This post originally appeared on The Trek, which you can read here.

*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*

Day 40: May 17, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Cottonwood Creek and Faucet – 534.9
End: Willow Springs Road – 558.5
Miles: 23.6
Ascent: 4825 | Descent: 3786
Sleep: Building

Our biggest day on trail yet and the most miles I’ve ever hiked in 24 hours! We did 42 miles in 23 hours (with only about 5 hours of sleep)!

I had set my alarm for 5:30am and had such a hard time getting up. We rolled in around 12:15am last night and I felt asleep around 12:30am. Working off 5 hours of sleep was hard and I was very groggy going through the morning chores of eating breakfast, digging a cat hole, and packing up. We filled up on water from the Cottonwood Creek faucet and then set off.

Truffles and I left just a little before everyone else and had a good time hiking together in the morning. The trail took us through the windmill farm and it felt like we were walking past windmills for hours (because we were). We talked on and off and I listed to my ABBA playlist which kept me smiling. Truffles spotted a rattlesnake the was curled up, not about to strike but because it was so cold and breezy.

We finally exited the windmill farm and had about a mile and a half climb to the Tylehorse Canyon water source. We thought that would be quick and easy but it absolutely zapped our energy. It felt like we were climbing straight up and then went straight back down to the water. We were cooked by the time we arrived and it felt good to sit down and eat a snack while filtering water.

Gooey, U-Turn, Pinky, and Hangman caught up to us there and we made plans to eat lunch together at the 549 water cache. Truffles and I headed out first and had some cruisey uphills to warm back up. The trail went in and out of valleys on the side of the ridge and we kept getting views of the windmill farm we just hiked out of.

We had a short but steep descent down into a gap before a monstrous climb up to the water source. There only reprieve on this climb were the switchbacks. After a while, though, the switchbacks became monotonous and seemed to never end. As we climbed, we crossed more and more ATV trails. We realized that while the ATV trails were steeper, the went in the same direction as the trail without doing all the switchbacks. We decided to start taking those. They were shorter but holy shit were they steep and left us gasping for breath. It felt like it took hours but we finally rounded the ridge and cruised the last half mile to the water cache.

I don’t normally like relying on water caches, but according to FarOut this cache has been maintained for 32 years! There were two large drums of buckets with fresh spring water, plus chairs, an umbrella, a hiker box, a pantry, and a library complete with board games! It was such an adorable and unexpected stop, it made for the perfect lunch break.

As we were eating lunch the wind really started to really pick up. I put on my rain suit and debated briefly keeping it on to hike. The wind was cold and harsh but the direct sun made me pack away my layers before departing. We only had about 10 miles left in the day and we thought we could get them done quickly.

The wind continued throughout the afternoon. We began the descend towards yet another wind farm. They must have unlimited energy out here because the wind was AWFUL, the windmills have to generate so much electricity! The wind continued to gain speed and made it nearly impossible to hike. Truffles is convinced we were hiking through 70 mile per hour gusts. I felt like I was using all my strength to put one foot in front of the other and was still bearly making progress. Everyone was having a hard time but seemed to be in good spirits.

Despite the hindrance of the wind, we made good time down to the road. As soon as Truffles and I got to the road, a car pulled up and a trail angel hopped out and offered us a ride. We explained that we were with a large group and he said he could fit everyone in his SUV. Thankfully the rest of the group was close behind and we were able to get all 6 of us and our packs in the car.

Oblivious was the trail angel that picked us up, he had previously done the PCT and a section of the AT. He was kind enough to drop us off at the all you can eat Chinese buffet in town. We said goodbye and went to eat our hearts out. We stuff ourselves with chicken on a stick, chow mein, sushi, stuffed mushrooms, and soft served ice cream.

When we were finally full we got an Uber to take us to our accommodations for the night. We had found a trail angel on Facebook and made arrangements to stay with Joe at the Tehachapi Hiker Hut. This turned out to basically be a refurbished garage attached to his house where he hosts hikers.

When we arrived we were greeted by another hiker, Strider, who welcomed us in and showed us around. There were several other hikers hanging out, all of whom were nice and welcoming. We got in kind of late and wanted to take advantage of a shower. Joe had a lovely outdoor shower for the hikers. We didn’t arrive until after dark, so I hooked my Luci Light up so we could all shower with light.

We were pretty beat after a long day so after showers we set up our sleeping pads and got ready for bed. There were 4 hikers staying in the main house, and then 5 other hikers plus our 6 staying in the garage. Joe had multiple air mattresses, but all the other hikers had already claimed them. There was a group of 3 Australians and then a solo hiker and a group of 5 that did the AT together in 2023. I was worried that with some many other people I wouldn’t sleep good, but I was out like a light. What a big day, excited for a zero tomorrow!

Day 41: May 18, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Willow Springs Road – 558.5
End: Tehachapi – 558.5
Miles: 0.0
Sleep: Building

What a nice zero! I slept in until around 9am and was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone else was awake and had already started laundry. I went in the house to drink coffee with Truffles and the other AT hikers. We all just piddled about waiting for the laundry to finish up. We made rough plans for getting to the Sierra and what kind of mileage we will be doing.

When the laundry was finally done, Joe and his girlfriend gave us a ride into town. We decided to stay in a hotel tonight just so that we could all sleep in beds, so we said our goodbyes to Joe and thanked him for his hospitality.

They dropped us off at Kohen’s Country Bakery which was a delicious German bakery. We all got sandwiches and sweet treats. I got a Cuban sandwich and a brownie cheesecake. They were delicious! We ran into a bunch of other hikers like Shaman and Matty and Amy. We spent some time talking to all of them and decided that we would double zero instead of hiking out the following day like we had planned.

When we left the bakery we made our way to the Sure Stay hotel tonight get a couple of rooms for the evening. Once we got all checked in we lounged in the room until we wanted to find something for dinner. Just down the street from the hotel was TK Pizzeria. We headed down there to get dinner and drinks. It was a great way to end the evening.

We walked back to the hotel and will likely turn in early tonight. Tomorrow we have to resupply and go to the post office. I’m glad we’re taking another day to rest and relax, we may not have many opportunities like this further up the trail so I’m happy to take advantage of it.

Day 42: May 19, 2025

Location: The Desert
Start: Tehachapi – 558.5
End: Tehachapi – 558.5
Miles: 0.0
Sleep: Building

Another lovely and relaxing zero. I tried to sleep in but was only able to sleep until about 7am. This ended up being nice, though, because I was able to get up enjoy the hotel’s continental breakfast. Truffles got up around the same time I did as we drank coffee and sat around the hotel lobby until around 9am.

We came back to the room and Pinky and Hangman left to go to the post office. Truffles and I played on our phones and made rough plans the trail. I took a shower and enjoyed the comforts of civilization as much as I could.

Once Pinky and Hangman returned, we joined Pimento, Gooey, and U-Turn for a trip to Walmart to resupply. Being able to resupply at a Walmart feels like such a treat because they have literally everything we could want! If anything it just becomes overwhelming to have so many choices. Thankfully I feel like I know for the most part what food works well for me on trail, so I feel like I’ve got my resupply strategy dialed in.

After we finished at Walmart, we walked down the street to Taco Bell. U-Turn is from Belgium and had never eaten at Taco Bell. When we were at Hikertown U-Turn had her first Baja Blast and fell in love, so we knew she needed to try it from the source. She had a great experience and we were happy to get some lunch.

We headed back to the hotel to sort through our Walmart haul. Once our food bags were packed to the brim, Truffles and I left to go to the pair office. I had a new pair of socks to pick up, and Truffels had some new shorts. Hangman and Pinky hung back at the hotel so that Hangman could restuff his quilt. While we were walking, a trail angel named Lonnie drove by and offered to give us a ride. He dropped us off and we were in and out of the post office in no time.

We decided to go check out a brewery and started walking in that direction. Lonnie just happened to drive by again and yet again offered to give us a ride. He dropped us off at Local Craft Brewery. We got drinks and played some bar games. It was a nice little dose of normalcy, it felt like we were on a date back home.

Lonnie has given us his phone number and offered to drive us back to the hotel when we were done at the brewery. He picked us back up and drove us to the hotel, he even turned down the cash we tried to give him for the rides.

We got back to the hotel around 6:30pm and were just in time to figure out where we all wanted to eat for dinner. Pimento had an appointment with Blaze Physio to try and heal his ankle and that wrapped up around 7. When he was finished we all walked over to Taste of Siam Thai Restaurant for dinner. It was delicious and filling and felt like a nice final town meal.

We walked back to the hotel and started repacking our bags to prepare for our departure in the morning. I got in contact with a trail angel, Mike, who agreed to shuttle our group to the trail head tomorrow morning at 7am. Back at it tomorrow!