Hiking the Graveyard Shift

Great pancakes and company from trail angels John and Terri awaited us hikers that morning at Casa de Luna. As we posed for a group picture, we quickly learned what previous hikers meant by spontaneously seeing the moon there. Let's just say I had never seen a trail angel's backside until that moment. I bet we all had hilariously disturbed faces in that picture. From there, we headed up into the clouds and the wind picked up like never before. I kept telling myself sarcastically, "you'll love California, it's always warm". Since my trusted comrades Rambo and Mcflurry like early starts (I guess some military habits never leave you), they camped by the road the previous night. I figured I'd catch them by mile 500, but I assumed they decided to push onto a designated campsite. Being content with my 26 miles, I had a night to myself and quietly celebrated the milestone.

To my luck, I saw my friends get on trail right as I passed the designated campsite. Taking a frustratingly roller coaster-like up and down route, we hiked 10 miles down to the western edge of the Mojave Desert. During it, we gazed upon the flat and scorching landscape to the east and were thankful that we only had to cross a 17 mile section along the LA aqueduct. At the start of the real desert lay a collection of trailers and shacks converted into rooms that hikers could sleep in. Each room looked like the inside of an antique store and was filled with dust and cobwebs. Though there were a couple of hikers milling around, the whole place had an eerie, apocalyptic feel. After resupplying and getting lunch at a nearby cafe, we followed the aqueduct which started out as a straight river, turned into a half-buried pipe, and ended as a fully buried concrete tunnel that we could walk on. The cool, windy weather as well as the flat terrain made this section very easy, a good end to my first 30 mile day. If only we could see John Travolta zoom on by.

The next day brought us past a large wind farm and back into the mountains. To our surprise, waiting at the top for us was trail magic, so we ate well and followed the ridge down to the road crossing to Tehachapi. Right when we got there, a guy in a pickup brought us into town and dropped us off at his favorite bbq restaurant, which did not disappoint. We camped that night behind the restaurant in a teepee, and had a relaxing morning before taking the bus to our motel in the nearby town of Mojave. Both Rambo and I were expecting packages, but since this day was a Sunday and the next was Memorial Day, it was a perfect excuse to recharge our bodies for the next section. After hiking 560 miles, sitting in a hotel room and eating all day never felt more deserving.

After picking up our packages, we waited out the heat in a McDonald's and got a hitch back to the trail right before sundown. According to a weather report, the next couple of days were expected to be very hot, so we made the decision to start hiking during late afternoon and into the night, and sleep during the day. After getting into camp at 2 AM and waking up at 11, we were surprised to find cool weather, but then again, what do you expect from the state that's supposedly always warm. After getting rained on a little bit for good measure, we got to our foggy campsite and enjoyed hiking through a beautiful ponderosa pine forest the next morning at a reasonable time. Despite cool temperatures, the desert eventually returned, and before us lay the driest section of the PCT. However, we were delighted to hear from a southbound section hiker that there were two reliable water caches ahead maintained by trail angels. With this knowledge, I could spare some water in me to cry tears of joy.

Though certainly making this section more bearable, we still had to go uphill in loose sand which left us wiped out as we got to our campsite. But our spirits were lifted again when we met a trail angel making burritos for us. The next morning immediately shot us uphill, and the trail followed a ridgeline down to walker pass, where we were greeted with chili dogs and macaroni salad. It seems like my emotions have been as up and down as the terrain lately. But I know that soon I'll be more in my element, as my group and I have decided to skip up to northern California and hike the high sierras soon after walker pass after more snow melts. We knew that this winter brought far more snow than usual to California, but we didn't know how far north the snowpack persisted. Our plan is to rent a car, drive five hours to Lake Tahoe, and hitch north until we determine from locals that the snow has melted enough. This should be easy compared to the desert....