Pacific Crest Trail: Mojave: Day 1: Oak Creek Canyon

Pacific Crest Trail

Day 1: Mile 558 to Mile 548

Big menu.

Very homey inside.

The Big Breakfast.

Bacon was okay, potatoes were nicely crispy, eggs were utterly ordinary, and turkey sausage was gross.

Spicy polenta with chicken.

Unassuming outside except for the crowd.

2015 Chevy Malibu 2.5 LT. Baseball leather + fake grey wood + fake aluminum = too many different textures.

Parked by the Cottonwood Creek Bridge, placing water cache.

Booting up Cody.

Starting our southbound hike, PCT mile 558 at Oak Creek (Oak Creek Road/Tehachapi Willow Springs Road).

Ascending up the ridge forming Oak Creek Canyon.

Oak Creek Road looks so flat.

Cattle trough has been dry the past few years.

Beyond the burned out area, hordes of wind turbines.

More burn.

Making ramen by headlamp at the water cache/campsite at Mile 548.

Yum yum, Mountain House Mexican Rice and Beans with chicken. Ok not really yum.

Starting 3 days and 40 miles of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) in the Mojave with Travis and Cody. Transverse Ranges (Tehachapi Mountains) the first two days, then into the western edge of the Mojave and south to (almost) connect with the Southern California Section of the PCT.

The first day was driving around pre-positioning a water cache at Cottonwood Creek Bridge (not to mention traffic up I-5), then up to Tehachapi Willow Springs Road and Oak Creek Road to do ten miles along Oak Creek Canyon.

Had some adventures with some "private" roads that weren't so great, but things worked out, and the terrain is lovely on this side of the mountains. Despite some areas being burned, t'was still very pretty, and the massive wind turbines everywhere were an experience. Made good time for our abbreviated hike of 10 miles (started at mile 558), setup camp at a beautifully maintained cache at mile 548, and had a damned good day for a beautiful hike.

Can't forget brunch with Frances before heading out-- Bru's Wiffle in Santa Monica was surprisingly ordinary despite the hype; strongly recommend sticking to the waffle and avoiding the rest.