Day 37 - Zero day at Tehachapi

Breakfast at Kelcy's Restaurant

Well, for breakfast I went over to the nearby Kelcy's, which is a local establishment. I got eggs with onions, mushrooms and tomatoes, home fries and biscuits with gravy. It was very good, but I couldn't even finish it all.
Idan wanted a change of scenery, so we checked out of the Santa Fe, and headed over to the cheaper Ranch Motel. It's a bit off the main road, but the room was much better, so it turned out well.

Just a strange murial

Later we decided to go grocery shopping for the next section. We messaged Kay, and she picked us up in 5 minutes. That was really nice of her. We bought our food, meeting a lot of other hikers in the store. Early-B bought some freeze dried Mountain House meals at the nearby Big 5 store, so I ditched two Knorr meals and headed over there (with Kay driving). Sadly, they had no vegetarian meals over there, and I had to trouble Kay for another quick stop, this time at the other supermarket, to get two Knorr meals again.
Back at the motel, we were just resting and doing nothing, when suddenly Idan thought of checking whether Lake Isabella, our next stop, has somewhere to buy gas canisters. They don't. So we had to walk the long long way back to the Big 5 (nobody stopped to give us a ride), buy the damn big can they were selling (they didn't sell the smaller ones), and walk all the way back. Annoying and tiresome.
We were looking around for someplace to eat, doing a short tour in the main street. The Italian restaurant seemed nice, but Idan was too afraid by its atmosphere. Or maybe it was the fact that Penguin was there with her husband. Anyway, we left.
We passed by our old motel, and met Sock Pot, who told us that Cheese and Butters were in our old room (oh... the memories. Feels like it was yesterday), so we dropped by to say hello. Then we just got back to our room and ordered Domino's using their app. It wasn't easy, but we managed to get it to work.

And Pizzas for dinner

Day 34 - Oasis cache to the middle of the Mojave

A very very long, and different, day.
It all started with a nice walk down towards the Green Valley Road, where Casa de Luna is. The trail was easy, and I especially enjoyed watching the trail climb up the mountain on the other side of the road, knowing that it was inside a fire closure, and I won't have to climb it.
We got to the road at about 10:00, and Cheese came in just after. Terry Anderson, the owner of Casa de Luna, just passed by with her car, and picked us up to the famous hostel.

Butters and Idan in Casa de Luna

Upon reaching Casa de Luna I was immediately given a beer. Then I was led to the Hawaiian shirt rack, where I picked one up for the duration of my stay there. The whole atmosphere was very laid back and relaxed, and it is really easy to decide to just stay there for a day or two. Every night is taco salad night, and the party is always on in the front yard, but at the back there is a manzanita grove, for quiet camping and sleeping.
We resisted the temptation and headed out at about noon, planning to hitch around the closure (no road walk for us). We met Sunbeam and Arctic at the gas station, eating ice cream, so we bought a pint of Ben and Jerry's as well, and shared it. It was a hot day.
Hitching the ride out of Green Valley wasn't easy. It took us about half an hour, when finally the local plumber stopped and took us to Lake Hughes. There it got worse - we tried hitching along with the Australian Girls (Mozi and Emu), but nobody stopped. Probably because we were too many. After we split, and headed down the road a bit, we finally got a ride in a pick up. The driver then also stopped for Mozi and Emu, and later for Alpine Start and French Toast as well. So we all got our ride into Hiker Town - our second trail Angel of the day.

Alpine Start, French Toast and Mozi on the ride to Hiker Town

On the ride to Hiker Town

Hiker Town is a bit different. We just went to the common area, and sat on the sofas until the heat of the day passed. The place was packed with hikers, some who actually did the road walk, and many were heading out at the evening.
Snail Trainer met a friend of his there, who bought a lot of beer and curry take out for everyone. After he left, Idan said he looked like the head guard from Prison Break. And then Snail Trainer said it was indeed Wade Williams - the actor from Prison Break. So Idan scored some points there. Apparently Snail Trainer used to date the actress from the ah-ha video "Take On Me", and she was friends with Wade's wife, and that's how they met. Funny story.
Anyway, we left Hiker Town at about 18:30, heading out for our first night hiking. The trail is all flat and boring for the following 17 miles, and quite terrible in the daily heat.

The open LA aqueduct

At dusk it was much more bearable. We got to the open LA aqueduct, and walked along it for a short while, and then headed into the Mojave desert on the aqueduct road. The sun set, and it was still quite warm, and we just kept on walking on those roads. When the moon rose, we didn't even need our head lamps. But it still felt like we were hiking extra miles at the end of the day, and not like we only did 7 before that. So every step hurt.
I took some ibuprofen, and was surprised to find out how that chemistry really does make the pain go away. But when we reached the point where the trail left the aqueduct road, at 22:20, we called it a night, and set up camp. Along with some other hikers who stopped here before.
Well, that was an experience.

Day 33 - Hiker Heaven to the Oasis cache

I managed to postpone our exit from Hiker Heaven until around 9.
At one point a group of hikers was digging a 6" deep trench for a pipe for the gray shower water to go to other side of the yard, instead of into the troublesome septic tank. I lent a hand.

A view back on the trail. Nice switchbacks.

Yesterday a reporter from Backpacker magazine interviewed Donna Saufley for their next issue. And since then a photographer was hanging around, shooting hikers doing hikers' stuff at the Heaven. He had a blast with all the hikers digging and moving dirt, you will definitely see some photos from that bit. I think he made every effort to avoid getting a photo of me, so I won't be on next month's cover. Or anywhere.
Well, we finally left the Heaven, and I got a good hug from Donna. I was surprised she remembered my trail name, and she wished me to enjoy my hike. It was very nice.
We got a ride to the trail head, saving us some annoying in town road walk, and headed out. The weather was hot, but it was a bit windy which kept things all right for me.

Siesta and Bomber having a nap.

At first we climbed up a small ridge, and saw Agua Dulce from the top. We finally reached a nice shady tree at the end of the climb, and met Cheese, Bomber and Siesta resting there. We joined in, and had a short nap, before heading over to the next spot.
That next spot was the first cache of the day. Another nice shady spot, the same cast of characters, and a shorter nap this time. From there, it was mostly a climb.

Nice view on Bouquet Reservoir. Sadly, we didn't end up there.

After finishing that final climb of the day, I put on some music to run the final, short, bit down to the cache. I reached it to find Baby Wipes resting a bit before heading out to Casa de Luna, and Gabriel and French Toast, who just reached there before me.

Baby-Wipes and Cheese at the Oasis Cache

Alpine-Start and French-Toast

The sodas and picnic chairs were very nice, and we rested for a bit before looking for tent spots. It wasn't easy to find a good tent spot around here, but we managed to find a relatively flat area in between some trees, on the other side of the trail.

Day 32 - Zero day at Hiker Heaven

This was the first zero day I took just to rest, and not just trying to get better from some injury or illness. It felt good.
I didn't sleep in, though. I guess I'm used to wake up with sunrise. Besides, I knew I'd be cooking inside my sleeping bag in 10 minutes, if I'd stay in it.

Having breakfast with Penguin, Cheese and Will at the Sweetwater Cafe

So, after a slow morning of doing nothing, I finally took a bike down to town for breakfast. I sat at the Sweet Water Cafe with Will, Cheese and Penguin, and we all filled our bellies with different variations of eggs. I had Florentine Benedict, and it was very nice indeed.

My breakfast

After breakfast I had to bike back up. I was worried about this bit, but I managed to make it back in one piece. I got just in time for the ride to REI.
In REI I only bought a pair of socks. I'm not sure the toe socks are really working for me, so I'll see how it goes on the coming days.
The trip to Wal-Mart was a pain. I had to buy supplies for the next section, as well as for three other sections throughout the Sierras, and also a bit for Yair, who will join us for that section of the trail.
I came back with a big box full of food I had to distribute to different boxes, and we shipped them from here. They really do run an excellent operation here at Hiker Heaven. I just hope we calculated all of our food rations right, and that we will manage to get some bagels and cheese along the way as well.
Right now we are getting ready to have our pita with humus and tomato dinner. I'm getting hungry just by thinking about it.

Day 31 - Acton Koa to Hiker Heaven

As usual, we got up late, and were almost the last to leave the campground.
I last saw Idan when we were crossing the rail road, just beyond the KOA. He just went off and didn't look back.
The climbs weren't that bad, and I passed several hikers on my way up. The trail then went down and under a highway. It then entered the Vasquez Rocks Park, which was very nice, and has all those signs next to different trees, with their names on them.
At this point I figured out Idan is not going to stop until the end, so I found a nice shady spot on the side of the trail, and had my snickers. Soon, Sunbeam and Arctic joined me for a snack, and surprised me that we only have 3 more miles to go. Penguin joined us, and we headed out to the last bit together.

Arctic, Sunbeam, Penguin and her uncle, on the way to Hiker Heaven

After another short climb we saw what we thought was Agua Dulce, and were very disappointed to see the trail going around it and over another hill. Just before finally reaching town, this guy with a camera was walking towards us, and Penguin was very surprised to meet her uncle, who had been following her blog, and surprised her.

One if the many boxes Idan got here.

We finally got into Hiker Heaven at around 11:00, and I met Idan. I knew I could count on him to get us the best beds. We are now showered and done our laundry, been down to town for veggie burrito, and have finished our dinner pizza along with Cheese.

Hikers hanging their sleeping bags for airing

Cheese is impressed by the size of the pizza

Idan is already planning all of our mail drops for the Sierras, but I'll get to it tomorrow, before we head over to the Wal-Mart to buy supplies.

Day 29 - pct mile 384 to fire station at mile 419

So, after a nice warm night at the parking area, we were planning on hitching on the mostly deserted highway in order to get around some closure, and skip the ultra long (19 miles) official alternative and somewhat shorter old alternative.

4 happy hikers, after a wonderful ride down the trail. Thanks, Barbra.

The hitching bit seemed to be the problem. We were just waiting for cars to come around, when Kyle and Snail Trainer came down from Little Jimmy campsite together with Barbra, a weekend hiker they've met up there last night. I immediately zoomed in on the car they were heading to, and asked her if she might be going in the direction we needed.
Apparently, Kyle and Snail Trainer were planning on hitching a bit further than our original plan, and it took very little persuasion to get us on their plan. So, we hitched from 386 to 399. Skipping all detours, and a bunch of trail miles. Sorry.
Down the trail from 399, I admit I wasn't really excited crossing the 400 miles mark. It's not like I walked it all. Oh well. A bit later we got to our water source, and filtered some yellow colored water from a spigot. They tasted fine.
Onward, the trail crossed the highway another time, and finally stopped following it. Near Sulphur spring it got a bit strange, with one trail going down to the water, and the other remaining on the ridge. We weren't sure which one was the pct, so we just remained on the ridge, and made our lunch stop just after they met again. Oh - and we actually took a nap of about 20 minutes!
From there, the trail kinda went up slowly, going over big areas with a lot of Poodle Dog Bush we were trying to avoid. They supposedly cause skin irritation, but I'm not sure I'm sensitive to it at all.
The next water source was a nice spring near the end of the climb, and I had my 1 liter Gatorade drink from it. That was a nice spot.
Just about an hour further, we reached a very nice area for resting, full of hikers. Penguin was just getting there and heading out, and Sunbeam was there (and I didn't recognize her at first with her hat on) and many other new faces.
We rested there shortly, and then I put on my music and headed down the final 5.5 miles to the fire station. It was an easy trail, and I think I raced it in under 2 hours. That was rather fun.
Here, at the fire station we all crashed under a nice pergola, filling up our water, and cooking dinner, and charging phones. After a while most hikers headed down a bit further to the campground by the road, though a few headed out to hike 5 more miles today. That's hardcore!