Hikey Mike

Day 37 – 21 miles

Well rested and fed after my night off trail, I returned to the small town of Agua Dulce with the plan to catch up with my group, now 10 miles ahead of me, within the next three days. The aqueduct section was looming just 60 miles ahead, famous for the long exposed stretch through the Mojave desert, and I was determined to not do it alone, which meant a started the day with dreams of high mileage.

This plan hit a speed bump after just an hour, walking into Serenity’s Oasis. A camp and store just for PCT hikers, it is known for being a hiker vortex as the only established campsite in a long, dry stretch. I went in planning to buy the last few items of food I needed and leave straight away, but upon seeing some familiar faces it quickly turned into an hour long detour. Bad start.

The first few miles of the day were pretty straight forward, walking alongside a road leaving town, only getting slightly distracted by the local donkeys, but as always the relief of a flat stretch is quickly replaced by a climb

We had dropped to 2500ft to enter Agua Dulce, but the afternoon was spent returning to the mountains, a long 2500ft climb in the heat to reach the only water source of the day, a small pipe off the side of the trail.

The rest of the day was pretty easy cruising, made easier by nice views, and I took an early night with big plans for tomorrow which I was not looking forward to.

Day 38 – 22 miles

I woke up with the idea that the only way to catch up with the rest of my group would be a 30 mile day, something I have done multiple times before but never in the heat and rough terrain of the California desert. With no signal to contact anyone, I had decided this was my best chance to catch up and so set off at 5am.

By 7am, I was already regretting this idea. 6 miles in, my legs were sore from the first climb of the day and my feet were beginning to feel the impact of my shoes, which after months of pre-trail training and nearly 500 miles on trail, were starting to lose support.

I stumbled into Green Valley Fire Station, one of the few guaranteed water sources on this stretch to fill up and take a short breakfast break, but was thrilled to see Mumbles packing up his tent, a member of the group I had been walking with. Having fallen behind after his girlfriend had suffered an ankle injury and drove up to the next town, he was also trying to catch up with the others, but he came with much better news, that the group were actually setting off for the aqueduct a night later than originally planned, meaning I had a whole day longer to catch up than expected. No more 30 mile day required, I ended up taking a 2 hour breakfast break including a 10am nap.

The now 10 mile shorter afternoon flew by, despite walking through a burn area which meant the views weren’t quite as spectacular as usual. The whole trail has had countless fires over the last decade or so, with each year seeming to bring them more frequently, so it is no longer surprising to walk through desolate patches with only black trees remaining, but it is always a strong reminder of how quickly the landscape can change in these remote areas.

With winds starting to pick up, I managed to find a well protected area to camp with a lovely view of the Mojave, now only 48 hours away.

Day 39 – 15 miles

The plan for the day was simple, walk the 17 miles into Hikertown, the stopping point before the Mojave, with the reward of a 24 hour rest and rejoining the rest of the group. I thought it would be a relatively easy day, which I’m now learning means it’s likely to be the opposite.

By 8am the temperature was already in the high 20s and was only due to rise so by the time I summited the only climb of the day by 11am I was absolutely exhausted. My main issue was that it was too hot to rest in the sun, but every patch of shade was swarming with biting flies who it turns out can bite through any sort of material designed for this heat. I couldn’t take a break for longer than a minute without getting swarmed and quickly getting annoyed enough to continue, with my only joy being another mile landmark passed

By 11am I had finally had enough, and found some shade just large enough to pitch my tent in meaning I could stay in the shade without the flies getting to me. I remained there for four hours, not willing to go out into the now 34c heat, only getting up to periodically move my tent a few metres as the shade from the single tree I was relying on kept moving.

Concerned about the fact I still has 11 miles to do in the evening, I found a fire road that would lead me down the mountain and into Hikertown, saving me 2 miles, which I gladly took, however what I didn’t think about was that there would be no water along this stretch at all, meaning my final 3.5 hours of the day were spent plodding through the heat with only a litre and a half of water which by now was already hot from the full day in the sun.

It was unsurprisingly a pretty awful stretch, with 5 miles of bumpy, sandy fire roads which looked like they had stopped being maintained followed by a 4 mile concrete road walk through the town of Three Points, which had some charm but based on their welcome sign, didn’t seem like the place for me

I finally reached Hikertown after a final 3 waterless miles, and after rehydrating and quickly eating dinner, went straight to bed, undisturbed by the sound of the nearby highway or the chickens next to my tent

Day 40 – 20 miles

Originally a film set, Hikertown is a deserted Wild West style town that is only used by hikers as a base before heading off into the Mojave. With no real amenities other than a shuttle to the local store, it is a pretty eerie place, but I was grateful to wake up and not start hiking straight away

The upcoming stretch is one of the most famous on the trail and most anticipated by thruhikers, a 40 mile stretch to the town of Tehachapi which starts with a 17 mile walk through the Mojave desert following the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a stretch that is almost impossible to do during normal hiking hours due to the heat of the Mojave and the fact there is lot a single bit of shade until you reach a bridge after 17 miles.

Some people decide to wake up early, around 2-3am, to do this section, however the most popular is to set off in the evening and walk the section through the night, with many deciding to cover themselves in paint and glowsticks, more for morale than actual useful light.

Going for the night hike option, we had until the evening, so it was a day full of napping and waiting, with a nice reunion in the afternoon with the group all being back together for the first time in well over a week.

Splattered in paint and with 100 glow sticks between us, a group of 20 set off at 6:30pm with the heat beginning to drop.

Very soon the river turned to a pipe, and the 17 mile stretch of no water access began. Spirits were very high for the first few hours, with flat cool walking feeling like a treat after the last few weeks

Once the sun set, the night hike really began, with energy drinks consumed and songs being sung. Normally this would require everyone having their headlamps on, but as it was nearly a full moon the night was well lit.

By midnight, people had started to drop off, cowboy camping on the side of the road and by 2am there was just six of us left. Reaching the end of the aqueduct, we entered a wind farm, with the large structures with flashing red lights looking quite ominous at that time of night and creating a loud constant whooshing sound

By 3am, everyone’s energy had crashed and the next hour was spent in silence with the 6 of us walking in a line accepting that the next time someone spoke would be asking to end the day. An hour later, we found a spot slightly protected from the wind by bushes and at 4am after 20 miles, we all cowboy camped next to the same bush to get any sleep possible before sunrise.

Despite being a surreal and mentally tough experience hiking through a true desert in the dark, this ended up being one of my favourite days hiking and really brought the group together.

Day 41 – 13 miles

Finally falling asleep at 4:30am, I woke up at 6:30am with the sun fully up and the day already heating up. It was only 4 miles to the next water source, but it was all uphill and with so little rest it was a gruelling morning.

Reaching the stream, everyone was completely drained and the people who had finished earlier the night before had now caught up with us, but with temperatures up to 36c we decided the best plan was to rest in the shade of a giant tree for the whole afternoon and begin hiking again in the evening. 6 hours of napping and eating, we set off for a further 9 miles.

Managing 7 miles before the sunset, we stopped at a water cache to eat dinner and rest up before night hiking the final 2 miles. Everyone was completely drained and ready for bed, and town the day after,

Day 42 – 9 miles

Ten hours sleep later, and finally feeling rested, we set off for the final 9 miles into the town of Tehachapi. Thankfully it was easy walking, nearly all downhill,

Reaching the highway, Snake Farm and I managed to hitch within 5 minutes, and after asking the man what Tehachapi was like I was not expecting to hear it was ‘very conservative and everyone goes to church’; rural California has been full of surprises.

Reaching town, we checked into our hotel and went straight for lunch, demolishing a large pizza and after a 3 hour rest, going to an all you can eat Chinese restaurant. I ate so much I felt ill, but an hour later felt hungry again. Food is quickly becoming the only thing that matters in town.

Day 43 – Zero in Tehachapi

With seven of us squeezed into one hotel room, it was a surprisingly comfortable sleep and the day in town was a lovely change. A trip to the cinema, an exciting few hours in Walmart and a Thai meal took up most of the day, with an evening spent in the hot tub outside with beers really completing the relaxation; but the peak of the day was watching Love Island USA with a face mask. Even hikers need to relax sometimes. The restorative day was very needed, with the next stretch being our final one in the desert section, but also one of the hardest. For now, that was tomorrows problem