700 miles, 40 days, and two extremely sore feet later, we escaped the desert to find the cool embrace of the Sierra mountains. The desert would not let us leave without a couple of parting gifts, however: 40 miles without water, sandy inclines, absolutely no shade, and a sun that constantly pounded its heat into you. It would not be the Pacific Crest Trail without a final challenge from the desert. And boy did we accept it!
Leaving Tehachapi, we faced 136 miles left of the desert. Kennedy Meadows sang our names so beautifully, we longed to be there. So we buckled down and started hitting the trail. The first day out of Tehachapi we did 6 miles of incline in ~60 mph winds. I was happy we had just left town because that meant our packs were full. Full packs=heavier load and heavier load=Sarah does not fly off the side of a mountain. It was exhausting! Not only are you exerting your body to make it up the incline, you have to angle your body against the wind in order not to blow away. My legs were so sore by the time we got to the top! From there, we only did 4 more miles that night, taking refuge in a bushy, flat tent site.
The next day, we had to hike about 6 miles to the next water source, a spring. We took a short little breather, filled up about a liter and hiked on. We made it about 6 more miles before we had to stop and take a siesta. But siestas are not the easiest: imagine laying on a hot beach, with no water, dreaming of sleep but in reality all you can do is sweat and stick to everything. That is a desert siesta on the PCT for you. So after a couple of hours, we picked up our things and decided to hike to the next water source-13 miles away. It was a struggle, but the need for water was too real to ignore. Stumbling in at about 8:30 pm, setting up camp, and making dinner, we made fast friends (not). But sometimes that is just how the cookie crumbles. You end up being “that guy”.
The next morning we hiked about 8 miles to the last water source before our 40 mile long waterless stretch. It was hell hiking those 8 miles. We had decided to sleep in until 7, which meant we did not leave camp until 8. In the desert, days become unbearable right around 10 am, so it was pretty miserable to hike those 8 miles. As soon as we got to the spring, however, we quickly took off our shoes and socks, pulled out our pack towels, and took a quick bath and laundered our socks as best we could. Waiting out another siesta was tough. Knowing we were about to hike 40 miles without any reliable water sources was stressful. Just to give you an idea: the average hiker drinks about 1 liter every 5 miles. 1 liter of water is about 2 pounds. So for 40 miles without water, you are looking at carrying 8 liters or ~16 pounds of extra weight. 16 pounds!! We really lucked out, however. Soon a trail angel arrived at the spring with soda and chips, and confirmed that a water cache in about 8 miles was full. Knowing that, we felt we could get by with 6 liters of water through the 40 mile stretch. After the water cache, we hiked about 4 more miles in the evening and crashed.
We had heard rumors that there was a water cache at mile 630 (about 8 miles from where we crashed) so we packed our things and headed in that direction. The thing about water caches, however, is that they are extremely unreliable. You cannot depend on the water there. So we hiked that morning hoping and praying we would be lucky. Trying not to drink too much water but also staying properly hydrated (no easy task), I arrived at mile 630 to discover gallons of water. Dropping my pack and chugging 2 liters right on the spot, I refilled and let my feet have a little break. The bees were unbearable though! Wearing the bright colors I so often do, they were all over me. Frustrated that I could not find a moment of peace, I reluctantly threw my pack on and decided to make the long climb up the hill in the middle of the day. Not the worst decision I have ever had, but not a great one. Tired and exhausted, we crawled into camp at 4 pm, only 10 miles from Walker Pass and the next water source. (We did about 20 miles that day.)
Waking up refreshed due to the early camp arrival and consequently early bed time, we arrived at Walker Pass around 10 am. Hitching a ride into Lake Isabella was a breeze-we got a ride on our first hitch. We had lunch at a wonderfully friendly little diner called Nelda’s Diner and resupplied at Von’s. After hanging out a couple of hours, we hitched a ride back to Walker Pass. Arriving there, we found Yogi (probably the most famous person of the PCT) and Coppertone, two trail angels, along with some of their friends, making dinner for us hikers. Tempted as we were to stay and partake in festivities, we were too eager to arrive in Kennedy Meadows to delay. Reluctantly putting our packs back on, we hiked 4 more miles, staying the night atop a ridge.
The next day was a day full of inclines and declines. We hiked about 25 miles that day. It was absolutely exhausting. Finally reaching our campsite, we set up tent. I had noticed a couple of clouds in the sky that day that looked pretty thick, but did not think anything of it. I had set up my tent as I normally do in the desert: without my rain fly. Katie saw this and said to me, “I think it’s going to rain tonight.” I responded with, “Really?? I don’t think so.” But as I thought about it, I decided I would rather have my fly up with no rain than no fly on with rain. Rain fly on, I curled into bed only to wake in the middle of the night to the pitter patter of rain. 
 The next day would be our final day in the desert. With one incline, decline, and the rest relatively flat, we tackled it head on. Getting to the top of the incline around 9 am, I was excited and expected to be in Kennedy Meadows around 3 or 4. The downhill proved tougher. At this point, my shoes were well past their prime. I had a huge hole in each shoe, letting all the sand in; the soles were completely dead, making the downhill extremely hard on my feet; and one shoe lace was awfully close to snapping apart. Finally reaching the bottom of the incline, we briefly stopped by a “creek” and had lunch. 4 miles from our lunch spot, our maps showed the Kern River. Having hiked almost 700 miles through the desert, we were hoping for an actual river but were expecting a trickle of a creek. When our eyes feasted upon the site of that river, we could hardly contain our excitement. Dom exclaimed, “Look! Water!!” We stripped off our packs and ran eagerly into the river. After our relaxing and long awaited swim, we looked at the time and the sky, whose clouds were suspiciously darker than before, and realized we needed to get going so we could make it to Kennedy Meadows before the General Store closed. 
We arrived in Kennedy Meadows at approximately 4:50 pm on Sunday, June 12. The store closes at 5. I grab as much food and drink as I can, happy to have finally made it to the Sierras. Kennedy Meadows did not have much to offer, but it offered everything a hiker needs: food, beer, water, laundry, showers, and a place to set up camp. Wifi was the only thing missing, but we were just happy to get out of the desert. My parents were able to visit on Monday, and Joe’s parents arrived Tuesday. It was wonderful seeing my parents and even more wonderful seeing the beer and In-N-Out they brought us. 🙂 It was nice to show them what hiker life is like. I miss them lots already, but am happy I got to see them, especially in a place with no reception or wifi. 
The Sierras hold a lot of promise and challenges, but I am eager to explore them.
Until next time. ➡️&⬆️