At long last, I have completed my first major section of the trail—The Desert—and have entered The Sierra.

5/26 Today we leave Hikertown to do the LA aqueduct. Normally hiked overnight due to heat, we elect to do it in the morning instead due to unusually cold weather.

I am supposed to wake up at 3am but miss my alarm, because I wore earplugs to bed. Hikertown is loud, man. Luckily Biscoff wakes me up and waits while I scramble to pack everything. We head out around 4am. The actual aqueduct is nothing mind blowing, a metal pipe with spikes. Nearby we hear lots of dogs barking. It is cool and windy, a welcome change from days of heat. The terrain is hilly and windy—one of the largest wind farms in the world, apparently. We make it 32 miles and call it a day.

5/27 Just a scant 8 miles more and we arrive in Tehachapi. We eat breakfast at an all-american diner and take Eddie from Berlin to walmart for the first time. I buy some pretty short shorts at goodwill for $3. Now we have a tramily uniform. I eat far too much of a huge serving of pad thai, having the rest for breakfast the next day. It rains but we don’t care since we’re all warm inside the hotel.

5/28 Out of Tehachapi it’s still cold and windy, which I but Biscoff hates. I suspect he may be able to complain his way through any possible situation. I love the long switchbacked climb out, and smoke everyone up the 4,000ft incline despite my heavy pack full of food. I have officially cemented my reputation as the fastest climber around these parts. I feel proud that my relentless training on the flat NYC streets can beat decades-experienced hikers and Coloradans alike. We arrive at camp just in time to set up shelters before the rain starts coming down.

5/29 It rains overnight and I wake up soggy and miserable. I can tolerate almost any conditions… as long as I am not wet. Humidity is my nemesis. Morale is at an all time low. For once I join Biscoff in the complaining. We can’t manage a smile for a photo at mm 600. Every mile we keep saying “surely the sun will come out soon”, it doesn’t, not until around 4pm at least.

We run into Gucci from colorado who serves us hot dogs WITH cheese inside the dog, wow what an innovation. That helps morale. My feet get shredded from being wet all day. Finally in the afternoon we approach some sierra-alpine-looking terrain, and the sun comes out. I camp with Biscoff, Eddie, and Captain America, and we have great conversation over our protracted dinner as we all try to reduce the weight of our food bags. I eat a pack of ramen, two protein bars, refried beans with plantain chips parmesan cheese and cholula, tiramisu oreo thins (SO good), 2/3rds of a box of white cheddar cheez its, coconut flavored cashews, peanut butter, another protein bar, and some trail mix. It takes about 90 minutes, and I am not sure if I am hungry or full at the end.

5/30 One of the final typical desert days. We continue to cross the mojave, running into the obligatory rattlesnakes. Aside from soda from trail magic, nothing really special today. We’re all excited for the sierra, and talk about our plans for the next few weeks.

5/31 Two giant climbs today. On the second, I see my first real glimpse of the mountains ahead. The Sierra. The Promised Land. A place where water flows clear all over, moderate temperatures and sunshine abound, world-famous views pervade. Some real Ansel Adams, John Muir type shit. After almost 700 miles of desert, it seems like paradise.

Cumulonimbus clumps hang over what I know should be the peak of Mt. Whitney. There is trail magic at Walker Pass, I even get a croissant. The previous duo of me and Biscoff has merged into a tramily of 4 with Eddie and Captain America. I do wonder a little how I managed to fit into this group of men in their 30s and 40s, with careers, long term partners, life experience, that I wholly lack. But they make me feel so welcome and included at every turn, so I really shouldn’t worry. When I lose my filter this week, they make sure I always have enough fresh water to drink, letting me borrow their equipment. And there is also the fact that despite being 10-20 years my senior, all have a very youthful energy and perspective on life that makes me realize we are not so different at all.

We camp at mile 666, the home of many fire ants. My net bivvy does a good enough job but one still gets in and bites me on the butt cheek. Perfect. It stings. It hurts! But tomorrow we are leaving the desert, so I don’t even care.

6/1 As we hike out in the morning, Biscoff and I discuss water sources ahead. It’s one of the last times we’ll have this conversation. Thank god. He says he hopes the creek ahead will be flowing with gatorade. We walk five more miles. Lo and behold, a cooler of cold gatorade bottles sits 10 feet from the bank. We can’t believe our luck.

Eddie and Captain America make last minute calls to their girlfriends with the last crumbs of cell service, while Biscoff could apparently not be bothered. The final day of the desert still feels like a slog. I smoke everyone up the climb again, snow-capped mountains in the distance proving strong motivation.

6/2 We are buzzing with anticipation. Today we enter the Sierra via the legendary Kennedy Meadows South. 8 miles in the morning absolutely fly by. We alternate who leads, clocking almost 4 miles an hour the whole time.

At the general store, we receive a round of applause and cheers, as is custom. I force down as much food as possible (pancakes and burgers being about the only options). Beer abounds but we don’t partake. Biscoff only drinks nonalcoholic, and nowadays I drink chocolate milk. Recovery comes first. I need the protein. It’s so nice to have a sober friend around, especially one who likes to talk shit. In the next section, we’ll run into snow and bears, so I pick up spikes and a bear can, as well as a new filter. We spend some time planning our mileage—we will take a side trip to summit Mt. Whitney—while Eddie and Captain America do our laundry and watch some basketball.

Biscoff and I discuss gear for the 1,000th time, a topic we never tire of. We finally trade lighterpack lists (a detailed inventory of everything you’re carrying down to the gram, common among ultralight backpackers), which feels weirdly personal and intimate despite already having seen most of what each other is carrying. We give each other a shakedown. With a heavy bear can, we want to reduce our load in other ways, by any and all means necessary. We both ditch our CNOCs (temporarily, while water is everywhere in the Sierra) along with a few other minor things. Not much weight saved, but that is more a testament to how obsessive we are about this stuff already.

For the next few weeks, I will be in the High Sierra. I will make an attempt to climb Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states. I will also be attempting some sections of the Sierra High Route, which is parallel to the PCT, but crosses raw terrain. No trail at all. You make your own path. Lauded as much more scenic, but also more rugged and remote than the official PCT/JMT in this area, I am excited to try my hand at cross-country travel again. Hikers I respect and admire almost universally discuss the high route as a spiritually transcendental experience. While it doesn’t cross into mountaineering territory, on the high route my pace will be dramatically slowed, from 25-30 miles a day to maybe 10-15. I don’t fully know what to expect but feel like I should take advantage of this historically low snow year to attempt it while it is accessible so early in the season. Worst case I will bail back to the official trail.

I’ll do my best to take lots of pictures and keep you guys updated. There is no cell service for the next few weeks so you can send me a message at share.garmin.com/eign password COLDBREW.

Best,

MAC

Milk&Cigarettes

Repair of the week — I have two. Both mine and Biscoff’s pole tips got fucked. To replace them, stick the tips in boiling water for 10-30 seconds and remove with pliers. Put on new tips and pound against the ground a few times, no glue needed.

Eddie’s Gossamer Gear pack (not known for their durability…) ripped a huge hole that I sewed up with some MARA poly thread, hopefully enough to get him to the next place that stocks good packs.