APRIL 18
We spend the morning at Hiker Heaven, finishing charging our electronics, giving Don a haircut and talking to the other hikers. Most left this morning after they had spent a zero here, (a day without hiking) and we are planning a nero (a day with only some hiking). Several plaques on the wall tell the story of the dedication of the owners to hikers!
Donna, one of the owners, is committed to serving hikers!
A poem in the garage seems to represent this place well
Below is a photo of the pods that are set up for the campers.
The larger one has a sewing machine and other tools for repairing gear.
Donna, the owner, loads up her truck with hikers to drive them a mile into town where they had exited the trail. We take off and a short road walk leads us back to the PCT trail. The wind has picked up again and the exposed ridges are windy.
We always marvel at the trail and are thankful for all the volunteers that maintain it. We meet one today out for a day hike.
Our plan is to hike to Bear Springs and fill up with water. The spring is intermittent and we are there when the flow has stopped. Our only solution is to dig out a hole where the water is seeping and scoop it out with a cup. Time consuming, but it works and eventually our water containers are filled.
The wind continues to blow so we decide to hike further as the trail starts to drop. We find a spot that is fairly well protected from the wind and set up camp.
Miles hiked 10
APRIL 19
It was another cold morning with frost on the tent. Since we knew we had a lot of elevation to lose we got on the trail about 5:30 and started walking. The lower we got the warmer the temps. This didn't last long as we were soon heading back up and the temperatures dropped. In the distance a dark cloud was covering all of the mountains and it soon was upon us with snow and wind.
We pulled out our umbrellas, not for shade but to keep dry from the falling precipitation.
The storm was short lived and soon we were hiking under blue skies.
Our destination for late morning is..
This is another popular spot for thru hikers. Terri and Joe Anderson have been hosting hikers for over 20 years. Unlike Hiker Heaven where organization is in control, Casa de Luna is a time to.... If one does a dance one can receive their 2018 PCT bandana.
Every year a woman who hiked the PCT in the early 2000's makes up bandanas for all thru hikers which are given out at places like this. A row of Hawaiian shirts are available for hikers to put on and begin to party. Paints are available to decorate rocks with sayings of your choice. They were scattered around the property. Here are some examples.
Every evening Teri make taco salad for the hikers and in the morning Joe makes pancakes, Behind their house on public lands, they have carved out 60 tent sites in a magical forest. It is a place for making memories. We enjoyed our time here, but with it being so early in the day we decided to hike on. Going on meant a big up and then back down. By the evening we were down at a lower elevation and experiencing warm temperatures. No dull moments hiking the PCT.
Miles hiked 20
APRIL 20
By morning the wind had died and we were looking at a long climb up. The water report said that water was flowing from a spring near the top. Indeed it was and we were able to fill enough water to get to the next water 20 miles away. We are going to look forward to the Sierras, where we will not need to carry so much water.
Grateful for this spring.
Since we are hiking at a lower elevation, the main trees are oak and manzanita trees. We walk under a canopy of branches.
True to form the trail goes up and down for most of the day. A big moment today was the passing of the 500 mile marker.
One of my favorite reptiles poses for a photo
One area that we went thru today had a lot of fire prevention work done. A lot of branches were cut off and brush completely removed. So far there hasn't been any major fires.
We are heading down to where the aqueduct begins tomorrow. An abandoned road was used for part of the trail today so it was quite steep. When we saw a couple of tents at a place called Horse Camp, we asked if there was any water and when the reply was yes, we stopped. Super Vegan, Snow White and Yoga Bae were here. It was a steep down climb to get to the water, but with no packs on, it was manageable. They were all hikers new to us so it was fun to hear about their adventures.
Tomorrow afternoon we will have the flattest walk of our hike as we walk on the CA aqueduct. We also will be walking among so many wind turbines.
Miles hiked 23
APRIL 21
We left Horse camp with two other hikers this morning, Super Vegan and Yoga Bae, This is the first time since we started hiking that we are actually hiking with others. We were all headed to Hiker Town, where we will have to make a decision of taking off later this afternoon or spending the night there and getting up really early to hike the aqueduct when the temps are cooler. Meanwhile we have a 10 mile hike to get to Hiker Town. In the distance we can see the area that we will be hiking. It will be the most flat area that we will have walked on.
Super Vegan takes a selfie every mile of the trail.
This way he will have proof that he has indeed hiked every mile.
There were so many flowers in a variety of colors on this morning's hike.
We never tire of the beauty of flowers.
We caught up with several more hikers who were also heading to Hikertown.
Then we just had to cross the road, open the gate and we had arrived at Hikertown,
Hikertown is where hikers gather to determine the best strategy for hiking the aqueduct. For over 10 miles shade is at a minimum. During the hotter temperatures of the hiking season, some will do the hike entirely at night.
We also had a resupply box sent here. This place is also used to do photo shoots and we were not sure what else, but we appreciated its location. Don, Yoga Bae and I decided to take a break and then start hiking about 3:30 in the afternoon. Super Vegan opted to spend the night here and get up early to start hiking.
We were greeted by this sign as we walked thru the gate to start our hike.
There was some open water at the beginning, but then it gets a cement covering.
We were glad to have our umbrellas and a little cloud cover helped.
This was our trail. Cant say it was the most scenic, but it was unique. We walked into the night and when the concrete stopped and there were many dirt roads from which to choose we stopped to make camp. It would be easier to determine the trail with more light. We thought about not putting up our tent but there were so many kangaroo rats jumping about, we decided to set it up.
Miles hiked 20