Day 33- Breakfast

Mile 558 to mile 570

I don't think I so much as moved last night.  That was the best night of sleep I've had on trail, but I don't want to have days like yesterday to get such good sleep.  I woke up hungry-good thing too, with breakfast waiting for me in town.

Alice, Steve, and I packed up and walked the ten minutes to the road.  There was a good deal of morning traffic.  We were picked up pretty quick by a man that had a GoLite Jam pack and hiking poles in his trunk.  He asked how I was liking my Jam pack and I told him not very much.  He asked where we wanted to go, Alice told him breakfast, and he said he knew just the spot.

He dropped us off at Kelsy's-a small popular with the old timers place and the three of us settled into a booth.  I agonized for awhile over hot chocolate or chocolate shake, and settled on the shake-I have coco all the time in camp. It was the right choice with my french toast and hash browns.  It was as good as the meal that I dreamed about while fighting against the wind.

I think everybody at Kelsy's came by our table to ask how the hike was going and tell us how they used to hike.  Thru-hikers really stand out.  Everybody was really friendly and one guy there offered us a ride to the post office-Tehachapi is a very spread out town and that's not easy when on foot with a long list of errands.
I was basically along for the ride with hardly any errands of my own.  All I really wanted was a new hair brush to replace the one I had left at Casa de Luna.  I found that no problem.  After going to the Post Office twice and the grocery store our ride dropped us off at the camber of commerce and we hung out on their lawn for a few hours.

We arranged a ride out of town for 1 o'clock from a trail angel and was back on trail before 1:30.  It was a longer town stop than I expected, but an enjoyable one.  I met up with Stride at the trail head.  She's going to continue to be a day behind.

The trail went off through more wind farms.  Most of the turbines were spinning.  The wind was nothing like the day before, but the trail was nowhere near as elevated as yesterday.  The trail did start to climb, and still the wind wasn't bad.  At the top of the ridge I stopped with Alice and Steve for a quick lunch break.  I think we all regretted not eating lunch in town.

For two miles the trail went down to a highway crossing.  Just before the road there was a surprise cashe of water and a cooler of goodies.  I ate a homemade chocolate chip cookie and then a perfectly ripe banana.  I ate the banana with a smile and realized it had been way too long since I had fresh fruit.

The trail followed a small road for a bit and then crossed the highway and there was another cashe-this one was on our water report.  I took a liter bringing me to four liters for dry camping and hiking 16 miles.

The trail followed the highway for a bit before turning away and climbing up a ridge.  According to Alice and Steve's guide book there was camping three miles after the road and we reached the spot just after 6 p.m.  They are having two friends join them here for about 80 miles of the hike so the didn't want to get too far from the road.

It was nice to get into camp early and not feel beat up.  The three of us cowboy camped behind a cluster of Joshua trees and chatted for an hour from our sleeping bags before getting down to the business of dinner.  Alice and Steve aren't expecting their friends until late, but I'm guessing I'm tired enough that I won't wake up when they get in.