Last night was the most pleasant night, temperature-wise, we have had on the entire trip so far. I slept without socks and a jacket and used my sleeping bag as a quilt. Bunny even shed some of her fur. We woke up with clothes strung everywhere. It looked like the remains of a very successful party.
What woke us up was not the alarm I had set to start the coffee. It was Nirvana. At ten to six, we heard a large diesel pickup truck blaring Nirvana come at our camp. I tried to convince myself it was just a bad dream and I was still asleep, but my bladder was fully awake. There’s no turning back. I gave in to the little waterboy and started the coffee. I was almost back asleep when someone came out to the tents and said there was coffee inside and we could use the restroom. Ivy immediately popped up when she heard coffee.
Bunny and I first ate the gourmet morning meal she has come to expect; oatmeal, granola, and chia pudding. I even had a special treat this morning—bacon. We packed up most of our stuff while we drank my special blend of coffee before we headed inside for the coffee and Snickers. The Mesa Wind Farm does really well for hikers. They provide free WiFi, breakfast sandwiches (for a nominal fee), free water, and use of restrooms. One of the techs came in and talked to us for a while. This was Roland.
Roland has worked on the wind farm for 32 years. He was able to answer some specific questions I’ve had about wind energy. Our conversation did not excite Bunny in the same way it did me. This project (section of wind farm) has a little over 400 wind turbines ranging in size from 64 kilowatts to 1.2 megawatts. Because of California’s initiative to be 100% renewable by 2040, most of these older turbines will be upgraded in the next few years to a smaller number of larger turbines. He also confirmed that Tehachapi is the largest wind farm installation in the state.
After a while, I excused myself to take advantage of trail porcelain. I’ve said this before, but being a living Playdo fun machine is not as much fun as it might sound. I haven’t given up on my die insert and food coloring addition to the hiker diet. Both of my nieces are creative and artistic. Perhaps this winter I’ll visit one of them and offer to watch the kids and maybe decorate a cake if the mood falls upon me. This way, I’ll find out where their cake decorating dies are so I can perform a feasibility study on my human die inserts.
When I got back out to the tent, I told Bunny she needs to find out what brand of toilet paper they use because it was the softest, most absorbent I have ever used. Ivy and Blue’s Clues overheard me and agreed wholeheartedly. It feels good to get affirmation from my peers.
With everything going on, it will be hard for people to believe this, but Bunny and I left camp at 8:05 with Ivy. Wolf, of course, had left a solid 20 minutes before us. The day started off with a solid 900’ climb through a barren valley, but when we crossed the ridge, we were rewarded with breathtaking views of mountains and a high plateau filled with a wide variety of blooming desert flowers. It was a perfect hiking day.
Blue’s Clues quickly caught up with us and passed us, but he couldn’t resist the photo opportunities either. I asked him if his ideal job would be a National Geographic photographer? He carries over 10# of camera equipment with him. (Check him out on Instagram at MilesforMoments). He said his preferred career would be trophy husband. Speaking as one, I broke the bad news to him that it isn’t all glamour. I have to carry all the food, get up early to prepare her breakfast in bed, and stay up late to prep everything for her tomorrow. He might have better luck, though, since mine was only a “participation” trophy.
We climbed again and descended into the Whitewater River Valley. This area was hit by terrible flash flooding back in February. It made national news by washing out the roads leading into Idyllwild. It also washed out the roads leading to the Whitewater Center which is usually pretty accommodating to PCT thru-hikers. Unfortunately for us, the trail to the center got wiped out and they are closed for the season.
The trail follows the Whitewater River for a couple of miles before crossing it. It was along this stretch that a group of 9 guys passed us for the first time. We leapfrogged with this group for the rest of the day. They are all friends out for a short section hike of 50 miles into Big Bear. One of the guys had a hard time believing that we were actually thru-hiking the PCT. When we told him we hiked the AT last year, he asked how many miles of it. When we said all 2200 miles, he still refused to believe that a couple of old people could do that. To me, this is ageism. I’d just like to point out that we left this group of 30 somethings behind us by a couple of miles by the end of the day.
Let’s talk about the end of the day. It pretty much sucked. The same flooding that isolated Idyllwild and hammered the Whitewater Center also did a number on Mission Creek. This was important to us because our final 3 miles of hiking today was up Mission Creek and we were without paddles. Mission Creek passes through several narrow stretches of canyon. With the flooding, it wiped out miles of banks and PCT that used to be on those banks. We had to keep crossing the creek (fast and deep) to try to make our way up canyon. It took us almost an hour and a half to go 1.2 miles. That’s slow even for us.
We would find a section of trail and follow it for a little bit until it ended up missing at the bank of the creek. We’d then have to make our way up canyon, scrambling over rock slides, beating our way though undergrowth, and stumbling upon snakes (only one, but Bunny is not a fan). After the snake encounter, I was the designated leader even though up to that point I didn’t know what I was doing and was relegated to the back.
Eventually, we saw Blue’s Clues waiting on a bank in the distance and waving to us. He had been in camp for over 2 1/2 hours by the time we arrived. Keep in mind that he started almost 45 minutes after we did and then he toodled around with us for a couple of miles this morning taking pictures. I wish I could go faster, not that I want to, but it would be nice to get into camp early enough to take a nap before bed. I excel at sleeping. It’s my passion.
We set up right next to everyone else. This is the closest our four tents have ever been. We’ll be able to hear every snore, belch, fart, and pee in bottle that happens tonight and identify every culprit. No longer will Bunny be able to blame all her farts on me. I will indignantly say her name immediately after every fart that comes from our tent. That way, they’ll also know the snoring is not me, either.
EFG