We’d heard a lot of news about the section from Tehachapi to Walker Pass. Rumors of extreme heat, very long water carries, and having to rely on water cached by trail angels along the way. We’d also heard that 10 hikers had been rescued from that section in the last week. In light of these reports, 3 of us decided to skip ahead to Walker Pass, Ninja was keen to give it a go so he headed out at about 4 am.

We caught a 9 am bus to the town of Mojave to get started. The ride was about 25 minutes and took us east of Tehachapi into some real flat, arid desert.

Our second bus takes us about an hour and a half north to Inyokern. We drive through desert canyons with rock formations on both sides of the road. The road here is straight out of the movies, dead straight for miles and miles with heat shimmering off the surface.

When we get dropped off, we are in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know how hot it is, but it’s intense, must be over 40°C, 104°F (at the very least). We hide in a small patch of shade near an abandoned restaurant, and wait an hour and a half for our next bus. Luckily there’s a mechanic over the road who let us use their water, and a shop around the corner with cold drinks.

Our third bus takes us about 15 minutes back toward where we came from, then up to Walker Pass. About 10 hikers pile out of the bus, a lot of them are familiar faces who I remember from weeks ago. We’ve skipped 83 miles, 133 km of trail, now only 3 – 4 days from Kennedy Meadows and the end of the desert.

The trail climbs very quickly from the road and we’re soon back in the mountains of the desert. We climb for 5 miles before reaching a campsite on the leeside of a saddle. We’re sheltered from the wind, but we can hear it roaring just above our heads.

I’ve packed out a steak, an onion, and some of the Matua sav in a plastic bottle. I cook everything up, using the wine with the onions just like I learned on San Jacinto. After a big dinner I head to bed, hoping the wind doesn’t change direction and flatten our camp.