Ridgecrest – Tehachapi – Day 129 – Tues Oct 31st

Day 129 Tues Oct 31st
Tent site 3 near wind turbines – Tehachapi
2067.7 – 2088.7
Approx. 3438 ft ascent 4304 ft descent
21 Miles

Fortunately there were no more sightings of the mountain lion last night and what difference a day makes.  Today we woke up and it was actually pleasantly warm in our tent!

We packed up leisurely as we only have a 21 mile hike to Tehachapi.  With the sun high in the sky it was rather pleasant making breakfast and doing camp chores before setting off with the wind turbines swishing and swirling in the background.

The spinning turbines were nosier than we’d expected with the odd mechanical thud that happened from time to time.

Although even with all the excitement and this background noise it didn’t stop us from having a very good night’s sleep after a hard day on the trail.

As we set off we backtracked as I wanted to check to see the tracks made by the mountain lion last night as further proof of what we had seen.

We saw a couple of tracks in the dirt but nothing as clear as I’d hoped.  The ground wasn’t super sandy where we had seen it so I guess this was to be expected.

Either way the cat running off the trail jumping over tree has been etched in my mind forever!

The trail then winds its way around some of the wind turbines.  Their blades cast a shadow through the trees to our left and are surprisingly noisy.

Trail conditions over the last few days have been harder.  Where we’ve been walking through what looks like drainage channels.  Where water has etched a channel through the trail making it difficult to walk.

The addition of prickly bushes has also left a multitude of scratches and scrapes all over our legs.

We bumped into a number of section hikers at Golden Oaks Spring.  The spring fed an overflowing bathtub type arrangement, but we opted to collect water from the pipe and not the tank.

The group had to spend the last 6 days hiking north.  One of the group members trial name “Gatorade” also lived close to the San Jacinto mountains. He was able to give us some detailed information about what the rest of the trail would look like heading south.  Including possible snow, water supplies and good trail towns to check out.
They also told us that French Colin was only an hour or so ahead of us after saying our goodbyes we were hot on his heels.

It didn’t take long to catch French Colin who was stumbling down the trail in front of us.

He had hiked the desert in July before flipping to head south so it was again a good opportunity to fill in any of the gaps so we have a clear picture of what lies ahead.

On the hike down to Highway 58 and Tehachapi we can see an airport on the valley floor and wind turbines stretch out in front of us.

We’ve heard it’s very windy in this valley due to the way the mountains funnel the air in a venturi effect.  Based on the number of wind turbines I can see this is the case.

French Colin told us to prepare ourselves for a lot of rolling hills in this next desert section,.

As I am looking out in front of me it looks like a desert version of the lake district. With lush green rolling hills spreading out to one side away from Tehachapi.

The last few town visits have been rushed and stressful therefore we want to spend at least a day in town. Getting in tonight and having all day tomorrow makes a lot of sense.

On our way down to Highway 58 we bumped into French Colin again. This was the final part of his hike and as he reached the highway he would be done and dusted with the PCT.

Sarah had arranged a place to stay with the trail angel called Abel on our way down the mountain. We had met him as we were exiting the Sierras.

We thought it only fitting to ask if we could extend the hand of kindness and friendship to our French pal Colin.  Especially as it was his last night on trial and all he had planned was to sleep next to the noisy highway.  Thankfully Abel kindly agreed and said that we could make up his spare room for Colin and it was game on.

We spent the last mile or so walking towards Highway 58 in high spirits. Knowing that before long we would hopefully be transported back to the reality of a warm home.

Just before we met Abel Sarah and I raced ahead of Colin to help cheer him over the finish line.

From doing the Appalachian Trail 10 years ago I know how it feels and what a sense of achievement it is to finally finish. Therefore, we thought this would help him celebrate.

Abel then scooped us all up and drove us back to his amazing home in Golden Hills.
Here we met his wife Kim and their awesome Doberman Peso. He was a real character and reminded us of Rooi when he was a pup. Always getting into mischief and constantly needing to be supervised.

I joked with Abel that we would happily swap our house back in the UK for his amazing abode. He even had a basement with workshop and games room. He told us tales of hosting other hikers and all there stories.

After we all settled in, Abel rustled us all up some tacos that were delicious.

Abel grew up in Mexico and was a dab hand at cooking and rustled us up some lovely chicken tachos. I helped by chopping up some of the ingredients and learnt how to make tachos the Mexican way.

We had a pleasant night getting to know one another and they even allowed us to do laundry late into the night. It felt great to be clean and being back under a roof and 4 walls after the cold nights we had experienced.