We left hikertown that night and hiked out a few miles. We saw our first scorpion which made all of us tighten up our sleeping bags later that night. The next day we hiked through a wind farm and found some shade underneath an overpass. As we napped, a nice big snake slithered into the area and knocked my trekking poles over on itself. I'm not proud of it but I did throw two people in front of me as it slithered away angrily. We headed into tehachapi the next night and filled up on pizza and beer. We crammed five smelly hikers into a three person seedy motel room and had a blast. We met a bunch of great people there who were more than willing to give us rides and set up water caches along the trail. We left the next afternoon and hiked with a man named Vince who gave us cold beers and tangerines. I ran out of fuel that night out of town and came to terms with the fact I'd be eating cold dinners for the next week. The next nights dinner was a total flop but was saved with some mashed potatoes and lots of garlic salt. I got the hang of it after that but I won't be going no - cook for a long time. The next few days were hard and hot, we could really feel the desert. We saw three rattlesnakes and one was over four feet long and a Mojave green (a more aggressive rattlesnake) that came right through our break spot and ended the relaxation real quick. We also ran into some amazing trail magic. We walked up in applause to a cold soda and massive quesadilla as well as boxes full of donuts and cookies. It was one of the greatest things we could have imagined. The next day we had a 2400 foot climb over five miles in the dead heat of the day. I went first and got it done as quickly as posdible. As we got to the saddle we saw our first glimpse of the Sierras. It's one of the most beautiful things we've seen so far and we knew our time in the desert was almost over. We made it into Kennedy meadows, mile 702, and filled up on food and more beers. We also hosted a cocktail party in our camp with brownies (thanks mom), chips and salsa, and make shift margaritas. We leave here tomorrow after a nice zero day and head into the sierra! Independence here we come!
P.s. pictures to come soon!
P.p.s. mom and dad I'm fine there's no cell service in Kennedy meadows. Call you in 7 days!
