150 Homes, Part 5

Mile 517.59 to 634.93

This was the section where the Sierras, hitherto a distant and vague idea, suddenly started to loom large in everyone’s minds. Mile 702 (Kennedy Meadows) marks the real start of the Big Stuff, although we have been walking in the Sierra foothills for some time now.

Our feelings regarding the desert have become schizophrenic: on one hand we’re utterly sick of the 25-mile days with no water and we’re very ready for a change, but on the other hand, we’re a little terrified of the snow and roaring creeks that await us. This is one of the highest snow years on record, and it will test us.

Our tent sites in this section have been dictated by the sparse water sources, which has made for some crowded evenings, but we’ve greatly appreciated the chance to catch up with old friends whom we doubted we would see again.

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Night 42, Mile 534: after skipping five miles of trail (a mistake which we will cover in detail in another post), we found ourselves at Cottonwood Creek, where a group of Burning Man regulars had set up a tent and filled it with trail magic. Beers were pressed into our hands and we were guided to easy chairs. They even took orders for hot dogs and burgers, all free. There was mellow music, a disco lighting machine and much relaxed conversation. Later, feeling undeserving after skipping some miles, we slunk away to our tent and slept without a rain fly by the dry creek. #pctclassof2017 #pct2017 #150homes

A post shared by Betty And Tim Cameron (@bettytimhikes) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:15pm PDT

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Nights 43, 44 and 45, Mile 558.51: We took a double zero in the town of Tehachapi, staying at a Best Western of such monumental averageness that I am instead representing our home with this picture of three trucks engaged in a sex act. Tehachapi is a long strip of a town in the middle of a howling wilderness, notable for its excellent bakery and its mediocre steakhouse. We watched Alien: Covenant (spoilers: it's dreadful) and soaked in the hotel pool with our friends. Our room was infested with ants, which led to the tragic loss of two bear claws and half a cold pizza. They shall be remembered. #150homes #pct2017 #pctclassof2017

A post shared by Betty And Tim Cameron (@bettytimhikes) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:21pm PDT

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Night 46, Mile 582.66: the hike out of Tehachapi was brutal, long and dry. We made it 25 miles before camping just shy of the next water source. Our tent was blasted with high winds all night, and at one point a vestibule guy line was completely ripped off. Cal jimmied a new one by the light of his headlamp. We woke tired and thirsty, then limped the half mile to Golden Oaks Spring. #pctclassof2017 #pct2017 #150homes

A post shared by Betty And Tim Cameron (@bettytimhikes) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:26pm PDT

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Night 47, Mile 602.03: after yet another brutal twenty miles without water, we stumbled into Robin Bird Spring to be greeted with cries of "is that Betty and Tim?" It turned out that we had finally caught up with our friends Flowers, Golden, Redbeard, Leeloo and Snotfish, whom we hadn't seen for weeks! It was a joyous reunion, and we are now planning to tackle the Sierras as a group along with some awesome new friends. #150homes #pct2017 #pctclassof2017

A post shared by Betty And Tim Cameron (@bettytimhikes) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:31pm PDT

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Night 48, Mile 620.03: here you can see our makeshift washing line. We rinsed our shirts at a faucet a couple of miles off the PCT, which was the only water source for 20 miles in either direction. Many hikers congregated here; the scarcity of water means that we're all heading for the same spots every night, and this is helping us to regroup before the Sierras. We are passing through the Sequoia National Forest, although there are no giant sequoias here. #pctclassof2017 #pct2017 #150homes

A post shared by Betty And Tim Cameron (@bettytimhikes) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:37pm PDT

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Night 49, Mile 643.8: another goddamn 20-mile waterless stretch finally brought us to McIver's cabin, a creepy shack next to a gushing stream which attracted hikers like flies to poop. We set up our tent in the dark on a site so diagonal that our feet felt like balloons by morning, and we shared our spot with ants so large that a toddler could have ridden them. None of this mattered, because we knew we were zeroing in Lake Isabella the next day. This town was about to experience a devastating french toast shortage. #150homes #pct2017 #pctclassof2017

A post shared by Betty And Tim Cameron (@bettytimhikes) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:43pm PDT

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