April 28

April 28 Leaving Tehachapi. Manuel, our trail angel picked us up--we treated him to coffee and pastries. We were on the trail at 1040, mile 566. We got as far as mile 586, camping on a saddle, which had enough trees to hammock camp.
April 29 Walking to Robin Bird Spring, another Rattlesnake two miles before Hamp Williams Pass. Hot walking until we got past the spring, when the land turned into Sierra Nevada pine forests with trails covered with pine needles, huge boulders and broad spaces. I hammock camped again!
April 30. Back down to the desert, disappointing all. Hot until a thin cloud veil filtered the sun, and hot again when the clouds blew away. Goldilocks moved slower and even stopped to keep from overheating. Epic and Willow went to Willow Spring, "I was told not to trust in the cache." Rattlesnake made its warning on my way over the rolling Sandy trail to the cache.
At least 50 gallons of water remained at Bird Spring Pass. A Mojave Green rattler had made a casual appearance. Six more miles hiking into the night brought us into the forest again. Cowboy camp at 9 p.m. No time to fuss with the hammock.
Hitching into Onyx or Lake Isabella took a long time. After 30 minutes one hiker friendly driver.
After getting three of five packages at Onyx, no rides after 20 minutes.  Kern County Bus came, charged a dollar and took me to Lake Isabella. The bus passed a lot of dying places.
Vons is now also Safeway here. It has everything. Tortoise again appeared, again offering to carry boxes to Kennedy Meadows. We accepted.