The End of the Desert! Day 48-50 (may 24-26), mile 615.9-652.1

 

On day 48 I started hiking at 6:30 am, trying to crush some miles before the heat. This section was quite exposed, and the trail surface was a soft sand that is annoying to walk on. I passed the 1000 kilometer mark, which seems much more impressive than 620 miles. At mile 630.8 was another water cache, I took a long siesta there before starting a long climb up the side of Skinner Peak carrying 4 liters.

At the crest of a ridge, it opened up into an incredible view of the Sierra Mountains, the first sight of it on trail. Mt Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48, stood in the middle, everything covered in snow. The views continued for several more miles before setting up camp at mile 635.8 with an Australian named Alex, a total of 19.4 for the day. 

On day 49 I went the rest of the way to Walker pass, with incredible views of the sierra all the way through beautiful forest.  The trail began descending down to walker pass and we encountered some amazing trail magic at the bottom! It was a great way to celebrate the end of the desert. There was lots of fresh fruit, sodas, (melted) ice cream, and more. 

I camped at the walker pass campground at mile 651.3 with lots of other hikers. Everyone was finalizing their plans at this major landmark on the trail, whether they continue hiking past Kennedy Meadows, wait it out, go home, or flip up to some other point on trail. It has been very interesting listening to everyone’s plans, as they are all so unique. I would say about half of hikers are continuing on through the Sierras, most of which don’t expect to continue for very long as the conditions worsen as you go north. 

On day 50 we hiked the last mile to Walker pass at 652.1, where a bunch of hikers and I gathered to wait for a bus to Bakersfield. Thus completed my hike of the desert section of the PCT, which has surpassed all expectations. I truly think that this year was the best time to hike the desert, as everything was super green and beautiful. I learned to appreciate the beauty of desert, and it was incredible to travel with this community of thru hikers. One weird thought that I have when staring at the sand passing beneath my feet for hours at a time is how the trail is one dimensional, you can only travel forward and backward. While you may think this can feel constricting and kinda boring, I feel like it is integral to how the community forms on trail. At some point I  come across an interesting person that I’ve never met before, or someone that I hadn’t seen in 300 miles. The one dimensional trail binds everyone together into a shared space. Some days I don’t come across anyone for hours, then get to a water source and I am greeted with 20 hikers. I sometimes I feel very much alone, but then realize that there is someone half a mile behind or in front of me, just out of sight. It is comforting to know that the trail brings everyone together again. 

10 stinky hikers crammed into the small bus, packs in our laps. It was a nice ride past lake Isabella, which was at a record high level. The locals explained that the flood water control dam has been closely monitored throughout this crazy snowmelt, in order to protect property from getting flooded. On the other side of the dam the Kern River is flowing at almost 8000 cubic feet per second, which is usually a small stream at this time of year. They said that eventually they will have to increase the flow to prevent flooding above the dam, which will allow the river to wash out the road to Bakersfield. Neither are very good options. 

In Bakersfield, Me, Chris, and a hiker named Lucky had lunch and killed time at the library. As a side note, I have been ranking all the libraries on trail so far (i have been to all of them) and the bakersfield one is easily the best, followed by Tehachapi, Idyllwild, Julian, and Wrightwood. 

Chris boarded his Grayhound bus to L.A, and I boarded my Amtrak train to Portland. I was joined by one pct hiker on the train, Ryan, going all the way home to Olympia WA.