Trail Magic, Windmills, and Getting Naked at 500

Before I get into my weekly update here's a video from Baden Powell Summit from last week.

I regretfully left Hiker's Heaven in Agua Dulce and headed North once more, still savoring the smell of fabric softener that clung to my clothes from the wash at the Saufley's.  Of the three other hikers who'd been there with me Orange Ranger and Alex were taking zero days and my friend Jessie James had already hiked on ahead of me in order to meet his parents near Lake Hughes so I was on my own once again.

About an hour North I was disappointed to discover that my MP3 player hadn't charged when I plugged it in at Hiker's Heaven and so I wouldn't have my audio books to listen to for the next week.  GASP!  What did that leave me to do while I hiked?  Enjoy the sounds of nature?  Self reflection?? 

Let me tell you people- after spending 10-14 hours hiking day after day sometimes a little distraction is nice especially when you don't have anyone else to talk to.  I'm pretty confident that Lewis and Clark would've totally dug listening to an audio book or two while floating down the Missouri.

It was hot and dry country North of Agua Dulce with long stretches between reliable water and very little shade.  I found myself feeling grateful once more that I'd left early enough that it was still relatively cool and green.  

About 8 or 10 miles out I came across some interesting Trail Magic.  I'll let the video explain the rest except to mention that the Trail Angels responsible for it are the Andersons who, besides setting up this oasis every year, also open up their home in Green Valley to hikers.  I didn't stay there so missed out on the famous taco salad and pancakes but was still thrilled by the Trail Magic.

I'd heard that there would be an extra-full moon so after hiking until 7 PM I decided that I'd just keep on going and try a little night hiking.  It was a beautiful and magical experience to hike at night under the full moon and what made it extra memorable was also the fact that I was also celebrating my first full month on the trail and I was also approaching my first 500 miles.  Therefore, I felt I had no choice but to get naked at midnight and hike in the buff for a couple of hours!  Seriously, I got naked.  

In addition to the night hiking I'd been thinking for awhile (even before the naked hikers a few weeks ago) that I'd like to try some naked hiking so I figured what better time?  At least at night I wouldn't traumatize any children because probably anyone else I came across at midnight in the middle of nowhere would probably be just as crazy and naked as I was.

So I hiked until 5 AM, slept for 2 hours, then hiked through the rest of the day to Hiker Town.  It was a crazy 32 hours and while the night hiking was totally worth it I probably won't do that to myself again for at least another 500 miles.  

I met a couple more thru-hikers- a 59 year old man with the trail name "Yeti," from Washington state who said that he'd planning on hiking the trail to celebrate his 60th birthday but was laid-off from work so hit the trail a year early.   Hiking with Yeti a young man named Dan who was friendly but I didn't get to find out much of his story and in Hiker Town I also met another young man named "Flapjack" from South Africa.  

Yeti

Hiker Town is a fun place for hikers to stay for very cheap that is made-up to like like a movie set from an old Western movie.  You can read about it here.  And watch my movie below.

The next day I walked into the dry country- 15 miles before the next good water.  At least half the day I followed an enclosed aqueduct thinking how ironic it would be to die of thirst with millions of gallons of water rushing by just a few feet below my feet. 

I bypassed a really nice little oasis of green by a small, cool creek in order to do a few more miles that day so I wouldn't have as long to walk to get to Tehachipi Pass near Hwy 58.  Unfortunately as I climbed up to 5000 feet there wasn't much in the way of camping and it was getting dark.  Therefore I wound up picking the first decent flat spot I found which happened to be on a ridge high above the wind farm.  

It was extremely windy and I had a comical time attempting to anchor various gear and clothing down with my hands, feet, and teeth while trying to get undressed and settled in for the night.  At one point my sleeping back was blowing out horizontally from my desperate grasp like a giant, olive-drab wind sock and my sleeping pad rolled off the mountain-side.  Check out the video below.

The next day I rushed onward to Tehachipi pass where I planned to meet my Dad and stay with my two Aunts for a few days.  I knew I could expect a nice comfortable place to stay and all the good food I could manage to stuff into my face so although my feet were very sore I made excellent time.  

Much of the time was spent walking through the windmills in the Tehachipi hills- it was interesting and surreal to be so close to the giant, spinning monoliths.

Since I'll be entering the Sierras soon I'll be switching to my other pack since my DIY pack is too small to carry a 10 day stretch of food.  It's been a great pack and proved to be far more sturdy and resilient then I'd hoped therefore I made a short tribute video.  We'll be re-united in Northern California- goodbye is not forever.