Day 43 05/07 Deathmarch

Mileage: 37.8
Camp: 534.6

I woke up around nine o'clock, in no rush. Seems like I always get the best sleep once the sun comes up.
I broke camp and hunted down that water tank. It wasn't in the bushes or just off the trail, I ended up having to go up one of those OHV roads and turn down another. I lifted the steel plate lid off and filled up with three liters. I made sure I used the steripen this time; I'd read of mice and squirrels falling in this one.
The water had an off taste to it, but it's what I had. Can't be picky in the desert.
I hit 500 after a few miles and there was actually a sign this time!
I was kind of sad I didn't have to make one out of rocks.
Finally the trail started to descend!
Down, down, down I went all afternoon until finally I hit the flats. The trail almost disappeared into picturesque fields of wild grasses. Sometimes I just had to head the general direction I knew I was going.
I got to the Hikertown Hostel at mile 518.4 just after 6:00pm. This would have been a great place to end the day, but this is where I believed Dan and Joe's day began.
Plus I had skipped the Anderson's to catch up with them. I couldn't stop now.
I walked inside the gate and rang the bell like the sign said. No one came out. I filled up my water reservoir at the spigot and continued on.
The sun began to set as I got to the aqueduct. Thank God. That meant I got to walk dirt roads for the next 20 miles or so. Normally, that would mean you'd bake alive and you'd be cursing it. But for me it would be night. That meant a wide, stone-free path, generally even flat.
I walked until well after dark. I sat against the giant iron aqueduct pipe (the only wind shelter) and cooked my dinner. I had a guest, a beggar kangaroo rat that stayed just out of the light from my headlamp but never more than a yard away.
Soon I was walking again.
The moon came up, an hour later than normal. It gradually went from orange to white as it rose higher in the sky.
I walked. And walked. And walked some more.
I'd always wondered how far I could go in a day.. How long I could hike.
Tonight I'd get to put myself to the test.
Everything takes on a sinister costume in the night- a tree or a bush can look like a person or a piece of rope a snake. I even came up on some cows in the middle of the night and couldn't tell what they were until I was right on the other side of a fence and they were staring me in the face.
They seemed just as surprised to see me.
Hours went by and I continued on. I finally began to see the giant wind turbines above me. Every once in a while a breeze would blow and one of the giant blades would turn and let out a metallic groan that would catch me off guard and echo for miles.
At 2:30am I passed what looked like a bag of trash in the bushes on the side of the road.
I had a weird feeling, so I turned on my headlamp (I'd been hiking without it to save battery) to see.
I jumped. It was a body!
Finally I had caught Dan.
Cocooned in his black mummy bag he was sound asleep. I was so ready to quit for the night but I didn't wanna wake him up and scare the hell out of him at two thirty in the morning so I kept walking. My feet screamed at me to stop. Every step made them throb and ache in pain but I kept going. I was almost to a small bridge where there was supposed to be a water spigot when I heard a pack of coyotes screaming and crying up ahead.
It made my blood run cold.
Any of you who ever grew up with coyotes or had them around your neighborhood know the horrible sound of them catching their prey. One two of them isn't bad. They'll run from you. But five or six of them? They can take down a deer. They're vicious in a pack.
I could hear them just around the corner ahead. At least five or more, screaming and howling. They'd definitely caught something and were in a frenzy. I didn't wanna walk into that, so at 3:30am I laid down my mat a quarter mile short of my goal and knocked out. I was happy with how far I'd come.
The water would have to wait til morning.
If it was even there.

Day 42 05/06 Hot Hot Hills

Mileage: 20.8
Camp: 496.8

Man it was hot today. I woke up sweating. I had made camp right on the trail up on the side of a mountain. I was fully exposed in the sunlight so I packed up and ate while on the move.
Eventually the trail ascended into more wooded area and I had a little shade. I was cooling off and moving at a pretty good pace when I walked around a corner and nearly had a heart attack. Some animal- some thing- was in the bushes. Something I didn't recognize. For half a second it scared me, it was like a gnome or something.
As soon as I could see it clearly it was obvious it was a doll.
A creepy ass doll.
Who would hide it in the bushes?
I saw a ton of tracks today. I see deer tracks a lot now, and so don't take many pictures of them, but the mountain lion tracks are still pretty impressive.
I actually met someone restocking a water cache today! What is the timing of that! Kind of cool that I got to thank them in person. Thanks Kimberly Powell Flores! If there was no water there, that section would have been horrible.
I hiked again until about nine o'clock. I came to the intersection of four dirt OHV roads high in the mountains after dark.
It was pretty windy, just windy enough that I was having second thoughts about cowboy camping. There was nowhere up here to tuck out of the wind.
There was supposed to be a big concrete fire tank up here with water, but I couldn't find it anywhere. It was way too dark. It would have to wait til morning, I had enough to last til then.
I set up my tent and was staring at the stars. I hadn't been there three minutes when one of the biggest spiders I've ever seen crawls up the mesh on my tent and over my face.
Inches away.
It had to be a tarantula but it kind of looked like the wolf spiders we used to have back in Tenneseee when I was a kid.
I roll to get my camera and turn back and the thing is GONE. I hurriedly checked the zippers on my tent to make sure they were closed. I definitely had no regrets on setting up my tent tonight.
God, I wonder what crawls on me when I don't?
I don't wanna know.

Tommorrow, I'm thinking about going for it. Going all out. Try to catch Joe and Dan.
Dan had a day on me, Joe more than two. Now, according to the registers they're only a day ahead.
I think it's possible.
Tommorrow, deathmarch.

Day 41 05/05 Cinco de Mayo

Day 41 05/05 Cinco de Mayo

Mileage: 21.1
Camp: 476

I cleaned up my stuff at the Saufley's and got ready to go. I was taking my time. I was gonna miss this place. What hiker wouldn't? The Saufleys had displayed such hospitality that it truly lives up to the name Hiker Heaven. It reminded me a little bit of home. I think everyone who comes through there sees home in some way.
I double checked to see if I left anything and said bye to the two other hikers there, Orange Ranger and Pockets.
I knew I'd see them again somewhere North.
I don't think the Saufleys were up yet when I left. I said goodbye to the horses as I went out the back gate.
I walked the mile into town and ate at the Sweetwater Cafe. I had a very good breakfast before I left-two eggs, hash browns, 4 strips of bacon and huge biscuits and gravy all for $8.49!
I was sad to leave.
I walked the trail out of town past ranches and horse corrals, and the occasional small farm with a mini ghost town on it. It's so cool to see all of the vintage gas pumps and signs around.
The day was hot but as I rose into the hills, the wind picked up and it would dry the sweat in seconds.
I went around mountain after mountain, the trail winding like a dusty snake in the chaparral and manzanita.

Near sunset I came across the famous Anderson's cache. I hadn't expected much because I'd heard it was empty. Boy was I surprised. They must have just stocked it. It was like a hidden kid's fort in the bushes, except replace all the toy guns and stick swords with beer and lawn chairs.
There must have been 50 gallons of water there, along with soda of all kinds and over 50 beers. I took two beers for later and moved on, I wanted to get a little further tonight.

I took a break as the sun went down. I watched the sky change colors while I ate dinner. Then I hiked on into the night. The trail was wide and easy to follow through the darkness. I rose higher and higher into the hills as it got gradually darker. I walked until about 9:30pm, when I started to see a glow behind the mountains. This was it.
I stopped and laid down my footprint and got ready to cowboy camp.
I cracked open one of the beers as the moon rose crested over the mountainside and lit everything like it was daylight.
Tonight the moon was closer than it's been in years. It appeared huge in the sky, like you could reach out and touch it. It won't be this close again until the 70's.
The 2070's.
I drank my two beers as I watched the moon rise. Luckily the night kept the Natty Ice cold.
Happy Cinco de Mayo to me.

Day 37-40 05/01-04 Comin' Thru

05/01
Mileage: 24
Camp: 424.8

Ive been moving pretty decently these last couple days. It's been nice hiking alone. I'm not seeing many day hikers at all. In the solitude of the forest I have nothing but the wind on the mountain to listen to.

I'm really tired at night now. It's like as soon as I'm done eating I wanna knock out and it's hard to keep my eyes open. I'm usually already in the bag while I'm cooking because of the cold nights. As soon as I'm full, it's lights out.
These mountains have been really pretty.Even the burned areas have their own creepy character. It's always kind of like seeing the skeleton of a forest that used to be. I had no idea how much wilderness area is this close to L.A.! It's hard to think that Hollywood is probably twenty or thirty miles as the crow flies. It might as well be a million.

05/02
Mileage: 20
Camp: 444.8

8:00am
So there's a KOA campground twenty miles from here. Why is that important, you ask? Because in that campground, there's a miniature store. And in that store, they sell FOOD. The trail notes even say there's ice cream. It doesn't even matter, I'll eat whatever's there! I only have the bad food left. I'm gonna pack up and move out.

10:00am
There's this new problem here in these old burn areas, a plant called poodledog brush. Its a resinous plant that if you rub against it has the potential to rash and blister horribly. Thing is, it can happen up to ten days later. Apparently it puts some people in the hospital. I'm trying to go fast but it's infested with this stuff here. I spend alot of time weaving through it, but it's impossible not to touch. Im Wearing long pants and keeping my sleeves down though. I should be ok. What I'm really worried about is I won't make it in time before the store closes.
3:00pm
Met a trail crew. They think the store's open til 9:00pm to serve the people in campers who live there. Nice!
5:45pm
I got off the PCT and practically ran the half mile or so down the road to the KOA.
I didn't make it. :( I stood there staring at the door to the shop, devastated.
There's food on the other side of that door.
And I can't have it til morning.
So frustrating.
I'm about to find a place to camp when I meet this guy, I think his name was John Coburn. He'd hiked parts of the trail before and was out to hike the section I just did with his dog. They were camped nearby.
Having hiked on the PCT John probably had a pretty good idea of what was going through my mind when he walked up and saw me staring through the glass door of the closed convenience store.
He offered me quesadillas and an ice cold Sierra Nevada pale ale. He even paid the $5 thru hiker rate for me to sleep there that night, because I had no cash and would have had to hike back to the trail!
Talk about true trail magic. Thanks for making a bad night pretty good, John. I'll make sure I pay it forward.

05/03-04
Mileage: 10.1
Camp: 454.9

John and his dog left early in the morning. I woke up in my tent when he said goodbye but I didn't feel like I had thanked him enough, I was half asleep. Really nice guy.
I got to sleep on grass last night, that's so unusual. You never see grass on the PCT like the grass in towns.
I packed my camp before the store opened and waited patiently in anticipation. Ok maybe crazily in anticipation. I felt like a fiend outside of Walmart on black Friday at 3:59am.
As soon as those doors open...
GO!
Snickers. Check. Gatorade, check. Fast breaks. Grab 'em. No Oreos. Damn. Chips Ahoy! That's fine, I'll take those. The famous ice cream chest. I look around, ready to throw elbows. No one's gonna stop me.
Wait. There's no one else in the store.
I buy my junk food in peace and head back down the road to the PCT, pint of ice cream and mini wooden spoon in hand.
Happy. Full.
My solar charger didn't get a good charge yesterday, and my phone's gonna die. That's ok, only ten miles to the Saufley's. Then I can get more food in Agua Dulce.
Maybe pizza. :)

My phone did die. Really bad timing too because the last few miles before the trail runs into Agua Dulce were amazing! The Vasquez rocks were stunning and a complete change of scenery from what I've seen in the mountains so far. The rocks there looked more like they belong on the bottom of the ocean. Nothing but giant sandstone boulders that tower over you like sculptures with caves and pockets that catch the light in peculiar ways.
It actually wouldn't be bad to check out from the road, you can walk right into it and see it all in an hour.
I got into Agua Dulce, a nice little equestrian town, in the afternoon. I got pizza at the pizza parlor (AMAZING) and called Donna Saufley, a trail angel who hosts thru hikers at her 'hiker heaven'. I didn't want to just show up unannounced. Maybe she needed time to prepare?
Donna laughed at that and thought it was nice that I called first, people rarely did.
I took two steps onto her street and some gentlemen picked me up in their MULE!!!

When I got to her house, I see why she laughed.
Donna didn't need to prepare for me. Donna was prepared for the apocalypse of thru-hikers.
I got there, and there was a system. As soon as I closed the gate behind me, I was ushered through and given the treatment.
"To the left, loaner clothes tent. Here's your basket. Pick out some loaner clothes, bring dirty's back to me, I'll wash them."
She took me to one of several trailers, where I got a nice room with a clean bed, and a towel and a shower.
She had every type of shipping box and mail supplies in the garage. There was no post office in Agua Dulce, Donna was the post office for us thru hikers. USPS and UPS deliver right to her house. She even has a postal scale!
Soon my clothes were clean and washed and returned. She even knew to air dry the wool!
SQUARED AWAY. That's what I have to say about the Saufley's.
I didn't get many pictures. I was enjoying my rest too much to remember to take any.
I took a zero there and met Steve, Orange Ranger, Jesse James and Pockets. I got to pet Donna's horses and learned all about them. They're massive!
Pockets' dad came and bought us all pizza. That was incredible trail magic. It tasted great and was much appreciated. We had the first campfire of the season (at the Saufley's) that night. We couldn't believe we had the place to ourselves. We found out they're prepared to deal with 50 hikers at once for peak season, and they can handle more. They'll stack hikers like firewood.
We were lucky. I had my own bedroom.