PCT day 26 - mile 546 to mile 568 (Tehachapi)

"The best views are at the top of the mountains but the most growth occurs while you are climbing" Survivor.

"Do you want a joint?" Oblivious.

At 4am in the morning wind got so strong that my tent started to partially fly. It was kind of my fault as I didn't put many stakes in and only used rocks to support it (alright.. I only used one stake, haha). Situation got quite bad so I had to put my head torch on and start to pack everything without it flying off the mountain in almost complete darkness. Luckily everything survived and I learned  a valuable lesson for the future..

Since I was all packed up, I started walking as there was not much else to do.. it was actually quite nice to hike at night, all the PCT sings were glowing when I shone a head torch on them so it was easy to find the way, I will consider doing it more often in the future.

The whole path today was going through the biggest wind farm in the USA called Alta Wind Energy Centre which combined installed capacity produces 1.550MW of electricity. It was truly a sight to behold, in fact I will be still walking through it tomorrow. Don Quixote would be really confused over here.

I reached the road to Tehachapi at about 10am, on the trail register right before the road I saw Field Trips family sign in with yesterday's date! They hiked 41 miles yesterday, I met them later on in town and they said that they just collapsed in a campsite not far from that register. It was their longest day so far and today they are having well deserved day off. 

After reaching the road I tried to catch a hitchhike to town as the centre was few miles away, but soon enough trail angel called Oblivious appeared and offered me and the other hiker a ride. He dropped us outside Walmart said to call him if we want to go back to trail and offered us a joint for goodbye (cannabis is legal in California for recreational use since 2016) I took it but I probably won't smoke it, I might trade it for some other goodies if needs be. 

I resupplied at Walmart for next four days, went to Del Taco for the burrito meal after which my stomach nearly exploded (because of how big it was), then I made my way to a German bakery called 'Kohnen's Country Bakery' Oblivious recommended to us, where I got a cheesecake. Then I called him to get a ride back to trail.

I was back hiking at 3pm, narrowly missed Nugget as she ended up doing the 24 hour challenge from Hiker Town to Tehachapi. I walked few more miles and set camp just outside the town past Route 58. My only worry (other than the wind) is that the trains are running nearby and they might be honking at night which would give me Vietnam flashbacks from the night at Cajon Pass. Hopefully it will be quiet.

The Korn fans will know what's up:

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