Good Morning! Thursday, May 20th, 2021
I hope that you notice nice things and this normal day!
Things are going well for me, with a lot of miles on the road yesterday. The day in Tehachapi started slow, with Faisal going through his pack and preparing for this Pacific Crest Trail segment. He needs to be ready for eight uninterrupted days on the trail as he works to get to his next replenishment spot on the trail. Once he gets to that point, which is 136 miles up the trail, he will leave the desert and get into the Sierra mountains.
So once he managed to shed some weight from his pack and get all loaded up, we rolled out of the hotel and went to Big 5 sporting goods, where he picked up some fuel for his stove. Then we went to Albertsons to round out his food supplies (he ended up with about 12 pounds of food in his pack). Outside of Albertsons was one of his buddies from the trail that had just finished his shopping, so we gave him a ride to his hotel. And then Faisal and I headed out to lunch at the BBQ place in town.
Once we finished with lunch, we headed out to the trailhead. I dropped Fasial off, where I picked him up precisely 24 hours after I picked him up. He “slack hiked.” (Meaning he was without any of his equipment) while I drove to the trailhead (which was only 1/4 mile away). When we got there, we chatted with a couple of other hikers, and then we headed off down the trail. I hiked with him for probably 1/4 of a mile before saying our goodbyes, and I headed back to my car.
Brendan had texted me to let me know that I had left my jacket in his car. Fortunately, Brendan’s place is on the way to Jule’s place from Tehachapi, so I bombed on down the road to Brendan to pick up my jacket. I arrived at 5:30, and Brendan and Rachael pointed out that my trip to Jule’s would be through the worst traffic that LA has to offer, at the worst time of day. They were able to convince me that I would arrive at the same time whether I left then or in 30 minutes. So I stayed for 30 minutes and had a super lovely visit with them and Charlotte.
The drive to Jule’s house was uneventful, if long. Once I got down close to her house, I put fuel in the car, which was the best tank yet at 19.1 mpg.
I arrived at Jule’s house, and we caught up for quite a while before heading off to bed.
Today is going to be a light day. I might go to the beach, and I will probably spend some time with Jule’s boys working with the cool 3d printer they have.
Love ya
Dan W
Weaties RoadTrip 2021 