Bushcamp to Hiker Heaven
22.7 miles
Sobo mile 2198.1
Total mileage 4850.7
I woke up at 1am and couldn’t fall back asleep, so figured I’d just roll with it and get into Agua Dulce in time for breakfast! A bit before 2am I was heading towards town! The wind began to pick up throughout the morning, growing increasingly annoying as I hiked.
Around 3am I passed a hiker named Chance I’d met in Kennedy Meadows whose tent looked like it was about to blow away. Not much later I passed Gimili, who looked equally uncomfortable huddled on the ground cowboy camping.
The sun rose as I began ascending the last mountain between town and myself. The switchbacks were well graded, but the intense headwind made things tricky.
Once I made it to the top, I followed a long set of switchbacks down the other side until the trail deposited me onto a paved road. From here it was an easy 2 mile road walk into town, where I pulled into a diner for some breakfast.
Inside the diner I ordered a coffee, the vegetarian omelette with bacon and a bacon breakfast burrito.
The food tasted great, and it was a relief to be out of the wind for a bit. Once I’d paid the bill I headed down the street to Hiker Heaven. This place is run by Donna Saufley, who opens up her doors to weary hikers all season long. She has an awesome guest house for us to crash in with a warm shower and Netflix. She even does our laundry!
When I arrived there were two hikers already there, Zig Zag and JD. I’d planned on grabbing my resupply box and continuing on to the Acton KOA, but the ferocious wind convinced me to hang around.
Chance and Gimili arrived shortly after I. The five of us ended up all sticking around for the evening, playing poker, drinking beer and fattening up on junk food. It was a good day.
Cheers!
Now that you’re through the Sierra’s with barely a scratch of snow, you can tell you’re relaxing a bit and don’t have the same sense of urgency.
Hiking 40 miles curled up with giardia before the Sierra’s then huddling out of an inconvenient wind post-Sierra’s.
I like it. You’ve earned it. It’s been an awesome double trek few could or have accomplished. Enjoy the finish.
Thanks Rick! I’m definitely slowing down and enjoying Southern Cali. Cheers!
I will be sad when this comes to an end. I have enjoyed coming along with you on this trip.
I’ll be blogging my South America adventure, so more is coming in December!
” the vegetarian omelette with bacon” haha I’m glad I’m not alone with this order. I get strange looks.
Enjoy the desert. Think of ice, snow, freezing sleet, and falling into ice cold creeks.
Carry on.
It’s a pro order Roger! I’m loving the desert. Perfect temps and epic weather cruising into the finish!
I absolutely agree with Terrie… I have loved being on this Venture with you and I’m going to miss these blogs!! Well done! I am the proud owner of a PCT map now as I followed your journey on the wall!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed following along. Cheers!
Will you do a post-yoyo summary of nobo vs sobo?
So far which direction do you prefer?
Absolutely! I’ll be spending my post trail month writing all sorts of articles about my experience. Both directions were so different with their pros and cons, but I definitely enjoyed going north more since I was with Paige!