6/1/14 Sunday a Cache Full of Water! 6/2/14 Monday Trail Magic And a Ride Into Lake Isabella!

6/1/14 Sunday 14.5 miles

After a good nights sleep in our sheltered site we were hiking in the shady hills by 6:10. It's stark and forbidding out here.

We came over these hills this morning. 

We approached the road where the empty water cache was and saw 3 guys that had hiked past us this morning sitting down. The cache was full of gallon jugs, it had been restocked!!  We were still glad we'd been careful and carried our 5 liters, we sat and drank 1 L each to be sure we were hydrated and to slake thirst that we'd been ignoring. It was wonderful. 

In walked Optimist, Twisted Hair and her husband Cheeseman, Dogger, Che and another man left when we walked up. 

We enjoyed chatting a bit knowing we'd spend the day possibly leapfrogging with these folks down the trail. 

The water cache.

Everyone agreed that this was a terribly difficult section. 

The next terrain after the cache was all uphill, climbing over a mountain. There was nothing to do but get it done. Some parts were finely ground granite, like slogging on the beach.through sand.  We found a tree growing on the uphill side of the trail that offered a bit of shade so we actually climbed up into the limbs and ate lunch!

The views from the climb were stunning. Long vistas of desert, we could see  where we'd come from.

That road at the bottom was where we'd gotten the water.  We'd actually hiked over the tall mountains in the background that morning.

We rested in the first saddle we'd come to, soon Twisted Hair and Cheeseman stopped to rest too. Peggy napped and I tried to find a shady spot where the ants didn't crawl over me.  We decided at 4:00 to move on but as soon as we got on the trail we realized it was too early, it was a furnace against the rock walls. We shade hopped up the last mile stopping in any shadow we could find until we finally were over the top. There we found all the folks that had passed us, Optimist, Twisted Hair, Cheeseman and some others all waiting for it to cool off.  We stopped again to cool down in some pinion pines, up at this higher altitude there were green trees and a breeze. Such a relief just to see color after the dry desert. We stopped at 6:00 to make dinner so we could hike longer into the evening.  Finally we found a campsite as the light was waning around 8:30. It was too dark for a photo. 

6/2/14 Monday. 11miles

It was cool this morning for only about an hour then it began to feel really warm. We each had 1.5 L of water from our last 5 L of water at Willow Springs. This was to get us to Walker Pass and Hwy 178 where we'd try to get into Lake Isabella 37 miles away. The PCT takes us along an old Jeep track, rutted and full of rocks through an old burn that offers no shade. Umbrellas deployed,  we walked as fast as possible just to get it done.  The last 4 miles were all downhill and we could feel the heat from the valley rolling up from our feet making it a very hot and dusty trail.  

This was on a PCT sign baked in the sun until the decal was almost gone. We got a good laugh out if it!

Coming into Walker Pass there was a camp area where 2 ladies had set up shade tents, had gallon jugs of water, offered cold sodas, cookies and had a griddle going for pancakes if anyone wanted them.   As we walked in they all clapped for us.  Everyone got  kudos for making it on this section! 

Relaxing in the shade we stayed about an hour then needed to push on 3/4 mile to the actual  Pass where there's a wide spot in the road & cars can pull over to offer you a ride. 

We saw the highway from the trail and saw 2 cars pulled over to the side of the road. I quickly moved to the road and hollered asking which way to Lake Isabella? Would they give us a ride? 

Kyle and his friend Shawna opened up the back of his truck, we piled our packs in and we were on our way to Lake Isabella 37 miles west. 

We learned about the area, about each other, shared stories and found out Kyle's daughter attends CalPoly where Peggy teaches. It's a small world! 

Thank you so much for being willing to take us to Lake Isabella!

We were dropped off at our Motel where we had mailed our resupply box from Mojave.  We're both so ready for a zero rest day. 

6/3/14 Zero in Lake Isabella

Showers, laundry, library for computer access, Peggy got a haircut at a local salon and Nancy offered to drive her to the Motel, pick me up and deliver us to the pizza place for dinner! 

Thanks Nancy, for both the haircut and the ride, our tired feet thank you as well. 

Lake Isabella has been good to us and we recommend the Lake Isabella Motel for friendly service and all around kindness!

We will be taking the local Transit bus tomorrow in the morning to Onyx, a nearby town,  where we hope to catch a ride to Walker Pass. Our next destination is Kennedy Meadows 4 days north, the gateway to the Sierras.