Day 34, The Big Sleep

Part 1, The Desert, Day 34

The Big Sleep

Miles: 0

PCT Mile: 558.5

I miss the trail. Back on tomorrow!!!!

Today I took my second consecutive zero day in Tehachapi. Before my trip, I hadn't planned on taking a double zero this early, but I decided to a few days ago and I stuck to the plan. For one thing, I've been hiking faster than I planned and I wanted my feet, which were giving me pain, to have a decent chance to rest up. I am nearly 150 miles away from Kennedy Meadows, the "gateway to the Sierra," and I would like to give the snow a chance to melt. I had planned to get to Kennedy Meadows by June 1st, but I'm on pace to be there by the 27th, so taking a few days off is beneficial in many ways. I'm very anxious to get back onto the trail, but I keep telling myself that it's ok to wait a day. So tomorrow morning I'll hitch out and continue my hike. It's a very difficult 150 mile stretch filled with big waterless intervals, and a storm is coming, which is probably helpful to me.

I woke up at 6am in the comfy hotel room and layed there for awhile watching tv. I had to check out by 12pm, so I was going to milk this room for all its comforts. I did go to the lobby and I talked with Geisha Girl and some other hikers. I printed the water report on the computers located in the lobby; they were ancient and very buggy:

I borrowed Pink Lightning for one last ride:

This bike is one of my favorite parts of Tehachapi. I rode the bike into town and bought this yummy bearclaw:

I returned to my room, showered, packed my pack, and watched tv for awhile, before checking out at noon. I can't believe how tired I am. It was hard to keep my eyes open as I walked down the street and all I wanted to do was sleep. My plan was to get a room for my last night here at this very cheap motel called The Santa Fe Motel. It has a hiker rate that is pretty inexpensive. I got the room and it's a major downgrade from where I was last night, but I don't care about that. The motel has hourly rates, so this should tell you all you need to know about it.

It's a tiny room, obviously pretty gross, that reeks like cigarettes and something else I don't exactly want to identify. Pretty much what I expected. It has small tv with about 10 channels.

I turned the fan on, shut the curtains and crawled into my sleeping bag on the bed, (after thorouhgly checking for bed bugs) and I fell asleep. I slept through the afternoon, and it felt great. I needed this rest badly. I woke up and didn't know the time since there's no clock in here. I fell asleep with music playing on my phone, and when I woke up, The Door's "The End" was playing in a loop, so I felt like Martin Sheen in the opening of Apocalypse Now. I do feel like I'm gettting softer the more time I spend off the trail, and I'm getting cabin fever in these small rooms. I got up and went for a walk. 

In found this old school barber:

And then I found this barber two doors down:

I couldn't help imagine the rivalry that might exist between these two, and like, scissor fights, and stuff. I'm really bored.

I just want to sleep tonight and get back on the trail, where things are less complicated. Hike, eat, sleep. I was going to wtite a 1 month review type thing tonight, but I'm kinda tired and I look forward to posting about the trail again. 

NOTE:

I am about to go into some wilder areas and I will not have service for long periods of time. I will write my posts each night, as usual, and I'll send them whenever I can. It might be a week or even 2, but don't stop reading! I Think you can subscribe on the bottom of this page to get updates on when I post. The best is yet to come, so please continue to go with me on this journey!