Day 41
Miles Hiked: 17.4
Mile Camped: Casa de Luna
At nearly 8 I was still in still in bed. Usually I wouldn’t let myself lay around so late. Caiti started early to beat the heat but after all the bad weather I was still skeptical. It’s also incredibly deeply wonderful to awake to silence after being in town. Soon the hills would be crawling but everything was still birdsong and morning dew.
With 14.9 miles until the next water source I filled my bottles with 3.5 L in case I wanted Ramen at lunch.
At nearly two I was still working on a 2.5 mile 1000ft climb a little under halfway to Casa de Luna which meant I might need to sleep near the road and hitch in first thing tomorrow. Ascents always slow me way down.
I made it to Casa de Luna around 6:20p after catching a hitch from an elderly English gentleman who had spent time in Ashland acting. He he warned me not to get old. I couldn’t help but wonder how much damage I’m doing to my knees out here and if I’d still think it was worth it by the time I’m in his shoes. One reason I’ve always been an avid journal/records keeper is to remember why and how I got to where I am. I’m pretty phenomenally bad at recalling the good stuff when I’m feeling rough. This whole record is part of combating that.
At Casa de Luna dinner was being prepared and I settled in with Caiti and hung out with Shellac, Fast Cash, Spawn, Clams, Uncle Buck, etc. We ate dinner, drank some beers and tried to stay warm and dry as the rain began to pour. With my tent dry in my pack, night falling and the backyard packed with campers I posted up on the patio couch and called it a night.
Day 42
Miles Hiked: 0
Mile Camped: Casa de Luna
Woke up to pancakes and coffee and resumed the cuddle puddle couch lock while the rain continued to pour. Everyone was restless and everything was damp and covered in grime and gritty mud. It just rained and rained and rained. We joked around about requesting a refund from the PCTA or the state of California. Some folks managed to get an Uber to a bowling alley and our group looked into seeing a movie and maybe splitting a hotel. For whatever reason Uber wasn’t working for any of us and eventually we gave up and either resigned ourselves to Casa de Luna or Hiked out into the gloom. I still didn’t want to pull my tent out to set up in the mud and spent the day staking out the couch again. Someone came around with cork rollers and balls and we took turns rolling out our cold stiff muscles and exchanging back rubs. Oh yeah, human touch – that’s a cool thing I had forgotten about. It was nice to cozy up with strangers and make friends and be sweet to each other. I think that kept my head mostly out of the rain clouds.
The forecast told of sunny skies the next day and that also kept the mood light though no one was fully ready to trust the forecast at that point.
With the promise of a pancakes and coffee alarm clock I figured I would try to get a reasonable start on the following day.
Day 43
Miles Hiked: 8
Mile Camped: 486.1
Left Casa de Luna around 10:20a with Max, Goat Disco, and Anna.
Stopped for a long lunch at 5.5 miles in where I warmed up in the sun and dried some clothes out.
I walked on a few miles to a cave 200ft up from Hughes Lake Rd. The narrow opening was initially a deterrent but when I stopped to peer in it was clear the chamber opened up after passing through. I dropped my bag and slid in before I over thought it.
After looking ahead at all way points listed and finding that there were no more caves on trail, I decided to follow my heart and camp in the cave. Almost everyone that passed by skipped it.
I ran into Columbia after hiking up to a spring and walking back with water and he said “I figured that was you camping out in there!” A while later Bluebird and Mantra peeped in – Mantra came and checked it out but Bluebird was spooked, which is fair. I’m surprised I made it through the narrow opening.
I wondered if Caiti would push for 20’s and reach Hiker Town tomorrow or if I’d catch her in the last stretch in a couple days. Mostly we see each other at least once a day but this was a short run with a set destination where we would rest so there was some room to experiment with our paces and comfort level apart for a longer period.
There was a small and very cute mouse which shared the cave with me – gave me a start when it knocked over my water reservoir.
As the sun set and the shutter light of passing legs dissipated I wondered if I would get any other sort of company that evening. With some bear activity only ten or so miles on but nothing worth hanging a bag in I opted to fall asleep listening to Jason Molina hoping the noise would deter visitors. I was asleep before dark and awoke occasionally to peer down the tunnel at the star speckled opening but was otherwise undisturbed.
Day 44
Miles Hiked: 18.5
Camped at: 504.6
I didn’t get on the trail as early as intended but the last stretch up the hill felt a little easier. I had a minimum goal of 15 miles for the day and wanted to get as far beyond it as possible.
With mile 500 fast approaching and inclement weather trapping folks out of necessity and inconvenience alike, the trail feels really crowded. A benefit of hiking such a short distance leaving Casa de Luna was that it staged me a half step (even the slowest/latest on trail would have made camp around 12-15 miles in) behind the bubble of folks that left the day I did and half a step ahead of everyone leaving that day. For the next day and a half I saw under a dozen folks on trail and opted to press on and camp alone when I did catch up to the tail end of the bubble of folks I left with.
There’s been a lot of bear activity in this area and I kind of neglected to consider tools for a proper bag hang so I was grateful to find leftover line from my tarp tent set-up in with my stakes. After a late dinner I hoisted my bag and hoped that the bundles of more sociable camped hikers would smell more attractive than me. Honestly there’s probably as much food on my clothes and gear as there was in my bag. I woke up to some clapping at one point but my tent and bag were unbothered.
I had hiked til sunset after really too many breaks and at 18 miles made camp on a ridge south of a cistern with a mostly downhill 13 miles to Hiker Town – a property featuring small one person lodgings, an outdoor shower, kitchen, restrooms, water, bucket laundry and other amenities.
Day 45
Miles Hiked: 13
Mile Camped: Hiker Town
Though I felt determined to get out of camp with the sunrise I didn’t make much better time than usual breaking camp. I did sit and admire one of the prettiest sunrises I’ve seen in ages though.
From the last cistern the trail was laid out in long ribbons through hilltop Meadows and towering oaks. Most of the oak were in decay but the dew and soft morning light painted it a pretty picture. From there i descended back into desert and nearly literally crawled up and down fingers of foothills along the property boundary of a hunting club. That was a frustrating round-about stretch. The heat came in early and I took a lot of breaks. Finally the path dropped down from the hills and a long flat dirt road led to the highway where Hiker Town sat across from the crossing.
Day 45/46
Camped: Hiker Town
After the short haul out of Casa de Luna I arrived at Hiker Town. My understanding is that the property is owned by a wealthy man who has worked in the film industry. The word is that the old west storefronts decorating the property and hostel rooms are old movie sets…? Which honestly doesn’t float for me, the place was run down and hokey…more of a rural community theater toss off vibe than anything else. The gentlemen running the joint were friendly normal sort of odd ball dudes. I didn’t meet the owner until later.
Walking into the property I saw a note from grown who had gotten a room. I stopped in and said hello before going to snag a $10 mattress with a door for myself.
Though covered in dirt and sweat I pretty immediately feel asleep and woke an hour later to a call for town run. I hobbled out to the truck and piled in with Big Gulps and a few other hikers.
Goat Disco and G Wag were at the Neenach Cafe and convenience store along with a bunch of other folks. I perused the single faced selection of overpriced goods before making a hard pass on doing resupply shopping for Grown and I there. I ordered tacos and bought some beers and root beer to bring Grown.
Id been warned about lengthy service times but I was mostly there for wifi so I settled in. I wasn’t misled – my two street tacos finally came out around an hour later. They were alright. It’s hard to watch employees struggling to maintain a positive face when a business is so clearly run by a complete wreck. Props to them for it. When I got a text from grown asking for a burger I knew I’d be there another couple hours and cracked open another beer.
The talk amongst the crowd was primarily Sierra related and primarily rehashed hypotheticals, fears and desires.
By the time my last order came out a new crew of hikers had come through and I got a ride back to Hiker Town with Mantra, Bluebird and Columbia.
The driver was another oddball looking gentleman who proceeded to drive away from Hiker Town… “Let’s give you the tour – lets go check out Weevill!” He said. It was getting dark and the rest of the car hadn’t settled in before making the store run. “Actually we’d really like to set up our tents…” Someone chimed in. Unphased, the man proceeded to drive 15 minutes to the rival store (which maybe he also owns?! The rumor mill is active around hiker havens in general, this one particularly). Along the way he made a multitude of disparaging comments about the community. It felt like we were being dragged through a zoo of the rural working class poor. It was awful. This man was awful. It then became apparent He is the owner of hiker town. Of course.
Passing Weevill market, most of us annoyed to say the least, we remarked that they appeared to have a much wider selection and we all agreed we’d be heading back the next day.
After a couple other incredibly annoying side ventures (literally a tour of the towns stop signs….) we managed to convince our captor to return to the property. I stayed up way too late chatting with folks and didn’t sleep in as long as I’d liked to have. Instead the next morning I got up and did a round of bucket laundry. Grown called up Weville Market for a shuttle and a few of us piled in to resupply and get a bite. Weville was a gem. Prices weren’t unreasonably steep, service was incredibly friendly and fast and the selection was outstanding (Korean BBQ chips!!). That pretty much put the nail in the hiker town coffin for me.
Once back on the property I utilized the outdoor shower (which faces the highway…), ate more, drank tea and charged up my battery bank. I had been carrying around a sheet mask (my first!) from the hiker heaven hiker box and pampered myself while I rolled out my sore arches.
We chatted with folks about their Aquaduct plans and killed time while the heat of day passed. Grown set out ahead as usual and I opted to take advantage of the unique trail conditions and hung around while Mantra, Columbia and Bluebird packed up and coordinated the larger crew walking out at sunset to night hike…the Aqueduct would end up being my longest day yet. Check in soon for the scoop!
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