PCT Day 31
Leaving KOA was bittersweet. Some friends were staying to zero and in all honesty it was the perfect place to do so, but we carried on.
The first few miles felt like the standard desert hills we hiked the days before. As we neared the town of Agua Dulce the trail travels through Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, a meandering network of unique rock formations featured in movies like “The Flintstones”.
We grabbed lunch at the Sweetwater Grill in Agua Dulce and then grabbed a hitch out of town back to the trail. In a twist of fate the driver we hailed, hailed from my hometown in WI.
Back on the trail we climbed 3k feet to a foggy viewpoint just to descend 2k feet to camp. The temperature dropped and we ate a chilly dinner in our tent.
PCT Day 32
We fell asleep in a cloud, woke in a cloud and hiked the first few miles in the clouds.
Once the clouds broke the heat almost broke us. We filled up with water at a remote fire station and continued climbing. The oppressive heat forced us to take breaks frequently.
After reaching the top we descended to a road leading to Lake Elisabeth. This signaled the end of an open section of trail and we needed a hitch around the closure.
A few cars passed us and offered us water but no ride. Later a truck drove by slowly heading on the opposite direction. We joked that it was “casing” us. A few minutes later the truck returned and the driver offered us water. He drove a few yards, stopped again and this time offered a ride even though he was heading in the opposite direction.
He was friendly and excited to hear about our trip. Initially, he was only going to take us to the popular Lake Isabella, but the conversation lured him into taking us completely around the fire closure to our destination, Hikertown USA.
Hikertown is impossible to describe without experiencing it, something like a post apocalyptic hiker movie set in the Mojave Desert. It has western themed one room beds for rent. Somehow the owner swindled us into staying in his office/closet, with an amazing view of the outdoor shower because the other rooms were booked. The door to the closet did not close and banged in the Mojave Desert wind until I tied it open around midnight.
Pct Day 33
We woke up after a sleepless night ready to hike…..just kidding. We were tired and the next 17 miles of trail covered the famed Los Angeles aqueduct.
Hikers most commonly tackle this notoriously dry stretch in the evening or at night and potentially with some libations. So we drove to the gas station for some supplies and devised a plan to leave around 1530.
We departed in the afternoon and swapped stories and drank some beverages. The hard walkway banged up our knees after a few miles.
During a break a friend was “digging a hole” and a truck drove up the road and honked and switched lanes. We had a great view of the event and laughed about it for miles.
A few hours after the sun set we found a water cache and campsite on the edge of a wind farm. We pitched the tent behind some bushes for wind protection and caught up on sleep from Hikertown.
