PCT Day 30

Sawmill Campground to Bushcamp

33 miles

Mile 531.2

We had planned for an early start the previous night, so my alarm buzzed me awake at 5. Dark, windy and freezing out, leaving the safety of my tent was quite the chore.

Before I finished packing Spikes and Mike were already gone. I polished off my breakfast brew while fumbling in the darkness for my gloves. It was way too cold out, and the sky’s looked dark.

Shortly after I started walking snow began to fall, covering the trail with a clean sheet of white that crunched beneath my feet. We were about 20 miles from Hiker Town, where we planned to seek refuge until nightfall when we’d walk the barren dirt road adjacent the LA aqua duct.

KP, Swift, Stretch and I made short work of the 20 mile descent into the desert valley below. We stopped once to slam some calories and to snap pics at the 500 mile marker, then continued winding our way down trading the mountain pine trees for the rolling green wildflower covered foothills.

Around 11 it had finally warmed enough to remove my puffy. The wind was terrible, blasting me with chills each time the sun fell behind a cloud.

The trail eventually spit me out on a dirt road leading to Hiker Town.

When I arrived, no one was in sight.

The odd place consisted of a miniature movie set like town. I passed the sheriffs office, grocery store, a hotel and saloon on my way to the shade of an opened garage in the corner of the property.

Expecting to find Spikes and Mike there, I was greeted by a hiker I had yet to meet named Sandals. He said he hadn’t seen anyone all morning, so I pondered where our friends had gone.

Shortly after I’d arrived an older gentleman named Bob approached and introduced himself as the caretaker. He told me he had just taken my friends to the grill down the street, and could take us there when ready.

I certainly had the hunger after knocking out 20 miles by noon, so KP, Stretch, Swift and I hopped in his truck to be ferried to the feeding grounds.

Entering the part grill part convenience store called Neenach, we saw our friends eating alongside another group of hikers.

Reunited, I put in my order of chicken tenders, street tacos, fries and a Diet Coke. It was delicious, but left me wanting more, so I placed a second order of ice cream and a 2 lb breakfast burrito called The Piggy, which I ended up sharing with Spikes when I ran out of room in my stomach.

Once we had finished eating we migrated to a sort of lounge area they allow hikers to hangout in. We were accompanied by the other group of hikers, who had just began the 24 by 24 challenge. This ridiculous challenge involves drinking 24 beers over 24 miles, which in theory may sound like fun, but in practice certainly is not.

They were a fun loving rowdy group. When they stumbled onto the trail around 5 we wished them the best of luck and figured we’d see them down the trail.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, our night hike was quickly approaching, so we went out to the road to attempt to hitch back to Hiker Town. I don’t know what it is about my thumb, but the second I threw it out the first car pulled to a stop for us to cram in.

We thanked our friendly driver as he pulled up to our destination, and retreated back to the garage where we’d left our packs. We relaxed here for a couple of hours, booking a Best Western for a zero day in Tehachapi while we waited for nightfall.

Just as the sun sank below the mountains we began part two of the days hike. Most people prefer to walk the LA aqua duct section of trail during night due to the flat, waterless, hot and barren nature of it.

The six of us set out in full layers to fend off the chilly wind that ripped at our backs. We walked without headlamps, preferring to use moonlight as we star gazed along the way.

It was a incredible night, and interesting change of pace. The cold night proved to be to much for most critters to be out, but we did see a strange type of mouse that hopped on its hind legs like a kangaroo.

None of the pictures I took during the night turned out…so you’ll have to use your imagination.

Shortly before 1am we found a suitable campsite. We were absolutely beat from the 33 miles we’d walked, so sleep came easy. I believe we’ll be sleeping in a bit tomorrow…

Cheers!