Up early and trying to be quiet packing up at 3am. It was slightly windy all night so I don’t think either of us slept great. We were both motivated to get going though because the promise of a bed and shower was just at the end of these 19 miles.
We started hiking around 4 and of course we were climbing right away. I saw my first scorpion just hanging out on the trail! It was a big one and creeped me out so I ran away before I could get a picture. It was still a little windy so there were points where most of what I could see in my headlamp light was just dust. Soon we got near the top of the climb and could catch the sunrise so we stopped for a snack and watched it for a bit.
More hiking up and down dusty hills as it was getting hotter. We were really pushing to get these miles done by 2pm because that’s when the bus was supposed to be at Walker Pass. Around 10 am I was hurting and just had a moment. My right foot was hurting with every step and I was having a hard time keeping up with Jake. I had a little breakdown and then was fine to keep going. In a little bit we found a shady rock to lay down on, elevated my foot, and ate a snack. I get ready to get the rest of these miles done.
Around 12:30 we realized we were making great time and took another break under a shady tree. Another hiker cruised by like it was nothing and I couldn’t believe he didn’t look like the heat was bothering him at all. As we were laying there we noticed a helicopter coming low into the canyon. It seemed like they were maybe looking for someone but we couldn’t be sure. I hoped they didn’t confuse us with the lost or injured hikers but had no idea what you signal to say “it’s not us! We look like we need help because it’s 1000 degrees but it’s not us!”.
We decided to get moving and watched the helicopter circle around and eventually lower someone to the ground. It was so cool to see but we still had no idea what was going on. We finally made it to the trail register close to the road and someone started waving us down from the campground. It was Carlos and his wife with Trail Magic! We walked down and both had a Pepsi. It was perfect. They had a great spread but we didn’t want to take much because we were heading into town. Soon we moved along to the road to get reception and figure out the bus.
At the road I called the Kern transit and learned the bus wasn’t coming until 3pm so we had almost an hour to wait. We were heading to Kernville so I made sure to specifically ask if the bus went there and the dispatcher assured me it did. We went up the hill to hide in the tiny bit of shade of a Joshua tree. It was apparently a popular pee spot off the highway because it didn’t smell great but we found a tiny pee-free area to wait for the bus. Once it got closer to pickup time we walked down the hill to wait on the road. All of a sudden we hear a disembodied voice come from the other side of the road asking if we knew what the high was supposed to be today. I replied, “Yes, 107”, the voice told us it was 108 in Ridgecrest and then finally a person appeared. It was the “trail angel” Mark who we had seen at a couple places before. He was down at the campground earlier and I saw him come up here but it was weird how he just appeared out of the bushes. We both wondered if he was just watching us from the other side this whole time. A little creepy for sure.
We hop on the bus and I find a phone, I quickly jump off and ask the hikers who just exited if they lost a phone & of course, someone had. I’m glad that guy didn’t lose his phone! Finally on our way to town. After a while the bus driver asks where we are heading and I tell him Kernville, well wouldn’t you know, this bus doesn’t go there. Great. He gives me directions on how to request a Dial a ride and drops us at the Lake Isabella senior center. We have to wait for an hour or so for another bus to a town that’s 14 minutes away by car.
We wait in the shade for a while and then Jake notices a sign advertising ice cream just around the fence from where we are. We go over but can’t find an ice cream place. There’s a subway there with cold Gatorade so we do that instead and head back to our spot to wait. It gets close to the time so we head to the bus stop to wait there. A couple shows up and asks if we are headed to Bakersfield. We tell them no, we are waiting for dial a ride. The woman tells us we have to wait at a different stop. We thank her for the info and move over to the other stop, hoping we haven’t missed the bus. We thankfully didn’t and soon enough were on our way to Kernville.
We made it to the motel without incident but when we got there no one was around to let us into a room. It had been a really long day at this point but we were both able to keep our cool until we got our room information. Finally it was time to drop our stuff, go pick up pizza, shower and relax.
PCT Hike 