6/29/2023
Section: Milepost 639.6 to 658.1
Distance: 18.3 Miles
Moving Time: 07:04 hrs
Elevation Gain: 2,795 ft
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So, today’s stage was split in two sub stages around the town of Lake Isabella - a small town ~35 minutes west of Walker Pass. To cut down on weight leaving Tehachapi, Amanda and I had agreed to resupply in either Lake Isabella or Ridgecrest. Ridgecrest is a sister city, but approximately 34 minutes east of Walker Pass. What I can say to all PCT hikers looking at this stage is - just pack 2 extra dinners and snacks to get to Walker Pass. Both towns are out of the way and not hitch friendly. Lake Isabella isn’t really the friendliest - full stop - and it’s probably my least favorite resupply stop on the trail to date, beating out Cabazon and Cajon Pass. In fact, I am only writing up the first half of today because Amanda and I got here, resupplied, had lunch and then promptly got stranded by a ride I had set up. We called another one in, all the way from Ridgecrest but it is going to cost us 75 dollars to get back to the trailhead this evening and we won't get to camp till probably around 10 pm. Really irritating but - guess that’s life.
The stage today descends further from the high of Skinners Peak yesterday and takes place entirely in the expansive Kiavah Wilderness weaving north through expansive groves of Flannel bush before joining a road briefly and turning east. The trail continues on the road east for a while before jumping off and continuing on path for some time gaining a very thin saddle before dropping down to Walker Pass. From the pass the path climbs steeply up a wide hill on the north side of Walker Pass before reaching a nice, lofty campground on the ridge.
Amanda and I woke at around 4:30 - no sleep had really been had the night before. Cowboy camping is either amazing or terrible, there doesn’t seem to be any in-between. The problem is that Amanda and I already had sleeping bags coming into this trip. This, in itself, wasn’t really a problem. The problem was that they are both 15 degree bags and the nights are, at their lowest, 45 degrees. So, while sleeping on the trail, I don’t really use the sleeping bag in the way it was designed. I throw the bag over my body like a blanket and try to keep both arms and legs outside uncovered all night. In a tent this really isn’t a problem because, no bugs in the tent, but outside I get eaten alive. Our new policy is to continue tent camping until we are out of the desert, the bugs are better and the nights are cooler because last night was terrible.
So, anyway, no sleep was really had last night and we set out early because the mosquitos were back out and hungry. We packed up quickly. Sticks, the girl who had a hurt knee and was helping out at Hiker Town, had shown up later in the evening last night and was still sleeping. We tried to be quiet as we packed up. We were out on the trail around 5:30, meandering around some low hills. The desert setting was still around but we hiked through low trees as we made our way through the morning.
The trail made its way out and around some major hills and we eventually joined the road. Here we continued on. Roads on this trail have been miserable to hike on. You wouldn’t think so but these are definitely Off Road Recreation roads and they are riddled with large, loose stones which make the going very slow. At the road, the trees gave away to copious amounts of flannel bush brightly blooming yellow. We stopped for a restroom and snack break before continuing on. Thirty minutes later we came across a sign which put us back on a trail headed north.
The path continued its winding pattern, striving to stay on the same elevation. Eventually the trail turned north and started a long, winding descent to Walker Pass. As we continued down you could see, way below, the road and lots of traffic heading east and west. Again, the frustration of consistent grades set in as we knew the road was only a few miles away but we still had seven miles of descent to go in order to reach the road. We traveled down and down and came across a slew of Regal Lizards. Each one we stopped and commented on - all super chubby. We also talked to an elderly couple from Tehachapi who told us about our options for resupply from the pass and told us good luck on the travels north. Eventually we came down to Walker Pass Campground. There was water here but we were only about 10 minutes from the highway so we continued on and got to the road. Here there was a plaque for Joseph Rutherford Walker, who had originally found this pass through the mountains, and also a water cache. We were still good on water so we traded our shoes for sandals and headed out to the road to start hitching.
There are two towns from Walker Pass that most hikers try to get to. Eastbound takes you to Ridgecrest and west heads to Onyx and then Lake Isabella. We had heard that Ridgecrest was a little better so we started hitching on the east bound lane. The problem here was that the tractor trailers reached the peak of the pass here and pulled onto the medium where we were hitching, running us off the road. After this had happened a few times, Amanda and I decided to swap to the west side of the highway where a passing lane had been made available and we could hitch without fear of getting smooshed.
After about 10 minutes, a white Chevy pick-up truck showed up and an older guy with long white hair got out and started shifting things to make room. We got in and put our packs on the back seat. “Lake Isabella Von’s?” I asked our driver, Ted. “Yea, I can get you there,” he said with a grin.” Ted was pretty wild, complaining about the long haul truckers who he felt were degrading the speed on the highway and passing on double yellow lines. He didn’t wear a seatbelt and had an open Budweiser which he held in one hand as he drove. You kinda have to take what you get when hitching but Ted was super nice and we talked about classic rock as he drove. He was a big concert goer and had just purchased a 2006, 40’ motorhome which he insisted on showing us on his phone while he drove. California has some unique drivers.
We reached Onyx in about 15 minutes and I was dismayed to find that we still had 30 minutes to Lake Isabella. 45 minutes off the trail one-way was just too far. He pointed to his house as we drove by and said if we didn’t get a ride back he would take us back. We drove along Lake Isabella which was very high - almost overflowing the newly renovated dam on the west side, if Ted was to be believed. “I’ve lived here 11 years and never seen it this high” he said. Eventually, we arrived at the Von’s (which is just a nice Albertsons for my friends in the northwest) and dropped us off. I dropped a 10 dollar bill on the console between Ted and I which he tried to deny but I wasn’t taking it back. We thanked him and headed to the shade in front of the Vons.
I went in first while Amanda watched our bags. I got a bunch of snacks - some chips, nuts, a beer and breakfast bars - before heading back out to Amanda so she could do her run. While she was inside I called the bus dispatch who informed me they only ran Monday, Wednesday and Friday… It was Thursday. I sent some texts out to a few trail angels and one guy, Mike, told me he could do 5 pm - it was noon. Amanda came out and I went back in briefly to get some Homestyle Rice Crispy treats - these are my trail cocaine - they are amazing. Classic Rice Crispy with unmelted mini-marshmallows distributed throughout. After the shopping spree Amanda and I contemplated what to do with our dilemma. This was supposed to be a quick trip but here we were basically stranded till 5.
Looking on FarOut, Dena’s Diner was the popular stop in Lake Isabella so we made our way through some sketchy alleys to the popular spot. Eastern California is dramatically different then Western California. Small wild towns with fascinating people. We made it to the diner. I got a beer and burger and Amanda got one of their famous shakes. We told the waitress we were going to be there a while. She smiled and motioned around to the empty diner saying “No worries, not really that busy.” We proceeded with our typical proceedings when we get internet - uploading fresh GoPro videos, updating Strava names, etc. etc. We stayed there for 4 hours until 5 when I reached back out to Mike who proceeded to ghost me. 5 came and passed and then 5:30 and eventually I gave up and reached out to a trail angel who had contacted me at the pass, named Jaime. Jaime was in Ridgecrest, about an hour away, but instantly responded and said he would come save us from Isabella for 75 dollars. Amanda and I deliberated but decided it was worth it. Jaime said he was on his way and I got another beer while waiting.
At 7 Jaime showed up in a brand new RAV4 and we paid for our goods, thanked the staff and loaded our things into the back of the car. Jaime was a similarly interesting driver - frequently straying into the other lane while telling us about how he drives for Uber - glad I wasn't asked for a review because he was almost as bad as Ted. Jaime got us back up the pass and eventually pulled over to let us out. We thanked him for saving our butts and walked to the north side of the pass to organize our things, both commenting on the quality of California drivers.
At 7:45 we were back on the trail slowly winding our way up the ridge north of the highway. The silver lining on this late start was that it was much cooler and we could climb in comfort. We wound up and up and, suddenly, Amanda stopped to examine the ground under her feet. “Scorpions!!” She exclaimed excitedly. We had hiked in the desert for over 40 days and not seen these poster-bugs of this environment and were both elated to find them. These were Striped Tail Scorpions and appeared to be very active in the evening. Almost as soon as she had spotted the first one, she saw another one and then another. “How have we missed these the whole time?” We both mused to each other.
The trail wound up and up. We passed the French guy and Taiwanese girl looking off at the beautiful sunset. We talked for a while and then continued on. Another hour brought us to a beautiful campground where we set up our tent. No more cowboy camping for us…especially given the scorpions, and had a quick snack before getting into the tent and passing out. Long day, with a much longer stop than expected. Think the lesson learned for those of you hiking the PCT - totally not worth resupplying from Walker Pass. Just carry two extra days of food and carry on through to Kennedy Meadows.
