Even though we ate breakfast (last chance for fresh fruit & yogurt!) before leaving home this morning, we had no problems with Bay Area commute traffic and pretty soon we were zooming along I-5. I kept staring at the east for a look at the Sierras, but no luck— the air was too hazy.  I am so glad to be headed back to the trail–for one thing, being at home in June means I’m dealing with grass pollen allergies.  Between allergies and recovering from giardia/whatever it was, I am definitely not at 100% yet, but ready to get back on the trail!

We arrived in Bakersfield on a warm but not unpleasantly hot day and ate lunch at the bus stop while we waited for the bus to Tehachapi.  We noticed a lot of police and security people in the bus plaza area, and our guess was that in view of the number of gangbanger types who were also there, that maybe there’d been some sort of trouble? 

We had a pleasant ride back up into the mountains, and wow!   When we left, the hills were green and Tehachapi Mtn. had snow on top. Now everything was brown, and no snow.

Trail Angel Terry Larson gave us a ride back to the PCT. He said we were only the 3rd hikers going  TO the trail with him this year. Everybody else was LEAVING, worried about all the snow. There was a trail register, which we signed.  Only one hiker had been through today, and several yesterday.  After a prayer of “THANKYOU, God!” off we went— and oh man, my pack was heavy– six days of food, full load of water, and uphill trail. Between being weakened by giardia, allergies and no training for the last 2 weeks, I was huffing and puffing and hiking like a snail. It was a joy to be back on the PCT, but a bummer to be so out of shape.

The Tehachapi winds were definitely blowing this afternoon, but were not the outrageous gale we’d faced when we came IN a couple of weeks ago.  And in spite of me being slow, in our hike from 3:45 till 7:00, we still did 8 miles, and managed to find a fairly wind-protected campsite among bushes and pinyon pines. We found bear poop nearby (not a surprise–we SAW bears near here in 2005), so we kept our food bags right next to us and ice axe and trek poles handy.

It is wonderful to be “back home” on the PCT!

Walk to Lórien: In the mountains near Rivendell

Tags: giardia, Tehachapi