May 31, 2022 Campsite at mile 676 to campsite on the South Fork of the Kern River at mile 698.3 22.3 miles Naturally, our plan to get up early fails. It is proper cold this morning. My hands feel like little icicles. We move slowly (especially me) through breakfast, teeth-brushing, and packing up. Eventually, we …
May 30, 2022 Campsite at mile 654 to campsite at mile 676 22 miles It’s morning: sunlight. No alarm. I stretch and wake up slowly. There are real advantages to early starts, but having a bit of a lie-in is exactly what I needed today. I eventually sit up and have a nice chill breakfast. …
May 29, 2022 Bird Spring Pass at mile 630.8 to campsite at mile 654 23.2 miles The alarm rings at 3:55. I wouldn’t say I exactly jump out of bed, but I get up fairly quickly. I’ve estimated that a conservative two miles an hour will get us to Walker Pass by 2, so we’re …
May 28, 2022 Landers Meadow Spring at mile ~608.9 to Bird Spring Pass at mile 630.8 21.9 miles I wake up when a gust of wind knocks out one of my stakes and my tent collapses on top of me. I grumpily stuff it back into the ground, but the damage is done. I’m awake. …
May 27, 2022 Campsite at mile 585.8 to Landers Meadow Spring at mile ~608.9 23.1 miles I wake up groggy, slow, and wanting nothing less than to stay in bed and sleep for twelve more hours. And that pretty much predicts how the day goes. The morning is easy downhills and ridge cruising with DLT. …
May 26, 2022 Highway 58 and Tehachapi at mile 566.4 to campsite at mile 585.8 19.4 miles No! I don’t want to get up! This bed and I have merged into one fluffy entity. It is a part of me now. Goodbye, world! Just kidding. I wake up when I hear DLT rustling about. I …
May 24, 2022 - Zero 1 of 2 0 miles Double zero. DOUBLE ZERO! Have I died and gone to heaven? My joints and tendons are so grateful. I wake up in a real bed inside a real house and go to the real bathroom and then get back into the real bed and stretch. …
Continue reading PCT Days 36 and 37: Double Zero in Tehachapi
May 23, 2022 Campsite at mile 558 to Highway 58 and Tehachapi at mile 566.4 8.4 miles It’s still windy this morning. I don’t want to move at first, but then I remember that we’re going to Tehachapi! Town food! Andy and Beetle! And… hopefully finding a place to stay! I eat a quick breakfast …
May 23, 2022 Campsite near Cottonwood Creek at mile 534.9 to campsite at mile 558 23.1 miles DLT shakes me awake. “Petra’s leaving,” he says. I sit up and see her, pack on, ready to go. I give her a little wave and then immediately lie back down. I will not be moving any time …
May 21, 2022 Campsite at mile 510.9 to Hikertown to campsite near Cottonwood Creek at mile 534.9 24 miles We sleep in. It is beautiful. There’s just shy of seven rolling miles to Hikertown, and we’re not in a hurry. So when I wake up, I look at the blue sky ringed by trees and …
Sarahmarie Specht-Bird 