Memories from May 20.
I was cowboy camped (no tent/tarp) last night. There was a lot of wind. Not having a tent acting like a sail was nice and a sleeping person’s profile is low enough that the logs around my campsite kept the worst of it off me. Shortly before sunrise I was getting a little cold and was considering pitching my tarp but the sky was just beginning to lighten so I just rolled over. I did quit camp a little before the others and enjoyed a gorgeous hike down the hill.
Passing over the last hill before Hikertown I discovered one of the more unexpected dangers of the PCT. Wild animals you say? What about gun toting humans (thankfully out of season).
I only have a picture of the entrance to Hikertown since I only stayed there for the day. A trail angel named Bob has set up his acre-ish sized property with a number of small outbuildings like an old Western town.
Bob has a van that he lends to hikers to resupply at a nearby gas station the middle seat is missing so you can pack more people in. The sliding side door doesn’t close and has to be tied with a pice of rope so it’s not always clear that all those people you stuffed into the van on the way out will make it back.
My credit card came with the mail in the afternoon. I wonder if it’s only in America that having a working credit card is tied to emotional well-being. So much for the PCT being an escape from civilization.
After leaving Hikertown, I unexpectedly found the end of the PCT. Who knew Canada was so close?
The trail follows the aqueduct which, if I understand correctly, carries water from Lake Mead by Las Vegas to LA. It was kind of fun walking along and on top of such a massive piece if engineering.
Aqueduct as a canal.
Aqueduct as a pipe.
Aqueduct as a cement path.
I ran across a guy named Hard Way who I’d heard about while talking to Jetpack while waiting for Team Bizzle at the road to Casa De Luna (the Anderson’s). He seemed like a nice guy and so I walked with him the rest of the way to the next water, passing Team Bizzle camped by the side of the aqueduct. We hiked until 11pm since the road was easy to follow and the moon was bright. I did manage to miss two turns but I blame that on trying to hike without my headlamp. It turns out trail signs are reflective which helps a lot.
There were a lot of people camped by the water spigot since it was the first water in 17 miles since Hikertown and was relatively sheltered from the wind despite the windmills looming above.
Isaac Takes A Hike 