Day 37: Mile 427 – 444.3

All night I was warm, but the minute I woke up at 4:15am this morning, I was freezing cold. At our campsite in the clouds, the combination of wind and wet air made me not want to get up to hike at all. I was feeling worn down from the last couple of days of doing 20 miles back to back.

I packed up and set off on trail. I discovered that our campsite sat right behind Strawberry Peak, which brought back memories of peakbagging with Bryan. It was bitterly cold with the wind, but beautiful, with the clouds illuminated by the rising sun.

I was sort of in a crummy mood, I think due to general exhaustion. It’s a bummer when the things around me are so pretty, and I know that they are, but it’s hard to appreciate them because I’m stuck in my head or in a bad mood.

The theme of the morning was costume changes: the wind would blow and I’d put my layers on, and then I’d be going up a hill in the sun and have to take them all off. I stopped for a break at a ranger station, and Clare, Rory, and Sandra were there, along with Bumble, an experienced hiker who’s done the Appalachian Trail and Continental Divide Trail.

We’ve been running into each other a bunch, and I told him that I was having a hard time truly appreciating the landscape the past couple of days. His advice was that some days we hike to appreciate things, and then there are just days we hike to get to camp. It helped me a lot to hear that, to put less pressure on myself to feel a certain way on a day to day basis. I’m out here for five months, after all. If my head is not in the game every day, that’s perfectly acceptable.

The afternoon held a descent down into the desert again. I continued my quest to listen to Adrienne Lenker’s discography with “A-Sides and B-Sides.” I turned a corner into the wind. I felt it whip into me as looked out to the chapparal covered mountains. I felt a little better, more alive.

The descent was easy, smooth, hiking. After the last few days of cold wind, the warmer temperatures made me almost relieved to be back in the desert again.

I stopped to filter water at Mattox Canyon Creek, and Sandra was there. It was such a beautiful spot— tons of tent sites, flowers blooming by the creek, and a huge beautiful tree. I spotted Rory and Clare taking a nap under it, and me and Sandra laughed at how passed out they were! I wish that we could’ve camped there! Discovering spots like this is so special. When I make it to Oregon I hope that I can find spots like these!!

I called my brother since I had reception hiking out of the canyon, and we caught up as I finished the last few miles of the day. It made the time go by so fast, and I was so grateful to have him to chat with.

Turning down towards the parking lot to exit trail I was met with trail magic!! Greg and Don lived in San Clarita and had set up coolers with Gatorade, candy bars, and fresh fruit! It was awesome to chat with them and also hang out with my group for a bit and have fun. We’d be camping separately tonight so it made the end-of-day reunion even sweeter.

Sandra and I got a ride with Greg to the LA RV Park in Acton, where we’d be staying the night. It was a cute spot, albeit a little worn down and grimy, but totally sufficient for me with a shower, laundry, and a flat spot to sleep. The Metrolink to LA passed right next to it, but I was sure that with how tired I was, it wouldn’t bother me at all.

I did laundry, ate two microwaveable Marie Calendar’s meals in the lounge, and took a shower. It felt stressful to try to fit these chores into an evening, but I knew that it meant I could relax a bit more going into Agua Dulce tomorrow.

I ended the night feeling a bit overwhelmed, but also with the awareness that it would probably be fixed by a night of sleep. I’d been pushing hard, and even though I had hiked 17.50 miles today, that was still fewer than I had been doing recently. It felt good to take a “break” and “only” hike 17. Tomorrow will be about 10 miles to Agua Dulce, which will be an actual break! I’ll reunite with everyone in the group and go from there.

This section has been quite difficult, and I probably pushed myself a little more than I would have liked. It’s crazy to think that I’m comparing myself to other people, thinking I’m barely keeping up, when in reality I’m hiking at least 16-20 miles a day and have almost reached 450 miles total! I’m doing really good!!

Day 38: Mile 444.3 – 454.7

I love sleeping on flat, grassy spots! I knew I would have a great sleep at the RV park. I woke up early but took my time getting ready, since I only had 10 miles to do for the day. I wanted to have a better awareness of the stress I put on myself to rush and get to trail. I listened to music as I got ready, and loved the lyrics in “To Live is To Fly,” by Townes Van Zandt:

Days, up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don’t turn none away

It made me think of the advice Bumble gave me yesterday about how not every day on trail is this amazing experience. It was enough just to be out here, even during the hard moments.

The beginning of the day was a moderate climb that transitioned to smooth hiking through desert grassland. I was feeling really good. I felt like I was hiking super quickly and easily, pushing almost 3.5 miles per hour according to my watch. After being the person that people always pass, I have to admit that it felt good to be speeding along. I think that a little bit of rest and the good trail really make a difference!! My trail legs are really coming along!

I hiked below the Highway 14 underpass into the canyonlands of Vasquez Rocks County Park. I had never been to this part of the park before, and loved the feeling of being secluded in the canyon.

I visited Vasquez Rocks with Isabel almost two years ago, and remember thinking about how I might eventually come back on the PCT. The rocks are a famous filming location for Star Trek and western movies.

There were tons of interpretative signs on trail, which I loved reading since I’m a big nerd. I learned about how there used to be a small community who lived in the area around Vasquez Rocks, and even had a zip line to descend the canyon. I wish there was a way to learn facts like this on other sections of the trail!!!

I hiked into Agua Dulce and met up with Rory and Clare for breakfast. I made it into town super early and was so proud of how fast I had hiked! As a reward, I ate the most incredible Eggs Florentine from The Cowboy Tavern. It’s one of my favorite meals on trail so far!

I had a bunch of food left over in my pack from this last section, so I really didn’t have much work to do for resupplying. I got a few things and headed to Serenity’s Oasis, a PCT campground that a trail angel ran out of his backyard in town.

The campsite was amazing! Farmer John, the trail angel, created the most well-kept and accommodating campsite for PCT hikers. There was a shower, a little store, a charging area and tons of spots to camp. Reggae music played on the speakers in the communal areas. Everyone was so happy and relaxed. I reunited with so many people I’d seen on trail, including Lydia, who I hadn’t seen since PVC!! It felt like this place was bringing us together for the last part of the desert.

I chilled out in a hammock, writing blog posts. I did some chores and organized my stuff, and hung out with my friends. It was a very fun and relaxing evening.

Later in the night, someone brought up the idea of going to Six Flags tomorrow, since it was only thirty minutes away. By the end of the night, everyone was convinced. I was feeling pretty tired and didn’t want to do the extra walking involved in going to a theme park, even though I wanted to be with my group. I decided to just zero in Agua Dulce! I was so happy to be able to take extra time to rest after the difficult week.

I ended the night talking to Isabel on the phone for about an hour. Dozens of hikers rolled into the campsite while I was on the phone, so when I got back to my tent, I was met with cowboy campers all over the place. I felt bad for possibly waking them up as I crawled into my tent.

I’m so happy to be taking a day off tomorrow by myself. I was originally planning to head out tomorrow, but now that I’m staying, I’m relieved. I’ve already got my chores done, so I want to focus on getting caught up on the blog, responding to texts, and getting mentally ready for trail. I want to start this next section of trail more relaxed and less distracted. My intention for this next section, which goes through more mountains until reaching the Mojave Desert, is to slow down physically and mentally. I probably did too many miles per day last week, and stressed way too much about logistics and my own speed. This is going to be another hard section, with long water-carries and hot temperatures, and I don’t want to make it harder on myself by getting stuck in my own head or doing too much.

I’ll post a brief update from the zero, and then it’s back to trail! My next town is Tehachapi, which is almost (but not quite) the start of the Sierras. I still have about 250 miles of desert left, but I’ll be officially downloading the Sierras map on FarOut after Tehachapi. I can’t believe how close the end of the desert is. I’m sure I’ll be reflecting on this section of the PCT a lot in the coming days, and maybe putting a fun playlist together.

Thank you for reading!!!