Vasquez Rocks, Agua Dulce
Photo Cred: Saskia aka Fresh
Day 32 • May 19th • Mile 477.06
Hiker Heaven to Really Random Spot
Movin' Right Along
After 2ish days of stagnancy, while fun, it sure does feel good to be moving again! Long stretch ahead, reportedly without water, but we found lots! [We've been super spoiled this year with the snow melt from the High Sierra... it'll probably come back to bite us later. *eek!*]
Enjoyed a game of "Contact" with T-LO (The Little One's preferred more-bad-ass trail name), Flow and Cougar Bait. It reminded me of our students at Blue Ridge who used to play this game all the time. Then I had no idea what was going on. Now I get it! Haha.
Stopped for lunch in the shade and then again shortly there after as it grew VERY hot. Began to think that this shining shimmering blue lake in the distance might be a mirage. It might as well have been, just out of reach... so tempting to move in its direction [Discovered later from a couple who took a "detour" to the lake that it was in fact inaccessible... so there you have it, it wasn't "real" after all.]
Because of a "lucky" water source, with a very slow trickle (not so lucky), I fell behind my friends and wound up hiking later in the evening to catch them up. But I was reminded how much I LOVE hiking after 5pm. The light just gets soooo lovely. This slowed me down a bit more as I stopped to take several photos.
I caught up to some of the crew just as it was getting good. They had stopped just before the path continued around the mountain to gain a full view of the sunset! So I decided I would like to continue to enjoy that and wound up walking into the night. [First PCT solo night hike!] This night I needed no headlamp, just Billy Joel.
Things grew a bit complicated when I realized that there were ZERO spots to camp nearer and nearer the road, which I did not want to hit tonight. [The trail was cut into the side of a pretty steep incline.] I ended up finding an ok spot by climbing up a slippery sand slope to get to a place where I could level out a strip long enough for just my body. I actually feel quite proud of my little carved out spot on the side of the mountain. Solo camping tonight and lovin' it! Song of the Day - Movin' Out, Billy Joel WELL. I had an interesting night. As soon as I started to settle down a cry which sounded a bit like a cross between a pissed wart hog and a cat choking on a hair ball erupted from the bush next to me! I stood up in my tiny spot ready to defend myself and realized that whatever it was (probably a fox or marmot) was moving down the mountain and away from me. I figured, it just wanted to make it known that I was in his zone! It happened again at 2am, so needless to say I had a pretty restless night. And when a fly would not leave me alone in the morning I was up and at'em pretty early too...
Day 33 • May 20th • Mile 478.36 Really Random Spot to Casa de Luna The Hotel California Because I was up so early and within a mile of the road I hit the road at 6:42am and Terry Anderson was there dropping off hikers! So I got a ride back to Casa de Luna no problem. I was excited to be headed there so early, as I'd heard rumors of pancakes and coffee. Sure 'nuff as I arrived Jo Anderson was flippin' pancakes in the kitchen! I asked him, and I can't remember, but he turns over some ridiculous amount each day. I thought I'd just be hangin' for the day then outta there, but I got sucked in hard core. It started when Terry was asking folks to do a little jig for the 2017 PCT HIKER bandana and when I jumped up to dance she shot me down, "oh you're stayin.'" Then when Jo was done serving everyone pancakes a few of us had the incredible honor of being invited to join him for disc golf. First time I've ever "seriously" played, and it was not serious at all, but a lot of fun... I went 21 over par.
True to the tales, things got a bit wild that night, but with great people I just joined in on the fun! We played lawn games into the night: cat walk, charades, musical chairs, disc golf, limbo, etc. Good good times.
Song of the Day - Hotel California, The Eagles
Day 34 • May 21st • Mile 494.22
Casa de Luna to Rando via the "Avo Alt" thru the "Lake District"
"The Avo Alt."
Great day. Started with a shower, which was heavenly, then pancakes and coffee. I painted a rock for the collection in the forest in the Anderson's back yard.
I think I am getting better at determining what it is that I want out of this trail. [I have said that I am walking from Mexico to Canada, but before this day I still struggled to let go of the mentality I had on the AT of always sticking to the trail... this is a different experience for sure. I don't think I'd want to always stick to this trail, there are too many interesting side trips. For example,]
Took an "unnecessary" alternate route today to explore some lakes and friendship. Met this couple, Avo and Gabs, who've done SoCal enough times that they've decided to go on many "alternate" routes and some of them are pretty cool!
Today's "Avo Alt." Was going to start on a fire detour from last year. The section has opened up again, but there is a lake on the detour and in this heat, having recently experienced the torture of the lake mirage... I decided I would go for it and visit "The Lakes," since I'd still be connecting my footsteps and would have plenty of opportunities to reconnect with the PCT.
Well, unfortunately the lakes were a bit of a flop. Not really swimable... at least, not as tempting once we saw them. But on the way to Lakes I enjoyed connecting with Gabs and groovin' to Billy Joel and Lake Street Dive!
At lunch time we found a picnic table in the shade and a pretty cool thing happened. Sweet lady Suzan, who'd been driving by and saw us, came to see if we were PCT hikers and if we wanted anything from a bake sale down the road? Well, of course! And she was kind enough to bring us muffins and cookies and lemonade with ice too! After lunch we walked to a Biker Bar with live music. Pretty neat! Then Avo and the gang [which I am now calling the Five Star Crew: Avo, Gabs, Cougar Bait, Fresh, Five Star, Trench Star] were planning to shoot for a poppy farm, which sounded pretty cool!! But it would cut out all of the Mojave Desert... and since I have not done the PCT before, I decided to return to the trail to suffer.. *wink*
In the end it was a very short detour for me. It actually made me feel good to be striking out on my own again. I miss the folks I leave and I never really want to, but then once I'm on my own again everything seems fine... mostly. I'm comfortable with it I guess. Alleen maar toch niet alleen. Song of the Day - Say You Love Me, Fleetwood Mac
Day 35 • May 22nd • Mile 526.14 Rando to somewhere along the aqueduct... "The Adequate Pipe"/Beat the Heat!/500 Miles/Longest Day to Date
Lots of milestones today! Started out with the 500 mile marker, which means I've done approximately one Camino and have about one Appalachian Trail to go... Wahoo!
Very tough, very hot day. Hiked on thru the heat of the day to just get this desert section over with. Met some folks at Hiker Town [Flow, Xtra-Tuff and Mandy] after having done 23 miles, downed a Coke and a Gatorade, then set out to night hike the aqueduct.
Covered 32 miles of ground today. That's my longest time yet with a backpack! Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepplin and of course more Billy Joel were helpful in pulling me thru the day and all of the night! 🎶 Music boost my energy and soul. What started as a hot and buggy trudge quickly became a hop skip and a dance down the trail. (Tho perhaps it's because the floor was lava... actually.)
Song of the Day - Kashmir, Led Zepplin
[A most incredible sunset over the LA Aqueduct!]
Slept on top of one of the cement adeduct roofs? White noise from the water all night...
Day 36 • May 23rd • Mile 553.5
Aqueduct to Rando Cowboy Camp
Bridge Day
Woken by the stirring of my ambitious aqueduct roofmates around 4:30am. And glad I was too, cause it got HOT fast! 3 more miles before 7am put me @ 35 miles within a 24hr period! BOOM! I promptly found a bridge with shade and passed out. "Chilled" (not even close to chilly, but whatever) for 6hrs. I've never been that still during the day, but this had to be the hottest day of the week!
When I could no longer stand the constantly creeping sun, I pulled outta there. I was just aching to move on. Dunked my hair and long sleeved T in the faucet before walking back out into the heat... they were totally dry in 30 mins. At the next water source (and the last reliable before Tehachapi) I replenished my supply and had dinner. Then I continued walking into the night...
As the sun went down I could see the pretty lights of some town off in the distance. They looked much closer than they were. On this trail, one is always experiencing the "pier effect." As in, "let's just walk to the pier" and then the pier never gets any closer...
The windmills I'd been walking under all day had flashing red lights now, sorta like Christmas lights on the mountains! And I nearly tripped over a handful of desert gerbils who kept leaping out into the light of my headlamp. Finally crashed after midnight... less than 13 miles to Tehachapi.
Song of the Day - Reaper, Sia [this was actually a motivating song of the next morning, but since it was after midnight when I crashed...]
Day 37 • May 24th • Mile 566.44
Rando Cowboy Camp to Tehachapi
Halfway thru the Mojave Dessert... Stay tuned for Vol. 2
Set an early alarm despite my late night to beat the heat into Tehachapi. Woke up to a sunrise with stars still in it. Sia drove me through the rest of the windmills, remembering Spain... a particular moment when I had put on her album "This is Acting" to get thru a long stretch of dirt road with an aching achilles. By the end of it, I was basking and dancing cheerfully along the sunlit way. Fond memories!
Found some Juniper, which made me smile as it is one of many pet names my parents had given me and I'd never seen/touched it in person! Oh! and I found some poppies too, so turns out I didn't miss out on much not taking the "Avo Alt." to the poppy farm. Except maybe my friends. I missed them.
Reunited in town, I enjoyed a relaxing Nero (left myself a bunch of things to take care of the next day, but oh well!) Went to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with some stellar people! The thing I love most about those films is the GOOD MUSIC.
Song of the Day - The Chain, Fleetwood Mac
[HWY 58 between Mojave and Tehachapi: The alleged sign from the movie Wild! This is where Cheryl Strayed started her journey... that's crazy!!!!]
