Greetings from Tehachapi, CA at the northern end of the Mojave desert. We are around mile marker 558 for BR and MC, and 151 for Emily and me (Steiner). It's been an eventful first week and a half on the trail. Since leaving Agua Dulce, CA, we stopped for the night in Lancaster, CA at Hikertown, which is a miniature Western town. (We will post photos, since a verbal description does not do it justice).
The night before Tehachapi, we camped 10 miles out, just past some private property on the PCT. Town relationships have not been great, since the trail was covered with "NO TRESPASSING" signs. We had also heard (possibly false) rumors of booby traps in the section. Don't worry, we didn't find any booby traps.
We did walk through an enormous wind farm on the way in, which makes perfect sense. This was by far the windiest section of the trail we have seen so far. By 10:30am, we reached Tehachapi Willow Springs Rd. We waited a few minutes for Moosie, who was right behind us, and the three of us started hitching. We restyled our hair to look less threatening, and hitched into town with a woman and her daughter who were headed to the Super K in Tehachapi. Great company and conversation.
We settled in at the Best Western Mountain Inn (highly recommended), and took a stroll through town. We found Barrel Roll and El Presidente walked by a local scrapbooking store. BR mentioned that the scrapbooking store had a thruhiker special, where we could make a greeting card to send home.
We stopped in and met Kathi Hinkle, and a few other ladies, and settled in for the Crafternoon (name courtesy of Naomi Goldstein). We were given fifteen minutes of instructions, 2 blank greeting cards, access to hundreds of rubber stamps, and asked to unleash our inner scrapbooking demons.
Kathi put on disc 2 of the malt shop series, and we doowopped the afternoon away.
Just another day on the PCT. We'll post photos soon.
Showing posts with label mojave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mojave. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Guy Smiley & the rattlesnake
A day or two out of Green Valley (Casa de Luna), Emily and I were hiking on the shoulder of a mountain. We run into the human incarnation of Guy Smiley, dressed head to toe in khaki polypro. He had a safari vibe--the broad brimmed hat, and coordinated shorts and shirt combination. He saw us potential damsels in distress, and called out, "ladies, there's a snake!". We pull up, and peer around the curve. We see a small green rattlesnake coiled in the center of the trail.
The trail fell away steeply to the left and right. Guy mentioned the rattlesnake had slid down the slope on to the trail, furiously rattling all the while. He theorized that sliding down the slope had enraged the rattlesnake, who he kept calling "the little guy". My rattlesnake experience has been limited*. Guy Smiley decides to be gallant, and see if the rattlesnake is still angry. The snake has been rattling the entire time we've been talking to Guy, so, yes, I think the snake is still angry.
Guy, grabs Emily's hiking pole, pokes at the snake, then jumps over it. The snake jumps up at Guy, misses, and then falls, rattling and coiled in the trail. Great. We're here for another 20 minutes until the rattlesnake settles down. I decide to walk a big circle around the snake, sliding down the hill, and I manage to pass both the snake and Guy who are locked in a mortal staredown.
At this point, Emily still needs to pass, and Guy and the snake are still in between the both of us. My preferred method of non-interaction definitely worked. Emily was about to pass the snake, also by walking a big circle around it. However, Guy decides to take matters into his own hands.
He takes Emily's hiking pole, and quickly flings the snake fifteen feet into a nearby tree. (Emily: It reminded me of pick up sticks). I have never heard such rattling. The rattlesnake was dangling from a tree, rattling its little heart out. The sheer force of its rattling actually dislodged it from the tree, and it kept rattling. I had a vision of the snake slithering up the hill towards us, so Emily and took off in the other direction.
Guy wanted to hike along, but we thought we were better off without his snake handling skills.
Moral of the story: Kids, don't throw rattlesnakes into trees. That only makes them angry.
(Current rattlesnake training*:
- If you see a snake, walk a big circle around it
- If you get bitten, get help
- If you get bitten by a Mojave Green, pray for your loved ones; you have 30 minutes to live)
The trail fell away steeply to the left and right. Guy mentioned the rattlesnake had slid down the slope on to the trail, furiously rattling all the while. He theorized that sliding down the slope had enraged the rattlesnake, who he kept calling "the little guy". My rattlesnake experience has been limited*. Guy Smiley decides to be gallant, and see if the rattlesnake is still angry. The snake has been rattling the entire time we've been talking to Guy, so, yes, I think the snake is still angry.
Guy, grabs Emily's hiking pole, pokes at the snake, then jumps over it. The snake jumps up at Guy, misses, and then falls, rattling and coiled in the trail. Great. We're here for another 20 minutes until the rattlesnake settles down. I decide to walk a big circle around the snake, sliding down the hill, and I manage to pass both the snake and Guy who are locked in a mortal staredown.
At this point, Emily still needs to pass, and Guy and the snake are still in between the both of us. My preferred method of non-interaction definitely worked. Emily was about to pass the snake, also by walking a big circle around it. However, Guy decides to take matters into his own hands.
He takes Emily's hiking pole, and quickly flings the snake fifteen feet into a nearby tree. (Emily: It reminded me of pick up sticks). I have never heard such rattling. The rattlesnake was dangling from a tree, rattling its little heart out. The sheer force of its rattling actually dislodged it from the tree, and it kept rattling. I had a vision of the snake slithering up the hill towards us, so Emily and took off in the other direction.
Guy wanted to hike along, but we thought we were better off without his snake handling skills.
Moral of the story: Kids, don't throw rattlesnakes into trees. That only makes them angry.
(Current rattlesnake training*:
- If you see a snake, walk a big circle around it
- If you get bitten, get help
- If you get bitten by a Mojave Green, pray for your loved ones; you have 30 minutes to live)
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