Tehachapi Willow Springs road to Highway 58

After a few days at home, my girlfriend, Selva, drove me back to the trail. 

I hiked the 8 miles from Tehachapi Willow Springs road to Highway 58, then gave Tim, Mighty Mouse's husband a call. He had offered to let me stay in his hotel room in Mojave and the drive me back to the trail in the morning. 

The hike between the roads was almost entirely in wind farm areas, so it was windy and hot, although the wind makes it feel cooler than it is. The moisture still gets sucked out of your body, so water is a big deal. There were a couple small water caches along the way, but I had plenty for the day, and I knew I would be getting more after 8 miles. Without resupply at the highway or the water caches it would have been 25 miles to the next water source, quite a distance when hiking in 90+ degrees without much in the way of shade. 

Ate lunch and dinner at the Mojave Cafe, a new restaurant in Mojave. Good food. If you happen to be in Mojave and hungry... 

I did encounter a rattlesnake. This one did what it was supposed to do and rattled at me. I gave it a wide berth and left it to its day.

Hat with rim covered in reflective bubble wrap. string chinstrap to keep it on in the wind.

I had been using an umbrella, but the winds in this area are pretty strong and an umbrella doesn't deal with the wind too well, so I created this thing.

2021 Update:

After a few days at home, my girlfriend drove me back to the trail. 

I hiked the 8 miles from Tehachapi Willow Springs road to Highway 58, then gave Tim, Mighty Mouse's husband, a call. He had offered to let me stay in his hotel room in Mojave and the drive me back to the trail in the morning. Since Mighty Mouse was now just a few days behind, he was up in the area supporting her when she needed resupply.

The hike between the roads was almost entirely in wind farm areas, so it was windy and hot, although the wind makes it feel cooler than it is. The moisture still gets sucked out of your body, so water is a big deal. There were a couple small water caches along the way, but I had plenty for the day, and I knew I would be getting more after 8 miles. Without resupply at the highway or the water caches it would have been 25 miles to the next water source, quite a distance when hiking in 90+ degrees without much in the way of shade. 

Ate lunch and dinner at the Mojave Cafe, a new restaurant in Mojave. Good food. If you happen to be in Mojave and hungry... 

I did encounter a rattlesnake. This one did what it was supposed to do and rattled at me. I gave it a wide berth and left it to its day.

Oh, a new piece of gear made its debut on this section.

I had been using an umbrella to keep the sun at bay just a little. Because I use hiking poles, my hands are occupied while walking, so I figured out ways of rigging the umbrella onto my backpack.

However, when it's windy, the umbrella catches the wind and is a bit of a pain, so it's not much use.

So, while I was home, I did a little thinking and put together a special hat.

I found a wide rim hat and added reflective bubble wrap to the rim. I added an adjustable string chinstrap to keep it on in the wind.

Note that since I took a few days off at home (okay, a week), Mighty Mouse is catching up! I was here on June 6, and she was here on June 10.

Photos from today: https://www.b-photo.com/Travel/PCT-2016-Day-by-Day/June/June-6/

Mighty Mouse's blog for this section: http://www.timandgerri.com/blog---2016/day-51-mile-55851-56644