28 May - Day 38 - Up into the Tehachapis, the southwest foothills of the Sierras

From a concrete slab access for the LA Aqueduct (Mile 534.6) to Tehachapi Willow Springs Rd (Mile 558.5)

Total PCT Miles today: 24.9

Pan here.

Hiked through the wind farms that are being set up. Up, up, up. Dry hills -- and wove in and out up and up, until the California junipers start up. We sit behind one to have late breakfast, and journal. Niiiiice.

But this area has been burned, so there's little cover and the sun blazes on. Not a hot day, though.

That's our trail ahead.

so hot ... so dry ...

We meet Rubylocks [a Kiwi woman] and Calf [a German man] for the first time (she's having shin splint pain and has for days, so we donate one of our ace bandages to her) ... and then later come across 3Bears sitting beside the trail -- he is having leg pain much like shin splints. We give him Ibuprofin.

When a dirt biker tries to get past us on the PCT (which is illegal), I run him off. He's furious.

Eventually we make it all the way down to Willow Springs Road, where we hitchhike into the town of Tehachapi, and check into the Best Western. We get to an all-you-can-eat (important category for hungry thru-hikers) Chinese restaurant, and chow down. Then it's back for sleeeeeeep. Tomorrow morning, it's laundry and back to the trail.

We're happy and healthy -- loving being on the trail, and loving the occasional breaks for town food. I'm still struggling with the limited foods available to me for my backpack (can't do MSG, and about 90% of the products in American supermarkets have some form of it -- makes it difficult to put together a day's meals that are palatable).

G'night.