Acton - Mojave, CA

Day 26 - 31 Mile 444 - 566

Our day off was spent resting as much as possible and a hitch into town for chili dog dinner supplies. It was the last dinner for our little bubble. Lucky is heading back East for his daughter's graduation and wife's birthday. Zippy and Running Dog are getting off so He can train for the Western States 100 mile Race. Coach, Shadow, and I will be continuing without them and hope to see Zippy again in the Sierras. I can't believe we are only 250 miles from Kennedy Meadows, the start of the Sierra Mountains.
2 showers each, 2 rounds in the washing machine for our clothes, a new tent, and we are ready to get back on the trail.
What was suppose to be another hot and dry section was not the case today. We headed out 10 miles North to Vasquez Rock County Park and the small town of Aqua Dulce. A beautiful setting for a quaint town. We stopped by the Sweetwater Grocery to buy supplies for the next 112 miles to Mojave and stuffed ourselves with pizza before continuing on. About 3 miles after lunch the clouds darkened and released a steady sprinkle. We were stupid to think that the rain would be quick to leave. Instead of stopping to put the items in our garbage bag liners, we stopped to put on our rain gear and pack covers. 8 miles later the rain continued and we were soaked. Who would have thought that it would rain all day this close to the Mojave desert. We pressed on with short breaks to relieve our tired backs from our sopping packs. With 50 degree temperatures and rain, it didn't take too long before we started to freeze. 1 mile before the end of our day the rain stopped giving us a chance to make camp and change into what dry clothes we had. Luckily our down jackets were dry along with our down sleeping bag. A quick dinner before hitting to hay. Coach has been talking about hiking the Appalachian Trail next year. Today was a good example of what to expect. Wet shoes, socks, and backpacks will be on the breakfast menu tomorrow.

It was a long night. The wind blew most of night the over the ridge and down onto us. Our new tent had some malfunctions. Not manufacturing defects, but user problems. It was our second time putting it up and our campsite was not ideal. Shadow woke me and I rolled over to find our tent laying on top of us. That happened twice. This tent requires 2 hiking poles and lots of tension on the stakes. I think it will just take some practice. The skies cleared overnight which made for a cold morning. I hiked the first few miles in my only dry clothes (insulated underwear) until the sun made its way over the mountains. About 6 miles in we came across a plastic Halloween cartoon Frankenstein figurine Hidden in a cleared spot of Chaparrals. It was a little oasis of lawn chairs and coolers of grape soda. We were still wet and moved our chairs out into the sun. Lunch was spent making a clothes line with bear rope to dry our sleeping bags and other items. It doesn't take long to dry out here.
The trail was nice and the temperatures in the low 70's, but our rough night made the day drag on. 13 miles in the trail was closed due to a fire in 2013 and rerouted us on the road. You can make good time on the road walks, but it's hard on the feet. Coach seems to have pulled a calf muscle. That doesn't stop him though. 19 miles into our day we came to The Rock Inn, a stone building that attracts bikers in the tiny town of Lake Hughes. Timing could not have been any better. Inside we found live blues music, cold beer, and BBQ. If that wasn't good enough, across the street was an old camp ground. For $10 bucks we made camp and figured out how to properly pitch our tent. We all agreed that the long day was worth it.

We finished our road walk around the fire detour and headed back up into the mountains. It was nice to break up the 13 mile detour. Most of the day had views of the looming Mojave Desert below. A section that most PCT hikers fear. 3 types of rattle snakes, 10 types of scorpions, and a desert tortoise are waiting for us. It's not just the animals hikers dread, it's the long hot and dry walk along the the Las Angeles Aquaduct. Thousands of windmills and acres of solar panels line the Antelope Valley. That view made us thankful for another day with shade. Lunch was at the 500 mile marker. Shadow and I regretted having dinner at the biker bar because it was another day we had to carry the weight of food we should have eaten.
The trail this afternoon climbed to 5,700feet and into another world. Miles of green grass and big old oak trees. A magical setting. We camped at the edge of an overlook and enjoyed our last bit of shade as the sun sat on the desert floor. Shadow forced us all to eat tortillas because he said he was sick of carrying them. I didn't complain because the rice and bean burritos are my favorite trail food.
I'm writing tonight as usual laying in the tent, listening to the owls come alive and the birds having their last words before dark. The door of tent is open allowing a cool breeze to blow the stink away. A hummingbird flies by and hovers 2 feet from the door opening. Maybe our red sleeping quilt attracted him. I can't believe how many there are out here.

Around 3am I popped out of the tent and to pee and expected to see a black hole of darkness in Antelope Valley. To my surprise hundreds of blinking red lights shined from below. One red light from each of the thousands of windmills. What a crazy sight.
Today our plan is to turn nocturnal, well sort of. A 9 mile walk down to the desert floor to Hikertown. This is by far the most interesting place we have come across. The owners of the property have acquired buildings from old movie sets and arranged them like a real town. The "Post Office" is actually stocked with hiker's resupply boxes and another building has bunks to stay the night. Our plan is to stay till the heat of the day is over and continue walking. This section of 50 miles has no shade and once again very little water.
On our way down the trail this morning we passed a large clump of hair. Judging from the color and smell, it was a skunk. We laughed thinking that there is a coyote regretting that kill.
As planned we headed out at 4pm. A little too early looking back, but we struggled through an hour or so before the temperatures dropped. Most hikers dread this section. It's about 13 miles of walking on or beside what looks like gray concrete road. It's actually a concrete cover for Los Angeles' water supply called the Aquaduct. For us, the section was quite pleasant. Our shadows grew long as the giant Sun sat behind a group of Joshua Trees. The stars came out and moon lit our path. Around 10pm we decided to call it a day.
Our night was short because we rose early to hike more before the heat. I was concerned about the scorpions at night and told the guys not to leave anything outside. In the morning Coach said he heard "creepy crawlers" around his tent all night. We laughed and made fun of him for it.
As the moon set and the sky brightened and the Joshua Trees came back to life. They really did look like people. One like a little girl dancing and another like a person with a Mickey Mouse hat on.
12 miles in the oven of the desert cranked up. We made it past the huge windmill farm and down to TylerHorse Canyon for lunch and a nap under the only tree we could find. Being 25 miles from the town of Mojave motivated us to leave our pathetic shade and water source for a long 3,000 foot climb that finished off the day. There we found another oasis of lawn chairs and bottled water. It's so nice to have seat with a back.
Our animal sightings today were 1 Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, a cool lizard with a blue chin, lots of Jack Rabbits, and a few Horny Toads. Coach caught a Horny Toad and we were all surprised when blood came out of his eyes, a defense mechanism. Night hiking is nice, but the hard part is getting enough sleep during the day.

An early rise to knock out 17 miles before noon. Seriously, who are we? 17 miles before lunch?! That's what happens when the vortex of town sucks you in. The trail today was mild and spent walking through another giant windmill farm. A thin layer of clouds really helped the temperatures. We have really lucked out the last few days. Most hikers talk about the wind blowing so hard that it knocks you down, but for us it was calm.
Yesterday was our month anniversary. 550 miles in one month. Our biggest month ever. 136 miles left of the "desert" section. Technically we are in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, but the real Sierra start at Kennedy Meadows (136 miles North).
A trail angel, Tortoise, gave us a ride into Mojave, CA. This town is the place to be for commercial space exploration. I was hoping to get a look at Space X or Virgin Galactic, but seems to be Super Secret Squirrel stuff.
As usual our first town stop was a place to eat. We laughed about our lunch conversations. "Oh my god, you have to try this chocolate shake!". "No, no, try these onion rings!" "Wait, I can't. I got a brain freeze from my orange slushy."
Our hotel reminded me of a place from The movie Erin Brockovich. Small, but clean rooms, with an icy swimming pool. We laid in the shade while soaking our feet in the pool while a train passed by. A long-distance trucker lady living in one of the rooms invited us to the Elks Lodge for dinner tomorrow night. Her dog, Atlas, is her traveling buddy.
Days off (Zero Days) are meant to be spent horizontally and that's our plan for tomorrow.



Country Mouse & Shadow