles to go without any water the next day and it was probably going to be hot again.

5/31  - Day 36 - 20 miles - Mile 631 to 651 - MUDD'S BIRTHDAY!!!
MudD's birthday would have been pretty miserable if not for the amazing trail magic we experienced at Walker Pass at mile 651.  The day was actually okay at first. We had a nice climb that took us into some trees but then we quickly headed back out into the miserably hot desert.  We were both carrying insane amounts of water so that we could make it through that day, camp, and then hike the next day till water and not be completely dehydrated.  The only problem with being water conscience (for me at least) is that every sip of water I take makes me feel anxious... I think hmm maybe I should have saved that for later.  And then the entire time I'm walking I'm thinking about how much water I am carrying, how much water I should have going into camp that night, and how much water I can drink that night to still have enough the next morning to make it to the water source.  It's very stressful and not very fun.  So walking down into Walker Pass I was really worried and nervous because I was drinking the water I had planned on having that night at camp to drink.  Plus I was worried because MudD was having no fun on his birthday and I felt bad.  And then we walked into Walker Pass and we saw a sign that said, "Trail Magic - hikers come down to the blue tent" and the day immediately went from terrible to amazing!  There were trail angels there that we had always heard of - Yogi and Meadow Ed - and I felt like I was meeting celebrities.  They greeted us with ice cream sandwiches and strawberry cakes and made us amazing spaghetti that night.  Plus they had beer, sodas, and all the water that we could drink.  Really it was the best thing that could have happened on MudD's birthday.  What a great surprise.  That night, had they not been there, we would have been fine.  We had enough water to get by, we had enough food we could have prepared that did not need water, and there was plenty of shade in the area. We would have been fine physically.  But boy of boy mentally we were down and this was just the best upper in the world.  People were having fun, laughing, and not worrying about water and that - not worrying about water - is one of the best feelings in the world I have found.  Plus MudD had a good birthday.  So it was great.

6/1 - Day 37 - 22 miles - 651 to 673
This day was again hotter and harder with less water than we expected.  Again we thought we were out of the clear and that water would be abundant after the next 13 miles.  But the water sources were getting pretty low and looking like they were drying up.  Luckily we got to them but we are pretty worried about the people a week behind us.  I hope the water doesn't dry up on them.

Other than it being hot out, the day was pretty nice.  We had three significant climbs to do but we a great dinner the night before and the trail angels had made us pancakes that morning so we were fed and ready to go.  The first two went by pretty quickly and smoothly and the third was fun even though it was pretty hard.  Some of our crazy friends decided to do the next 52 miles to Kennedy Meadows in one day... and they made it! It took them 18 hours and 14 ibuprofen but they made it there.  MudD and I decided to not do the 52 miles in 24 hour challenge and take our time with it. I'm glad we did because that campsite we had that night was beautiful.  We were right on the top of a ridge in a saddle of a mountain but had great views and watched the bats eat bugs all night.

6/2 - Day 38 - 25 miles - 673 to 698
This day was easily the worst day on the trail.  It wasn't hard, I wasn't dead tired at the end of the day, but mentally we were both over this day.  We walked through a burn zone for most of the day and just hated every step.  The only motivation we had was that we knew there was a river at mile 698... an actual river!  Gosh I don't even know what to write about this day besides that it was just horrible.

That night we camped at the river after taking a long dip and took out the map.  We realized that we had exactly 1,000 miles to go before we were out of California.  We may be over 1/4 of the way through the trail but not even half way through California.

6/3 Day 39 - 4 miles - 698 to 702
KENNEDY MEADOWS THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!
So Kennedy Meadows is one of the big iconic places on the PCT.  Making here means that we are out of Southern California... a place both MudD and I have grown to dislike a lot.  And apparently we're not the only ones.  When we got here we compared stories with other hikers and they all had the same experience we did... they hated it!  One of our hiker friends even said, "if the desert was one week longer I might have quit."  Everyone is very excited for the Sierra Mountains!!

Kennedy Meadows itself is a really cool place.  There is a general store where all our packages have gone to (THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO SENT US A PACKAGE WE LOVE AND APPRECIATE IT!!!) and everyone is hanging out here for a couple of days, trying to put some weight on before heading off again on the trip.  MudD and I are going to take a day or two here to recuperate and get excited about heading off into the mountains!  We are very excited to be heading back into bear country!  Away from the desert!  Towards water! Towards snow! Towards cold temperatures! We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The internet is really slow so we were only able to load one picture so far.
Also, if you want to send us a letter or a package we will be at:
Franny Newport/MudD Hemberg
C/O Chevron
PO Box 403
Independence CA 93526

We will be there between June 10 and June 12!!!!

One of the many wind farms we walked through