Mile: 550 to 566
"I wish I could say we are Gryffindor, but we're Hufflepuff, aren't we?" - Spearhead
More windy hiking through wind farms! Adam was delighted, snapping photos and commenting with interest on their construction, even referring to their whirring noises as a "song." The rolling hills allowed my mind to wander. One of my mentors, Pleasance, recently wrote a book, which I have been savoring and allowing to guide my thoughts. Currently I am reflecting on my core values thanks to chapter three. The whipping wind resulted in some speedy hiking to stay warm, and we finished our 16 mile stretch by midday.
Most hikers only do 8 of those miles, as it is easier to catch a hitch at the first road. But we elected to take a chance on getting a hitch at the highway. It turned out to be even easier than we could have imagined. Two people offered us a ride without us even drawing attention to ourselves, and in no time we were in the car with a kind retiree who had even made colored maps of Tehachapi for hikers that he shared with us. He told us he had been making trips all day to and from the highway overpass to help hikers. In his trunk, he had yard signs to encourage passing the library levee. Love that man.
[Early morning clouds, Lots of wind mills, a mile or two thousand!, selfies with the wind, flowers with the wind, In case you got confused]
Oh Tehachapi! We stayed here so long I considered finding a realtor. We took three zeroes, even renting a car to drive about town. Dayhike and Jetpack treated us to pedicures, and we ate Vietnamese pho for lunch and sushi for dinner - ah, culture!
Weirdly, Tehachapi welcomes hikers to camp at the local airport, which is full of little private planes and helicopters; no one even blinked an eye as hikers walked all over the Tarmac and pitched tents on the lawn. There were probably 50 tents pitched because hikers are dragging their feet now, in no hurry to reach the next stop, Kennedy Meadows, the entryway into the Sierras, which are still snow covered. In fact, the whole town was exploding with hikers.
We spent several days mooching off of Slow Magic, who was camped out in a locker room... I mean a hotel suite at the Holiday Inn. They generously allowed us to use wifi, shower, and get our laundry done in exchange for the small price of our eternal affection.
One morning we woke up at the airport due to the sprinkler system initiating. Not only was water coming up from the ground, it simultaneously started falling from the sky, so we packed our bags and caught a hitch to the bakery. At lunch hour, the bakery exploded with locals, who had no where to sit due to hunkered down hikers, so we moved outside into the cold rain, eventually breaking down and deciding to crash in the hotel for the night. Jetpack found us lots of reality tv to watch. She and Spear shared a bed, Boom and I got a bed, and Hardway and Animal slept on the floor. Somehow we went straight from strangers to family that can vocalize irritation, familiarity, and care in the same moment. As in, "Animal I love you but get your crap off my bed right now."
[Sleeping at the airport!, sunset on the runway, 7 people in a car like it ain't no thang, Pedi's, Spearhead trying out DayHike's new sleeping bag, Dayhike aka Polar Bear]
On our final day in Tehachapi, some of us elected for an adventure. We piled in the rental car and drove 40 minutes to the nearest city, Bakersfield. Why, you ask? Olive Garden, of course! We smashed basket after basket of breadsticks and four salads before our main courses arrived. And what luck - our server was a young guy who looked like my brother and was similarly suave, who was planning to section hike the PCT later this summer! So we didn't need to ask for a thing; he brought us refills before we knew we wanted them and even packaged a bunch of breadsticks and free desserts to go. We suggested the trail name "Hook Up" and tipped well.
Afterwards, we used some keen Intel via George of Qualia Coffee and took a drive to Dewar's, the local ice cream joint, where we ordered malts and sundaes and simultaneously loved and hated ourselves. Nonetheless, it was a delicious adventure, and Dayhike told me to give my boy the "what what." We savored the victory, knowing none of us would feel this awesome in the morning when we trudged back up the hill.
[Sharing the front seat, Pho!, resupply on the tarmac, Animal style blocking the sun, Ice cream instagram, planning]
