PCT Day 45-47 – Double Zero Ridgecrest (653.2) to PCT mile 669.9
May 19-21, 2026
Total PCT miles: 16.7
Non PCT miles: 0.0
Total: 16.7 miles / 26.9 km
Total elevation gain: 3576 ft
Total elevation loss: 3698 ft
Steps: 40042
There isn’t much to do or see in Ridgecrest and every place a hiker might need to go to is like a mile walk minimum. Probably a terrible place to double zero if it were not for the fact the hotel rooms were the most reasonably priced I’ve seen so far on trail. I was staying at the American Inn for 89$ per night and they took care of your laundry.
I had already taken care of my resupply yesterday when I got into town so I had nothing to do but rest and relax. Which was exactly the point of this double zero. Although I probably spent way too much time trying to get intel on the Sierra thus causing myself (hopefully) unnecessary anxiety.
Ness arrived in town around lunch on my first zero and the rest of the group arrived late the following day. It was a good opportunity to catch up and start discussing plans for the Sierra. I ate as much town food as I could. I have no idea how much weight I’ve lost but looking in the full length mirror that was in my room it’s definitely a significant amount. I believe my beard has officially gotten out of control and I have more hair on my head than I’ve had in years. I suppose I’m really starting to embrace this hiker trash thing.
For the first time the number of miles remaining in this hike starts with a 1. From Walker Pass it is 1996.8 miles to Canada! Wild. It’s crazy to think that in under three days I’ll be finally done with the desert section of the PCT and moving on to the Sierra!
May 21 – back on trail
Ness and I along with another hiker “Starship” were picked up by a local trail angle Scott at 0700 to be dropped of at the Walker Pass trail head. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Ridgecrest. Scott is an interesting man who has spent a lot of time in the mountains hiking and climbing. After a short detour as Starship had to drop something off we were at the trail head at 0800. We were met there by another group of hikers that we’ve been following for the past few weeks.
My hike started with some serious shin splits in my left leg. As rested as I was after the last two days I probably should have spent some time stretching. I took some vitamin I and took it slow with many breaks until the pain subsided. That took about 4 miles. The day started with a climb that minus the shin splints I was actually surprised how well I did. A few weeks ago I would have huffed and puffed the whole way and had to take probably more breaks. I can definitely tell my fitness is improving. The landscape was still primarily desert like with views down to the desert valley below including China Lake Naval Warfare Centre. I could hear fighter jets flying all day but never was able to actually see one.
Fortunately there are many more water sources on this segment of the trail vs the last. Soon I won’t be worrying about not enough water but rather their being too much and the raging Sierra rivers we have to cross. It was 11 miles to the first water source and we stopped and had lunch. There was a hiker there who was hiking only in foam sandals. My Achilles ached just thinking about it.
The second climb of the day was made painful by the heat. The temperature rose significantly while we had lunch and it was now 26 C with not a single cloud in the sky. Fortunately there was a slight breeze. I deployed my sun umbrella and took my time. We got to the second water source and decided to call it a day. There are 8 or 9 hikers camped here tonight Which made finding a spot challenging. There are also more bugs at this campsite than I think I’ve seen the rest of the trail. But I know bugs will get worse as I continue north that is guaranteed.
Tomorrow will also have two climbs and is again suppose to be 26 degrees. The good news is that it’s also warm in the Sierra so snow is melting. The bad news is we have to hike in the heat tomorrow.
I woke up this morning tired and sore but no where near as sore and tired as I aught to be after yesterdays lone miles. I had an ambitious goal. Almost 16 miles before 11:00 in order to be on time for the bus that goes from Walkers Pass into Ridgecrest. I had meant to wake up earlier to make this goal less ambitious but here I am. I crammed the last of my bars and snacks into my face or within easy reach while hiking and was on my way at 0545. That’s 5 hours and 15 mins to hike 16 miles (25 kilometers). At least it’s more downhill than uphill.
The sun was rising and I could tell it was a beautiful sunrise by the colors of the sky. It’s really too bad I couldn’t camp where I originally set up last night. But I was eventually rewarded with a great vista of the valley below as the sun was just starting to crest the mountains. Definitely another beautiful sun rise for the books.
I made quick miles through the forest and to a forest road the trail joins for a few miles before I started my decent to Walker Pass. I couldn’t believe it I was likely going to make it. I picked up my pace as I went downhill and the forest once again gave way to bushes and shrubs. When will this desert end!
I passed Walker Pass campsite and was at the bus stop with more than enough time to catch the bus. But as luck would have it the first vehicle to pass by me pulled over and offered me a ride to Ridgecrest. The driver was from Brazil and has just dropped his sister off at the PCT trail head and he was now on his way back to town before going home. Sometimes a little bit of luck goes a long way.
On the way into town we passed a road sign that gives the distances to various cities. It listed San Diego as 224 miles away… I Started laughing almost uncontrollably. Here I’ve walked over 650 miles to get to this point and San Diego was so close. National Scenic Trail for the win.
I was dropped off in Ridgecrest without much of a plan. I had expected to sort out a hotel while on trail yesterday but never got a chance. So I decided to grab some McDonalds and contemplate the next move. I ended up at the American Inn – it was relatively cheap at 89$ per night, had no bad reviews on far out and they do Thru Hikers laundry for them.
I spend the rest of the day doing town chores, relaxing and trying to sort out my plan for the Sierra.
Today was certainly a day out here on the Pacific Crest Trail. It started out mundane enough after one of the better nights sleep I’ve had on trail no doubt in part due to the amazing meal I had last night. I was up packed and hiking at 0615 hrs. My plan was to go to the first water cache of the day at Kelso road, about 7 miles, have second breakfast and move on from there.
The cool air was refreshing and the miles through the pine forest were easy. About a mile into my day I saw a deer grazing in the bushes. It was completely seemingly unbothered by my presence and continued eating occasionally looking over to check me out. I spent a good few minutes just watching it eat before finally continuing along. The trail continued mostly downhill with occasional views of the Sierra In the distance.
As I decended and got closer to the water cache the landscape changed from the pine forest i had been enjoying back into the desert landscape I have come to know so well. Along with the change im scenery the winds slowly began to pick up. I filtered water and ate a full breakfast, that included a delicious orange I had received last night at the cache. Just as I was packing up to continue on my way a local trail angle, “Cinnamon” who helps keep this cache stocked arrived. She gave me a banana, 2 tangerines and some donuts. She made mention of how bad the winds had been and said it must not be fun to hike in. I replied they had Not been that bad and at least it kept me cool. I had no idea what was in store for me later today. She pointed out that the second range of the Sierra was visible and was on her way.
From here the desert got interesting and beautiful. It was probably some of the most beautiful parts of the trail I’ve hiked so far with views into Mojave desert. The landscape was littered with pop Joshua trees that served as the only wind block as it rapidly continued to intensify.
I passed the 1000 kilometer mark on the PCT. To put that in perspective Ottawa to Halifax is slightly less than this distance as the crow flies. Out here on trail it’s kinda easy to loose track of how impressive this is. Everyone out here are doing the same thing and hitting the same milestones. It’s just what we’re all doing for some strange reason or another. But when I stop to think about it… I suppose outside the trail, in my normal life, I don’t know anyone who has done anything like this. Maybe this is impressive but to me right now it just feels like hike, eat, sleep, repeat.
The winds were getting bad as I got closer to the water cache at Bird Spring Pass. At times I couldn’t walk forward. All I could do was brace myself from the unrelenting punishment it was continually unpredictably slamming me with. Most of the time I could hear a strong gust approaching before I felt it, giving me time to brace myself. Other times I got hit without warning. I almost lost my hat. Another hiker I talked to lost a water bottle. For fun at one point I leaned into the wind and it held me up. I later learned wind gusts at Bird Spring Pass were in excess of 76 miles per hour (122 kilometers per hour) which is equivalent to category 1 hurricane winds.
So much water!
I arrived at the Bird Spring Pass water cache and was rewarded by finding a giant cooler with cola inside! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to open a random cooler in my entire life. I had thought of camping here as there was a significant climb ahead and I was getting tired from battling the wind but there were no places sheltered from the wind so i carried onward and upward.
The climb was fine with the occasional bracing needed against the wind. Eventually I found a nicely sheltered spot . Or so I thought. Having now hiked 24 miles I was eager to be done for the day. I set up my tent and for the first time used my trekking poles for additional support (a nice feature of the x-dome tent I have), placed big rocks on all the tent pegs and set up guy lines. I’m not sure if the wind shifted, or if I was just being overly optimistic about the spot I had found but just as it was all set up a gust of wind came and lifted my tent off the ground. I acted quickly, grabbing it and dismantling it faster than I’ve ever done before. I saw damage, nothing catastrophic I thought but I could not inspect it here. I decided to continue on. What a shame… the sun set and sun rise at this spot would have been magical.
I hiked a few more miles as the sun was setting frantically looking for a place to set up for the night. I passed a few places that were all ready occupied with no more space for me. Maybe I would be hiking into the night… what if I just never found a place… I could cowboy camp. 3 miles and change later I finally found it. A shelter spot not on the map well protected by trees on all sides. A place to call home for the night assuming my tent wasn’t worse than I thought. I pulled it out of my bag and set up… only one small hole likely from the trekking pole I had used for the extra support. Nothing some duct tape couldn’t eventually fix.
I was exhausted, wind blown, sore, hungry but had no appetite. I forced myself to eat 1/2 bag of granola and some bars and went to bed.
I had basically just walked a marathon in hurricane force winds with over 10000 feet of elevation change. Not to many people can say that.
PCT Day 42 – PCT mile 587.5 to Landers Meadow Camp (Mile 610.1)
May 16, 2026
Total PCT miles: 22.6
Non PCT miles: 0.6
Total: 23.4 miles / 37.7 km
Total elevation gain: 5699 ft
Total elevation loss: 4190 ft
Steps: 52973
The new air mattress is amazing. Not waking up in the middle of the night to a semi deflated bed really helps improve one’s sleep. Over all I slept well due to being sheltered from the wind but the sounds of whirling wind turbines were certainly abundant throughout the night. I think today was the first time I hit snooze multiple times on this hike. My first alarm went off around 0430 but I didn’t start to get ready until closer to 0530. I probably could have slept for a few more hours which leads me to believe I likely should have taken a second zero in Tehachapi.
I made good time on the first miles of the day hiking 10 miles by 10:30. The landscape slowly changed from desert chaparral to pine forest. The winds still gusted but as I moved in the forest I was generally well protected from them. I think I’ve seen the last view down to the desert valley and they windmills they contain. From 10 miles onwards I struggled as my body protested and demanded more sleep. I took lots of small breaks and consumed more caffeine.
I finally reached Robin Bird Spring at 1300 thus ending my 20 mile water carry. For the next fee miles there are water sources. After that there are 2 water caches. Without those caches it would be over 30 miles until the next source in trail. Other than that the day was what it was. One foot in front of the other and try not to die.
Shortly after I passed the 600 mile mark on the PCT – that’s almost 1000 kms and nearing a quarter of the trail completed!
I ended my day at Landers Meadow Camp a few miles short of my goal. Here I met two hikers from Quebec and two from Oregon. This camp is accessible by vehicles and there were a significant number of them here. A large group was having their annual retreat. I was just about to start cooking a camp meal when one of them come over and offered me and the other hikers here the left overs. Burgers With all the fixings, chilli, watermelon, and cookies. They come here once a year and alway offer up what’s left to PCT hikers. I am grateful I got to partake this year hopefully they are not to loud tho.
I mean why wouldn’t there be a 10 commandments poster in the middle of nowhere. Delicious!
PCT Day 40 & 41 – Zero day in Tehachapi (566.6) to PCT mile 587.5
May 14 & 15, 2026
Total PCT miles: 20.9
Non PCT miles: 0.0
Total: 20.9 miles / 33.6 km
Total elevation gain: 5640 ft
Total elevation loss: 4764 ft
Steps: 48574
May 14 – Zero day
Hiker gear explosion: what happens when you have multiple thru hikers in a hotel room.
Unfortunately my zero day in Tehachapi did not involve much rest. I probably walked in excess of 5 miles throughout the day to get my town chores mostly done. But at least I did them after my first good night sleep in what feels like forever. This hotel definitely has the most comfortable bed I’ve slept in since arriving in the US.
After breakfast I made my way to the Wal Mart to do my resupply. I’ve decided that I am going to break up the next section by stopping in Ridgecrest. This means I only need 4 days of food instead of 7 if I were to go all the way to Kennedy Meadows. This next stretch also has some pretty significant water carries so keeping the food weight down is key. I was debating sending a resupply box to Kennedy Meadows but after being in the wilderness for so long a Wal Mart gets overwhelming. So in the end I didn’t. More than once while shopping I got stopped by locals to ask about how my hike is going.
Next up was the post office to get my replacement air matress!. Now, Tehachapi is overall an incredibly hiker friendly city with the exception of one thing: the post office is located about a 1.6 mile walk. But I didn’t have to walk the full distance either way As both ways a local pulled over and gave me a ride!
New air mattress on the right.
The new air matress is definitely an upgrade. It’s a bit lighter, it has a higher R value (warmer) and it packs up smaller! I must say I am very impressed with the service I got from Sea to Summit.
The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, catching up on my blog and cleaning Gear. Eventually Sage, Pinecone and Alligator arrived and were staying in the room next to ours so we got to catch up on the last few days. Finally it was time for bed as Ness and I had an 0800 pick up scheduled back to the trail head.
May 15 – Back on trail.
The group I have been hiking with all has different plans today. The three that got into town yesterday are taking their zero day today. Ness is starting further back on trail to do the miles she missed by taking the earlier entrance to town and I am starting at HWY 58. I really want to push it a bit and see how many miles i can do over the next few days.
I was picked up at 0800 hrs by Keith, who is an absolute legend. He’s dedicated the entire summer to following the bubble while doing trail magic and giving rides. This is the 3rd time he has helped me out on this journey. I and 5 other hikers were dropped off at Hwy 58 and on trail at 0830.
Group of hikers heading out!
First up was the biggest climb of the day which is exactly what you want to do with a full resupply while carrying enough water to get you 16 miles. It always seems when you leave town there is always a uphill climb. My body was protesting with random aches and pains and it was slow going for the first two miles. Eventually the pains stopped or maybe my stubbornness over rode it. Unknown. The winds were howling with over 40 mph gusts. This was great when it was at my back helping push me along my way and not so great any other time. I passed more Joshua trees and wind turbines that were definitely generating plenty of electricity today.
For a while the PCT takes a small mountain road for off road vehicles which was in very poor repair. This required careful navigation due to boulders, washouts and had plenty of places where you could injure yourself. Off in the distance I could start to see the Sierra! Almost 600 miles and soon the desert section will be done with new and exciting challenges to be faced.
I arrived at the first water source around 1500. There were already several people set up to camp in a really small area with plenty more I’m sure hoping to camp here. I decided that I would keep going. It’s 20 miles to the next water source… this meant leaving with 6 liters of water so I would have enough to dry camp and make it the rest of the way.
In 4 miles I was rewarded with a private campsite. I can’t remember the last time I camped alone. There are wind turbines nearby and I can hear them clearly from my tent but thanks to the trees and bushes I can barely feel the wind. Looking forward to a good night sleep on my new air mattress.
I’m sure you the reader will see a theme here and you will unsurprised to learn that I did not sleep well last night. Between the deflating air mattress and strong winds I struggled to stay asleep even with ear plugs in. I was up consistently between midnight and when my alarm went off at 0430 hrs. I had some oatmeal, packed up and was on my way at 0540.
The goal today was to put myself in a good spot to get into Tehachapi tomorrow morning. I’m not sure if it was the sleep deprivation, the hunger, the cooler temperture or if I was just hiking angry but I was absolutely crushing the miles.
The morning was the most significant elevation gain of the day. Which thankfully I managed to mostly complete before the sun hit this side of the mountain. The climb was accompanied by the final views of the desert valley below and the damned aqueduct section that I am very happy to not have to hike again. It was however kinda awesome too look down the valley and to the mountains on the other side and think I had hiked all of it.
My first break was at a water cache located at mile 549. There were reports of fruit being left here for hikers but by the time I arrived there were only chips… but they were delicious all the same. From here I started descending and was really making good time. I was trying to catch Ness who had hiked further yesterday.
As i descended the winds started to pick up eventually reaching gusts in excess of 40kph. Entering into Tehachapi pass a massive wind farm started to appear. The mountains here combined with the heating of the ground creates a Venturi effect accelerating the wind making the area prime for this type of energy generation. I’m not actually sure how strong the winds actually were. The forecast said 40 kph but at times it was strong enough to blow me around on the trail and I had to use my trekking poles to stay on course.
Around this time Ness messaged to tell me she changed her plans and was getting a hitch from the first road (Willow Springs) to Tehachapi. I continued hiking to the next water source contemplating what I would do. It was only 1300 hrs and another 6.5 miles to Highway 58, the second access point for Tehachapi. If I could do it that would make a 25 mile day and mean an easier start when back on trail due to shorter water carry. I was feeling good so I went for it.
I finished my 25 mile day at 1600hrs. I had only taken 2 real breaks and 2 smaller stops to change my socks out. I had only eaten oatmeal, a protein bar, a small bag of chips and some gummies. I had not slept well in longer than I can remember. But I did it – 25 miles! The longest I had ever hiked in one day and it included over 11000 feet of elevation change. It’s amazing how I can go from wanting to leave the trail one day to absolutely crushing it the next. I even think I could have done another 5 miles today without much issue. Honestly I was hiking angry and by the end of the day I had been successful in burning all that anger away.
I had a trail angle pick me up at highway 58 (thanks to Ness organizing) and went into town for much needed shower, food and rest.
