June 3, 2022 Kennedy Meadows at mile 702.2 to campsite at mile 722.2 20 miles Morning is a flurry of packing, eating breakfast out of the hiker box, coffee drinking, and using the bathroom at Grumpy’s on more time before we head out into the mountains. I manage to fit my ice axe and bear …
June 2, 2022 0 miles I’ll tell you a secret: I’ve been behind for the past week. Usually I write each entry at night, but I’ve been so wiped every day recently that all I can manage is a brief list of notes before I pass out. So I’m determined to get caught up on …
June 1, 2022 Campsite on the South Fork of the Kern River at mile 698.3 to Kennedy Meadows at mile 702.2 3.9 miles We talk about it for weeks and months. For so long we say, “When we get to Kennedy…” and “At Kennedy Meadows we will…” For days in the desert we fantasize about …
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
Sarahmarie Specht-Bird 