Today was a hot day. We got up early and were out the door before 3. It had been a windy night. I slept in the hostel lounge which was in a garage and I almost thought the doors were going to blow off. I probably would have been better off outdoors but it's hard to pass up an opportunity to sleep off the ground.
I walked the first few miles with Mad Dog but the rest of the crew was close behind. We were mostly following dirt roads, and Mad Dog and I hiked a long ways in the dark without headlights. It was awesome. We didn't have any moon so it was super dark.
We reached the aqueduct, a massive pipe that carries water from the Sierras to LA, just as the horizon was starting to brighten. While I stopped for a bathroom break, Nips, Wildflower, Histo and Snausage caught up. We enjoyed a second breakfast before pushing on just as the sun rose. It was a beautiful morning, and the hiking was quick. We either followed dirt roads that paralleled the aqueduct or just walked on the concrete on top of it. It got hot quickly. I was able to pick up some radio and heard a forecast for a high of 102 degrees in nearby Lancaster. Though we passed by a gigantic wind farm which I took a ton of pictures of, the morning was very still.
After about 16 miles, we stopped under a bridge to rest and wait out the heat. The next water was about 7 miles away, where we are currently camped. I'd left the hostel with 5 liters, enough to get to camp. I knew there was a cache at the bridge but was planning to avoid using it. It turned out that a spigot tapping the aqueduct was unexpectedly turned on, so I wound up topping off with that water. Definitely a nice surprise.
The day proceeded to get hotter and hotter and we wound up spending a whopping 8.5 hours under the bridge. It was a bit maddening, and it was very difficult to stay comfortable even in the shade. It was too hot for sleeping. The big excitement of the day was cheering on the windmills as they started to slowly turn in the late afternoon.
We finally left the bridge around 6 and knocked out the remaining 7ish miles to camp. The walking was beautiful. We continued through the wind farm and eventually climbed above it before dipping into a canyon to camp. The evening light and sunset were lovely.
Annoying trekking pole update....The strap on one of my new REI Traverse poles came undone because the horizontal pin holding it in place popped out and got lost. It seems like a terrible design. The piece on the pole that is still intact is super loose and I don't expect it to stay put for long. I'll be strapless tomorrow. Not a huge deal, but I definitely feel like I'm having bad luck in the trekking pole department. I don't think there is an REI in Tehachapi, so I'll have to come up with something creative to hold the strap in place. I'm thinking a nail might work, but I'm not sure.
16 miles with climbing in store tomorrow. It's going to be a scorcher but we have town to look forward to. No complaints!
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