Ultra light to Ultra Heavy

Yesterday was so easy with my light pack, short mileage and not much climbing. Today, not so easy. Nearest resupply will be in 85 miles. Nearest water in 17 miles. That means carrying lots of food and water. Plus we had a long climb with a few thousand feet of elevation gain right off the bat out of Tehachapi. With switchbacks on a very windy exposed mountain side. A photo from close to the top. We are hiking in the Mojave desert, and you can see all the flat far below.

Stopped after a few hours in the shade of a random clump of Joshua trees. Does it sound like I'm whining ? 😜.  I was. 

So anyway, after we topped the biggest climb of the day, we hiked down in to a different valley. There were more bushes and trees, which was a welcome sight. 

Met lots of new hikers today. Aqua man, Toots, Green Bean, Space Cowboy and a few others.

After a long hot day in the sun, it's nice to come to a cool, refreshing water source...

But that was not the case today! After 17 miles, we came to this...

At first, I was really concerned !! I mean, I filter my water every time, but this seemed to be asking a little much of a filter!! Fortunately, there is a little white PVC pipe with a trickle of fresh water continuously flowing. No more water for another 18 miles so we are loading up for another long stretch.

Finished our day here. The big exciting news is, that I brought my stove back with me from home. I didn't use it the second half of the AT and I've gone stoveless out here thus far. But since we will soon be in the Sierras, with lots of snow, I thought a hot meal now and then might be nice. So tonight, I branched out and had ramen. And it was fabulous.