The hike down to Walker Pass was uneventful, other than meeting a couple of southbounders who told me they had seen OffKilter hitching into Lake Isabella. He was still there when I got to the pass, and we had a chance to catch up, and for me to bid him good luck on the rest of the hike as I was hitching in the opposite direction.
I soon got a ride from a nice couple who grow greenhouse tomatoes in Inyokern. My plan was to get a motel room there, and take the bus to Lancaster the next morning. However, it turns out that there are no motels in Inyokern, so I hitched a ride to Ridgecrest, 9 miles farther east, planning to hitch back the next morning.
Ridgecrest is pretty spread out, and as I walked the mile to the nearest bar & grille I realized that I was having a hard time walking. Not because my feet were sore, although they were, but because I had forgotten how to walk without a pack and trekking poles. I felt totally unnatural and awkward just walking down the street, having to think about how I was swinging my arms and legs and landing my feet. I probably walked about a million steps in getting from Idyllwild to Walker. Except for town stops, I rarely walked more than a hundred feet from my pack, and most days not even that. My walking stride had become completely reset to that of a load-bearing quadruped.
There was a rental car place across the street from the EconoLodge, and it turned out I could rent a car one-way to Ontario for only $71, so I did that rather than the hitchike-bus-train route that I had planned. I detoured through Lake Hughes, offering rides and cold sodas to the dozen or so hikers I passed. No one wanted a ride, but they all appreciated the sodas.
So I have been back in civilization a week now, and seem to be getting used to it. Having a bed and not being filthy are nice. I will have to stop eating the fatty and sugary foods that I indulged myself with at town stops. And walking without a pack is finally starting to seem normal again.
I’ve reunited with my wife, daughters and dog and will be seeing daughter #2 graduate from Pitzer College tomorrow, then it’s back to domestic life in Boulder. However, as much as I am glad to be with my family, I do miss being on the trail.
But that is the wrong attitude. Even if it was only a section hike, I’ve had a rare adventure – one that few people ever get to have, and one that I have been wanting to have for decades. I’ve gotten that rarest of things in life, a second chance. I started out 38 years ago at Walker Pass, and had a chance to come back and touch that part of my life again. It’s not too often you get to do something like that, and not be disappointed.
So despite my desire to keep hiking, what I mainly feel is gratitude: gratitude that I am still physically able to do a hike like this; gratitude that the PCT exists, and for the community that sustains it; and gratitude that I have a wife who is willing to accept that her 57 year old husband is still somewhat a 10 year old boy who wants nothing more than to wander off into the wilderness.
Last view of Sierras before heading down, mi 648