Stats

Start: Hikertown – Mile 517.6
End: Techachapi- Mile 566.4
Elevation Max: 6,128
Elevation Min: 2,879
Elevation Change: 6,865 up & 6,095 down
Average Heart Rate: 126
Walking Time: 14 hrs 19 minutes
Date: 5/5/2022

The Walk

It’s 10:00 pm and I hadn’t fallen asleep yet. 2 hours and 40 minutes until my alarm. I was nervous. But it wasn’t keeping me up. I usually fall asleep around 10:30 on a town day or day I didn’t hike. I kept my eyes closed and hoped for the best, nervous that 2 hours of sleep wouldn’t be enough fuel for a 50 mile day.

I woke up at 12:40. 5 minutes before my alarm. I didn’t dare go back to sleep in case I slept through the alarm. So I rolled over and tried to pack up my gear. We had a lot of eyes on our hike today. I wanted to get off to a good start. To give it my best shot.

33 miles is the most I’ve hiked in a day. I wasn’t stressed about hiking 50. I was confident my body could do it. The challenge would be walking for hours, staying hydrated, eating calories, and not getting a random injury.

I packed up my gear as quietly as possible. Two hikers were camped next to me. I probably woke them up, but at least I was gone in a few minutes! I had prepped my snacks and water last night, so I walked over to Jack Rabbit’s spot. And ate breakfast, two packets of breakfast essentials. Plus a few bars later.

Jack Rabbit took a few minutes to pack up. Then we took a few minutes to figure out the Instagram login for PCT trek and post some stories. We had control over an account with 98k followers. What a cool opportunity to share our day!

We left hiker town and got on the trail at 1:30 am. We were hiking by headlamp. Adrenaline was pumping and I didn’t feel tired. It’s a creepy, exciting experience. The world is asleep so you don’t expect to see or hear anything around. But sometimes your mind plays tricks.

The moon was nowhere to be found. The sky filled with stars. We must have seen 10 shooting stars during the morning walk. The first 17 miles out of hikertown is flat along the LA aqueduct. Mostly a road walk.

The section is famous for desert heat and no shade. But the cool night air felt great. We kept hiking. I slipped on the pipe early on and twisted my knee. I quickly caught myself and didn’t feel anything pop. But I was nervous.

Could I really have hurt myself 5 miles into this thing?? Please no. I don’t want Jack Rabbit to do this solo.

Thankfully my knee didn’t tighten up at all during the 17 mile stretch. As we walked along the road the sun rose right in front of us, across a field of windmills. I couldn’t believe how fast the sun came up once it peaked above the mountains. We jogged ahead to get a clear picture and barely made it!

The rest of the morning went by without a problem. The world was waking up and so was my body. At 7:15 we met up with Gramps. Jack Rabbit hiked with him on the Appalachian Trail in 2021. He brought us each two McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches, a sack of chips, and a coke! I downed the food and threw the coke in my pack for later.

This was perfect. It felt like a normal morning, my body was ready to start the day. I’m not sure how the weird morning (walking instead of sleeping) impart me, but I’m feeling great now.

17 miles down 33 to go. 33 is my longest day of hiking. So I viewed this as starting a new day. Nothing I haven’t done before! The next section of trail had two big climbs. Both over 1k feet.

We got back on trail and started walking. Conscious of our pace. Gramps agreed to pick us up whenever we finished, but much preferred 7-8 instead of 10 or later. Jack Rabbit and I didn’t want to show up late. He was already doing so much for us, and giving us a place to sleep!

Just before the climb we ran into a few friends who had left at 6pm night before. They were waking up. They had hiked until late in the night to avoid the heat as well. Many of them had hiked the most miles of their trips, which was cool to see!

Onward! The first climb was here. I started up the climb and kept the same pace. This was the first uphill so I was using new muscles. We had hiked all flat this morning. It was actually stretching out my legs and felt great. We cruised right up the climb.

I ate bars as I walked and kept going, a few miles later we got to a stream trickling. Thankfully the stream was still flowing, This is the only natural water for the day. We took a break here, filtered water, and prepared for the second climb.

I still felt full from the McDonald’s, so didn’t eat much. We also met up with Chezwick. He is hiking the Great Western Loop. A 8,000 mile trail that has to be finished in 7 month. It’s unreal. He is averaging 37ish miles per day.

He took the lead and I followed him up the second climb. The second climb covered 4 miles. It was nice to have him to talk with and follow behind. This was the first time my body felt tired. I had to dig deep and keep pushing. Chezwick kept us on a good pace and my mind occupied as we chatted all things thruhiking.

Finally we made it up to the climb! The heat was in full force. Thankfully a water cache was on top of the mountain. As I got closer I saw umbrellas for shade and a few hikers relaxing! Perfect! This was exactly what I needed.

I relaxed for 45 minutes. Had a tuna wrap and snacks, and refilled on water. The shade was a welcome relief from the sun. At 1:00 I threw in a donation and headed out for the last 17 miles.

The last section only had one climb of 500 feet. And it was pretty rolling, with ups downs and flats all mixed together. The second half was downhill. 8 miles of easy trail into Techachapi.

I felt great. 17 miles is a lot, but the hardest trail was behind us. I was worried how my body would hold up. I’ve heard hikers say everything after 30 isn’t worth it. It’s twice as painful on the body. But I hadn’t tried it, so there’s only one way to find out! I expected to push though a lot of discomfort during this section.

Leaving the cache I was slow and stiff. But after 10 minutes of walking I was back in the groove. The trail opened up to another wind farm and mountains lined with wild flowers. It was a beautiful section of trail and felt great to be back in higher elevation.

We cruised through the hike. Vibes were high because we knew the end was in sight. Jack rabbit and I chatted and kept on hiking. The final section went by smoothly. About 15 miles out of town the wind really picked up. It was the first time big wind hit. The kind where if you lean against it, it almost holds you up.

We ran into a few more friends with 10 miles to go. They knew what we were doing and it was fun to catch up.

The last 10 miles were mostly downhill and smooth. In a few hours we were looking at the finishing highway 2 miles away! My body still felt fine. A little more tired then usual. But strong.

We finished the trip and my watch read 49.3 miles. What a long day! But I really wanted to get to 50. So I kept hiking on the trail until halfway to 50. Then turned back. It was 7:00, so we had 15 minutes to burn before getting picked upz I hit 50 and officially ends the hike.

What a wild day! I was still suprised how my body felt. Tired, but nothing hurt. My feet were sore. But nothing out of the ordinary. We ordered pizza and hopped into gramps car. He took us back to his house for the night and was unbelievable hospitable.

After pizza, a shower, and fresh clothes I was done. Ready to crash. A 50 mile day about 1 month into the hike hasn’t sunk in. We could have split it into two days, but this trip is all about new experiences and breaking ceilings. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!