Ridgecrest – Tehachapi – Day 127 – Sun Oct 29th

Day 127 Sun Oct 29th
Bird Spring Pass – Landers spring campground
2023.1 – 2045
Approx. 4213 ft ascent 3340 ft descent
22.2 Miles


Alarms went off at 05:00 and we crowbarred our way out of our sleeping bags and packed up just under the light of the moon.

We both slept well and felt well rested for a change.

As Sarah filled our water bottles at the water cache the sun started to rise above the horizon above where the city lights were seen last night.

It felt good starting out this early with the sun so low in the sky

Although we take our time in the daytime it feels nice waking up with the sun and going to bed as soon as it drops and we feel we’re making the most out of each day.

As we hike away from Bird Spring Pass we walk uphill through what appears to be some kind of drainage channel.  We suspect early on in the season that it would be full of water from the snow melt.  Hiking along a trail that tapers in to the middle on both sides isn’t easy!

We see a sign about the Californian Desert Tortoise and how as a species is rapidly declining due to a loss of habitat, predation and disease.

As we climb grasses rustle and seed pods shake at us like a pair of maracas.

At the top of our first major climb we see evidence of gold mining within the grounds of the property.  There is also an old burnt out car with its trunk open on the side and the sides peppered with bullet holes.

We speculate about what happened here as we are getting closer to Mexico and have heard that anything goes here and some areas on the other side of the border may not be safe.

We then come across another old vehicle that looks like a camper van and there were evidence of mine shafts either side of the rusty old vehicle.

Today’s super windy and as we walk through groves of Joshua trees + through the shrub land we are buffeted by the wind.

It’s almost cold enough to warrant a puffy jacket, but you soon overheat and its becoming difficult to regulate out\r body temps.

Sarah comments on how spiky the vegetation is here and how everything you walk past seems to scratch or snag at your skin.

All morning we struggled with the wind but luckily as we moved towards Kelso Road it died down a little and we as we see more sheltered

At Kelso Road there was yet another water cash with about 20 to 30 water containers full to the brim with beautiful refreshing aqua.

We stop for a break making sure we were fully hydrated drinking a litre of Gatorade and protein supplements.

We’ve added a protein powder to our diet we should help with any muscle loss.  Along with a tasty new bar called an Rxbar thats pretty damn tasty.  It consisting of cashews dates almonds and eggs it’s Delish.

As we left Kelso Road looking back we could see a load of wind turbines strategically placed in the mountain range.  Sarah jokes that if someone turns the fans off then perhaps it wouldn’t be so windy….

As we got towards the top of the climb we started to notice large canine paw prints in the sand.

It looks much bigger than a Coyote and we wonder if it is a Wolf.  Or perhaps someone is walking a large dog out here.

French Colin is also just in front of us and we joke that maybe he’s a Werewolf.  Lets hope he’s not being stalked by a large wolf….

We did the best job we could today and made it to Landers Spring which was 22.2 miles from where we started out today.

If we hadn’t have taken an hour or so trying to sort out some technical issues with the blog. I think we would have made the 25 miles + therefore we shouldn’t be ourselves up.

When we started the hike way back in Washington there was a much bigger window to hike throughout the day. Where we could start at 07:00 and hike until 22:00 if we needed.

Whereas now even when getting up early before the sun rises and hiking all day we have only really between 07:30 and 17:00 to hike in the daylight. The clocks are also about to change which is going to make this even worse.

One other hot topic of discussion tonight also involved favorite packets of crisps and chocolate bars. I think we both must have been a little puckish!

Landers meadow camp was a nice break from the desert and was surrounded by trees. It was a campground that hikers could use, but was also shared by ATV owners.

We followed the dirt road from the PCT down to the campground to find no one else was here.  The campground was also very open on on first inspection we felt that we’d be very cold here.

After doing a recon mission under the light of our head torches we found a nice spot in amongst some trees and it looked like the pine needles had already been cleared by another hiker.

We were both very cold whilst we setup camp and cooked a meal this evening.

We had some left over hot dog sausages and we added them to a dehydrated chili mac which was absolutely delicious.  It was almost like having a chili dog on trial without the bread roll.

Or compare it to some kind of sausage casserole.  Either way it hit the spot in warmed our cockles!

To help keep warm I have been draping my sleeping quilt around my shoulders into some kind of gown.  This seems to work well and is almost like and extra-large puffy jacket.

We ate our dinner as quickly as possible all washed down with a hot chocolate with a spoonful of peanut butter.

We rushed as fast as we could so we could get into our sleeping bags within the warm confines of our tent.

My knee is really starting to hurt even when I stop and moving / articulating the joint is painful.

Sarah is also in a lot of pain with her feet despite trying new metatarsal pads today.

She is concerned that the growth / swelling on the outside of her foot is getting bigger and is becoming more painful as the days go by.  Both of us are not in great shape!