Friday, April 26, 2019 – 13 miles
I started walking at 6:15 AM to complete the climb during the cooler part of the day.
After about five miles, the trail left the wind farm and the scenery improved. The high point of the Tehachapi Mountains had lovely campsites within pinyon pines, and a trail angel was stationed nearby with water and fruit. I felt guilty for not stopping since he seemed to want to socialize (I did chat briefly) and I had seen no other hikers for awhile, but I met a hiker heading NOBO only ten minutes later. Distribution of NOBO hikers is in clumps – you hit a big group that camped at the last water source, then a speckling.
The scenery was glorious during the descent to Gamble Spring Canyon. Slicing through a carpet of flowers, the trail offered views out across the flat low desert with rectangles of solar panels.
I had enough water to camp before Tylerhorse Canyon so I stopped at Gamble Spring Canyon, but the defined tent site wasn’t as sheltered as I would have liked. Exploring the canyon in search of a different spot, I ended up in a flattish spot that seemed sheltered until the wind picked up. I had difficulty sleeping last night because of the heat and noisy wind turbines, so give me a break, wind.
