Day 34
5/28: Zero Day!
-Took the day off in Tehachapi with Mike Barnaby and Rylan. Easy morning in the hotel. Pack Shake down with Mike. (A shake down is when you go through all your gear and try to eliminate unnecessary items.
-Kohnen’s bakery for sandwiches
-Mike and Rylan leave so I’m solo. I notice a swing festival happening at an open air bar. A guy spots me through the fence and we start chatting. His name is Mark and he gets me in through the ticket counter and buys me a beer! Magic.
-I head to the theatre to watch Top Gun: Maverick. A lot of the air scenes were shot in this area.
-After the movie Sheryl picks me up and takes me to her house in Bear Valley all the way at the top of the hill.
-Her friend Amelia is also there. Amelia is from Oaxaca. Sheryl’s dogs were named Leo and Dalia. Dalia was a flirt. Leo was shy at first but then we became boys.
-Enchilada Nachos for Dinner. Had about 5 plates.
-Banana Cake with cream sheese frosting for dessert.
-Watched Billions

Day 35
5/29: Miles 566-587 (21 m)
-Wake up, scrambled eggs w/ peppers, onion & ham. Avocado toast with Vegemite. Banana & oranges & Kombucha. A Feast!
-Back to trail. I grab a toothpaste at a gas station on the way. Sheryl send me off with so much fuel. Banana Cake all day. Not too hungry after fueling all weekend. Pack extra heavy, could feel it late in day.
-Slap ya in the face 2000′ vertical to open. Then the trail opened up into a hilly traverse the rest of the day.
-Planning to eat calories every hour tomorrow. Excited to see how far this food lasts.
-Dinner: Teriyaki noodles with olive oil in tortilla, snakcs, PB & Honey. Rally Tea. (Rally Tea is where I put water in my dirty pot and boil it to clean it. Then, in that water, I put my tea bag and drink it with all the dinner fixings. Leave No Trace.)

Day 36
5/30: Miles 587- 608 (21 m)
– Water was more important than a clear view of the sky tonight. I’ll miss the metero shower unless its crazy.
-Hiking at 7 am. Took my time to get on trail. Enjoyed bagel , coffee, snacks at camp. SLow mornings became one of my favorite things to do on trail. Slowing down allowed me to absorb the day.
-15 miles to first water. Played lots of Harmonica. I am getting better, which is easy when you start out terrible.
-Water Stop, chatted with Dan from UK.
-6 more miles to camp & water. Half a mile after that TRAIL MAGIC from Fix-It. I first met him with Tigerlily at TK’s pizza in Tehachapi. Awesome guy. I ate 3 hotdogs. Sour Cream and Onion pringle. Drank a Lemonade and PBR. There was a big group at the water, just chilling and delaying their next slog. No one left and none of them knew Fix It was a half mile away!
-Slow Slog the rest of the day. Mind was heavy, so so were my legs.
-Meditated on rocks before camp turnoff. I actually missed the turn off the first time and went a half mile further on trail. Mind was sloppy, hiking was sloppy.
-Snacks at beautiufl water at Landers Meadow.
-Dinner: Rice side CHicken flavor mached potato bomb with Dan and Fox tail.
-Bed 9 pm.

The day i met Foxtail! What a guy. I would see him repeatedly throughout my hike until the final say where I said goodbye to trail at Steven’s pass. He would wake up at 4 am everyday and do his mornign routine “because I’m exctied about life, I get ready to live the day.” I learned a lot from Foxtail on this trip. He’s about 50?? His energy is much younger. He was big on the micronutrients on trail, making sure you feed youy body everythign you need.

Day 37
5/31: Miles 608-630 (22 m)
DAMN AM I FORTUNATE

-Limped outta camp and for most of the day with Right Front anjle pain from a toe snag on a rock yesterday. Lots of breaks. Big afternoon stretch and roll made me feelback to 90%! Like a sequoia tree, I healed myself.
-Ciggy with Foodbank and Coinflip at first Water Cache.
-Drew a morning picture.
-I crossed a dirt road and saw Fix-It (who did trail magic the day before) sitting on the ground next to his truck. His head was down, face in his hands. His car was stuck in the desert sand. I pushed it for 30 seconds, gave it my best effort but it was real stuck. I sat with him in solidarity for 10 min then went about on my merry way. I felt real bad for him, my dude was a sad puppy. He was trying to impress Tigerlily and he was embarrassed.
-Lunch under a Joshua Tree.
-3 pm stretch
-Calls with Gran EB, Mom and Maize on the ridge.
-Dinner with Mastermind, Kamilla and Coinflip. When I limped into camp all my friends cheered for me. It was an ccomplished day. Foxtail said I looked stronger at the end of the day than earlier.
-Had fried chicken rice side & herb n cheese mashed potatoe bomb in a tortilla.

Gut check day today. Had to accept i couldn’t hike my usual pace, I had to be set my ego aside and cheerily let people pass my limping slow ass.
Great sunset here down the valley with layers of transitioing mountains.