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!