The Desert

Campo - Kennedy Meadows
~700 total miles
Image

Sections A - F
It's impossible to sum up the whole desert section in one sentence. At the beginning, I was excited and every experience was new. I even found the wind kind of fun. I wondered about the different style of wind turbine I was passing. By the end of Section E, I was pretty much over the wind and the heat. I just coped with it.
The Not-So-Good Stuff
Getting sick at I-10 for a couple of days was pretty bad. But walking away from Mum and Lachlan to hike up a canyon wall outside Tehachapi in 100° heat was really hard. Dad never complains about anything really, so seeing him hurting from blisters on the way into Idyllwild... I got a bit scared. The only time I felt demoralized was in Big Bear when our resupply got stuffed up (otherwise Big Bear was a really nice place).
The Really Cool Stuff

People! Trail angels, other hikers, townsfolk who treated us like rockstars even though we were tired, filthy, and probably not smelling nice. Cowboy camping was awesome. It didn't rain this entire section and our stuff didn't get wet, not even from dew. We even sent our tarp home. Whitewater, Deep Creek, Silverwood Lake, South Fork Kern River... every time we could get into the water was special. Climbing Baden-Powell was a highlight, as was walking into Kennedy Meadows to a hero's ovation. Thanks, all! 🙂

The Desert

Campo - Kennedy Meadows
~700 total miles
Image
Sections A - F
A:       104M     Campo - Warner Springs
B:         88M     Warner Springs - Whitewater (I-10)
C:       132M     I-10 - Cajon Pass (I-15)
D:       112M     I-15 - Agua Dulce
E:       110M     Agua Dulce - Tehachapi
F:        82M     Tehachapi - Kennedy Meadows
It's impossible to sum up the whole desert section in one sentence. At the beginning, I was excited and every experience was new. I even found the wind kind of fun. I wondered about the different style of wind turbine I was passing. By the end of Section E, I was pretty much over the wind and the heat. I just coped with it.
The Not-So-Good Stuff
Getting sick at I-10 for a couple of days was pretty bad. But walking away from Mum and Lachlan to hike up a canyon wall outside Tehachapi in 100° heat was really hard. Dad never complains about anything really, so seeing him hurting from blisters on the way into Idyllwild... I got a bit scared. The only time I felt demoralized was in Big Bear when our resupply got stuffed up (otherwise Big Bear was a really nice place).
The Really Cool Stuff
People! Trail angels, other hikers, townsfolk who treated us like rockstars even though we were tired, filthy, and probably not smelling nice. Cowboy camping was awesome. It didn't rain this entire section and our stuff didn't get wet, not even from dew. We even sent our tarp home. Whitewater, Deep Creek, Silverwood Lake, South Fork Kern River... every time we could get into the water was special. Climbing Baden-Powell was a highlight, as was walking into Kennedy Meadows to a hero's ovation. Thanks, all! 🙂