Hannah the hiker

I ended up zeroing on day 27! Jason’s house was the ultimate hiker paradise. Hot tub, pool, big couches, lots of candy, coffee, loaner clothes, showers, laundry. Plus I met three new hikers, Gams, Zack, and Stewart. So we all zeroed at his place which was nice. It felt great to relax in the hot tub and eat a lot of tasty food. And to take a shower! I was pretty stinky and dirty.

I left his house on day 28, September 29th with Gams, Zack, and Stewart. They all keep a pretty good pace but I wanted to try and keep up with them so I could have people to hike with. We left around 8:30. We had a good amount of uphill past more windmills and dirt roads. We stopped around 11 for lunch at a small water cache. I had a tasty peanut butter and jelly tortilla with beef jerky!

We left around 12 to keep on hiking. I chatted a bit with all of them, it was so nice to have people to talk to again.

Our next water source after lunch was 17 miles away, so we aimed to camp there.

At one point we all got a little off trail, and I had to walk through a bunch of prickly brush to get back. It was annoying, that doesn’t happen to me often.

We took a small break around 3 where they showed me a game they like to play “butthole toss.” Anytime they see a good target on a rock or tree they all get three stones to try and hit the center of it. Zack won.

The trail was washed out in parts which called for big leaps of careful steps on loose gravel. I took my time and didn’t slip in any parts!

We walked by a trail magic site as well. Some trail angels left snacks, water jugs, and books in tin cabinets by some tables and chairs. We all filled up on water, signed our names, and kept on hiking.

The trail was pretty exposed through here so I was able to see the trail, and how far ahead the rest of the group was for me. This was motivating though! They were still in sight, so I felt like I wasn’t that much slower than them.

I got to camp by 7 just as it was getting dark. It was a 24.9 mile day with about 4,500 feet of elevation gain. I felt proud that I was able to somewhat keep up and could set up camp before nightfall. I had some knorrs creamy garlic shells for dinner and went to sleep around 8.

Day 29 was great!

I got up early and left camp by 5:45. Gams, Zack, and Stewart left at 6 and we all caught up for a breakfast break at 8. The morning was nice and cool with more windmills and a bright orange sky. We stopped at the cottonwood creek faucet, our last water for 14 miles. We filled up and left around 8:30.

We had 17 miles of road walking and walked next to the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Those 17 miles were pretty flat and brutal on my knees! I feel like walking on flat ground hurts more than any up or downhill.

We all stayed in a group and talked for a good part of the way. We saw one section hiker, cows, and a couple trucks. We also saw one property with a bunch of rvs parked there which was a little strange.

We stopped at 11 for lunch with only 9 more miles to go til Hikertown.

The last 9 miles felt like the most boring. I listened to music to pass some time but it didn’t help that much. Eventually we saw the aqueduct which was kind of neat since it has such a big reputation on the PCT. We hiked it on the perfect day, it was overcast and cool so all of the exposure wasn’t too bad.

We made it to Hikertown around 2:30. We walked 24 miles by 2:30!

We called the number for the cafe down the road to pick us up. We all piled in and headed toward an early dinner.

I got chicken tenders and sweet potato fries! So good.

Stewart, Zack, and Gams bought some food for resupply as well. Stewart bought a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream and ate the whole thing in 12 minutes. A new record for him!

I got a drumstick and chocolate mousse which was super tasty. We headed back to the trail around 5:30 and walked a mile and half to camp. It was an early night. I wasn’t complaining though, that road walk made me tired and sore. I went to sleep around 7:30.

Day 30 was my longest day yet! We did 30.6 miles!

I got up and left camp by 6, it didn’t take long for the rest of the crew to catch up to me.

We were walking right next to a hunting club so there were a lot of signs about staying on trail.

We had breakfast at a water source around 8.

The morning was chilly and we all had some layers on to stay warm.

We had about a 4 mile uphill, which was pretty steep! It slowed me down quite a bit. We walked into some misty fog hanging over the mountains which made us colder when we stopped for a snack break.

We continued on and eventually saw some pink and white ribbon hung in trees. We also saw a headlamp that was on and hanging in a tree which was a little weird.

And then we met people who were looking for their friend that went hunting with them but got lost. We kept an ear and eye out for him. We also met a forest ranger out looking who gave us some water bottles!

At around 12 we stopped for lunch at the 500 mile marker. It was still cold so lunch was short. I changed into my Halloween socks to celebrate the start of October. Zack also found a tick on his leg so we all made sure to check ourselves later that day.

We continued on and had a little up and down then a lot of downhill. I was pretty tired and bored. I listened to some podcasts to pass the time.

We met back up where there was a water cistern. The only thing is that it was surrounded by poodle dog bush. I wasn’t too keen on having another rash of any sort so I skipped the water and we decided to go 5.8 further to the next stream. We did a little bit of road walking and had some good conversation which helped pass the time. Gams taught me the phonetic alphabet too!

We even saw a tarantula! The first one I’ve seen on trail!

We filled up on water and continued to camp which was just across a paved road. I was super tired and hungry so I tried to set up quickly so I could eat and sleep.

I went to sleep around 8. It was about 4,700 feet of elevation gain and 5,000 loss. Not bad for a 30 mile day!

Day 31 was another town day. I woke up and my tent was damp from condensation. It was kind of annoying to pack it away, all that water adds weight!

We left camp by 6 and started the uphill. It was another pretty sunrise as we were climbing out of a little valley. Things heated up quickly too so I was able to finally take my sweater off! It felt nice to feel the sun on my skin after a cold couple of days.

We got to the top of our climb around 8 and sat in the sun a moment. Normally we have breakfast but this morning we wanted to wait and be hungry when we got to town. We then hiked down to San Francisquito valley road. I tried to call my parents but I lost service when we got closer to the road which was kind of a bummer.

At the road we tried hitchiking into Green Valley but no one picked us up. So we walked a mile and a half to the market. It’s really just a big gas station. We got there around 9:30 and immediately laid out all of our wet tents and sleeping bags. I bought some juice and breakfast. This consisted of a frozen burrito (that I microwaved in the store) and a pint of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. It was tasty and hit the spot! We hung out until about 12, Gams, Stewart, and Zack had to buy some resupply here. It was nice to relax and sit in the sun.

Getting back on trail took a little while. Lots of cars passed by and didn’t stop. One truck slowed down and said sorry because they didn’t have any room. That was the only car that slowed down, I think due to Gams dancing. And the guy turned back around and made room for the 4 of us not even 10 minutes later. He brought us back to trail and we started walking by 1. It was more uphill but didn’t feel too steep. We stopped for a late lunch around 2 and had more good conversation. It’s so nice hiking with people that are funny, it feels good to laugh.

The day stayed pretty warm so I didn’t have to put my sweater on til camp.

The trail was also pretty wide through here and we could see it cross mountains ahead and behind us. I love when I can see that.

We hiked down to Bouquet canyon road and crossed into the mountains on the other side. Here we had more uphill which felt a little steeper. I was tired too so it might not have been that bad.

We walked to the piped bear spring and filled up on our last water before Agua Dulce. Then we headed to camp, it was about 7:30 so we all had to wear headlamps to see the trail. We got to a dirt road with some campsites in the trees. There was a weird backpack with a bunch of food and gear hanging around it which kind of creeped us out. So we just camped a little ways away from it. It was a late night so I went to sleep around 9. 23 miles and 4,500 feet of elevation gain for this day.

Day 32 started at 6 am. I didn’t want to get up I was so tired from the night before.

We only had 8 ish miles to Serenity’s oasis which was mostly downhill. We stopped at 8 for a quick break and continued on. We had a good road walk which was just as boring as all the others. We got to the oasis around 9:20 and I picked up my new shoes, resupply, and a letter from Maura!

We left around 10:30 and headed to the Cowboy tavern for breakfast. Farmer John at the oasis gave us coupons for it too!

We will walk about 11 more miles to Acton where Zack will get his new shoes and we can all shower and do laundry. It’s a good day! We will have three days to Wrightood after Acton as well! I sent some items home from the oasis to lighten my load so my pack is feeling a teensy bit lighter.