Tehachapi Zero and Nero Day Morale Boosting! — PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [13]

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Part 12 ‘A Truly Hot and Dry Desert After All Surrounding Hikertown’ 

Day 37 (04/05) – The Township of Tehachapi

It was a nicely timed 6am start this morning from our trailside camp, with Echo catching back up to us as we started. There was an amazing cache we didn’t know about shortly after with a bunch of random assorted chairs and bins. There were fresh oranges here, which was awesome! We hiked the relatively short distance to the highway, which lead us to Tehachapi, the next town on our radar for resupplies.

Upon arriving at the road, we attempted to hitch. After about 15 minutes, two guys in a sedan showed up, and somehow we fit all our gear in the boot, and we set off. They dropped us off at Sonic drive-in (a takeaway fast food chain) and we devoured all the food there.

We then booked a motel for the three of us for $25 each a night for two nights. The motel was actually decent for that price, too. We ordered some Thai food from a place called Thai-hachapi which was pretty damn good! Now back in the room, we were eating and watching (a short part of) a Star Wars marathon, as it was May the 4th!

Distance hiked: 11 miles (17.7 km)

Total PCT hiked: 558.5 miles (898.82 km)

Day 38 (05/05) – Hotel Zero Day

The beds were damn comfortable, and we had a good night’s sleep. The complementary breakfast was satisfying, and the endless coffee was always welcome.

We walked to the supermarket and did our resupply. Upon leaving, we were greeted by some future thru-hikers who gave us a lift back to the motel in two trips – damn nice of them.

In town, we caught up with Jake (or Swim) and Pirate. They asked if they could join us in our room, sleeping on the floor. Jake actually ended up sleeping in the bottom of the closet, which was kind of hilarious. We all had some kick-ass chill time in the spa with some drinks and enjoyed the zero-day relaxing.

Distance hiked: 0 miles

Total PCT hiked: 558.5 miles (898.82 km)

Day 39 (06/05) – Getting Arrested

It was time to hit the trail again, and we set off around 10am. Echo and Pirate lingered a little longer, but Swim, Rex, Corky and myself all left. We continued from where we left off, a relatively unexciting 8-mile stretch between the two highways. When we got to the end, we saw storm clouds approaching, and we made the decision to head back into Tehachapi via the second highway and then leave after the storm again – resulting in another small nero day haha.

When we arrived at the side road leading up to the highway, a cop car pulled over to us. We weren’t sure what was going on at the time, but the cop offered us a ride! ‘What a top cop!’ I thought to myself. He ‘jokingly’ said how he couldn’t fit everyone in and was breaking the law, but we worked it out eventually and all four of us crammed into the back seat of the car somehow. When we arrived, I played the touristy Australian card, and asked if he could pretend to be arresting me for a photo – it made my day!

We stayed with the ever-glamping hikers Han Solo and Grundle at another motel that night. The rain came soon after, so it was good timing. We still hadn’t actually been properly rained on yet on the trail – there are many good things about hiking in the desert!

Distance hiked: 8 miles (12.87 km)

Total PCT hiked: 566.5 miles (911.69 km)

Next Post:

Part 14 ‘Nearing the End of the Desert?’ 

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