PCT-4

PCT Mile 478 - Sat, May 26

As we wake up at casa de luna we have a nice surprise: our friend Mike is joining us for the next 15 miles! He was our neighbor in Simsbury and now lives near San Diego.

Sharing the trail with a friend! We loved it! And thanks for the extra food Mike!

We have started the driest part of the PCT also. Water becomes a precious commodity. In particular the day after Mike returns to his car. We discover what “guzzlers” are:

A roof that collects rain water and stores it in a tank!

We're still hiking at a nice upper and cool altitude but we can see the dreaded hot and dry Mojave desert below awaiting us..

Flowers continue to offer us their daily show. In just a few miles we go from oak groves blanketed by pink grasses to blooming red or white flowers along tree-less trails.

During a steep climb under a scorching sun, we also pass PCT mile marker 500! Gone are the previous foggy days with their much welcome cool for us hard working hikers.

PCT Mile 517 - Monday, May 28

We spend our last night on the Angeles Crest and hike down to Hiker Town in the hot and burning Mojave desert. We're dreading the days ahead. The temperature is close to 95F (35C).

Hiker Town is a hodgepodge of Western-like semi abandoned bungalows akin to a movie set, cars, a running Rolls Royce (!), a shuttle to a store, buckets and soap to wash clothes, one shower and a couple toilets!

Our plan is to cross the hottest section of the Mojave desert at night the next day, like most hikers do. So we spend the rest of the day resting, eating and discussing with all the hikers that congregate here. Jeremy loves these social breaks amongst hikers. He has quickly become very popular. The only teenager as well as one of very few African Americans hiking the PCT. His given trail name is “Frozone” from Disney's super hero character in “The Incredibles”. As a result, we his parents have been given the trail names: “Papazone”and “Mamazone”!!!

Actually the first priority upon arriving at the Hiker Town compound is getting some level of cleanliness. Hygiene and cleanliness are Muriel’s biggest challenge on the trail. We get so filthy, covered with a crust of dust and sweat during our hike. We stink! Muriel carries extra loads of baby wipes to get a semblance of hygiene before tucking herself into her backpack in the evening but nothing replaces a good shower. We wonder at the many young hikers, girls included, that stay day after day in their filth. Feet are a special show of horrors. The light trail runner shoes downside versus our previous bulky hiking boots is that feet are total dirt disasters at the end of the day.

As for Jeremy, this is the least of his concern. And since he has his own tent, we leave him alone, bathing in his stinkiness!

Tuesday, May 29 - PCT mile 535

Again we spend the day resting and eating until 4pm to refill on calories (never seen Muriel eating this much junk food!).

Luck brings in a cover of thin clouds right when we're about to start hiking. With the wind blowing also, it helps lower the heat. We have to cross a critical 17-mile section of the Mojave desert this evening, which is brutally hot during day time.

Thankfully, we make fast progress as it is totally flat. We're hiking with a retired Arizona State Trooper and former US Marine and chatting along the way, his trail name is “Hardware”!

The trail follows the Los Angeles aqueduct. The sun scorched flat desert is only populated by Joshua trees.

Actually our main source of concern is Jeremy. He hasn't rested much at Hiker Town as he was ultra busy socialising with everybody, his favorite occupation on the PCT.  The result: he keeps dragging behind and totally stalls after only 7 miles! He is also trying to delay us as he is actually waiting for another party of young hikers he befriended who were planning on leaving later at night. Muriel gets thoroughly pissed with his defiant behavior and since many other parties of hikers are going to follow in strides, we decide to leave him where he has stopped and move on with strict instructions to not attempt hiking alone in the desert.

Over the past few days he has increasingly joined with other groups of young hikers and made a point to stay away from us until we'd meet for camp in the evening. He's proven to be able to take care of himself and not depend on us. So this is going to cater to his 16 year old independance craving and risk seeking behavior.

It gets dark soon after we leave Jeremy behind but we have a full moon. Walking amongst Joshua trees on desert sand paths under the moonlight is truly an unforgettable experience. We see none of the dreaded rattlesnakes said to hunt at night but we see a coyote from very close.

We arrive at our targeted campsite by 11:00 pm; it took us only 7 hours to cover the 17 miles! A faucet maintained by the water company makes it a popular camp for PCT hikers. Water is the most precious commodity here. We're in the middle of a huge wind farm with the giant windmills rolling noisily over our heads.

Jeremy arrives only at 7am (!!) the next morning, having given us a bit of a scare as we expected him to arrive during the night and see his tent around when we would wake up at sunset. As expected, he joined with a group of hikers. But he pretty much spent the entire night waiting for his hikers’ friends who never showed up and then ended up hiking very late with only a short sleep on the way. He is very excited with his night hike experience though.

To add to everybody's excitement, a baby bobcat shows up at our campsite. He wanders around and causes quite a bit of commotion within the hiking community since we don't know if he is alone and starving or if his mom is just gone hunting.

Time to go again. A strong northern wind helps tame the heat of the sun. The PCT traverses the huge wind farm as it climbs up back to the mountains.

Jeremy is quite tired from the night hike but he keeps moving nevertheless to our next camp where he crashes to sleep right away, not afraid of cowboy camping!

Thursday May 31st - PCT mile 558

We hike to Tehachapi.

We're impressed by how far behind us on the horizon the Angeles Crest is. Just a few days ago we were there!

There are wind farms and generators everywhere here too.

At Tehachapi we treat ourselves with a comfortable Best Western hotel stay of 2 nights. Probably the Best Western with the most hikers in the country! 😂

But we actually have to prepare our resupply boxes for the High Sierras ahead. There will not be grocery stores along the way as we have had so far. So we have to ship food to some specific locations along the trail ahead:: Kennedy Meadows, Independence, VVT… and we end up by not really resting nor enjoying our “zero mile day” since we spend it planning, grocery shopping, boxing, shipping, etc. This was actually more tiring than hiking!!!

Jeremy and our hiking buddy “Hardware” looking at the groceries mess!

Saturday June 2nd - PCT mile 583

Back on the trail for a big day: 17 miles and 4000ft up, temperature of 90F with no water on the way! We weighted our backpacks before leaving the hotel and, loaded with 4 liters of water each for the day, they came at 39 pounds for Joao, 45 pounds for Muriel (bear canister, and extra toiletries!) and 45 lbs for Jeremy (extra teenager food supply). This is crazy, but we've been loaded that way after each resupply stop and it’s always been when we have the most challenging climbing days also!

We're hiking the mountains above the Mojave desert and here's what the water report says:

Tehachapi to Walker Pass is the driest section of the Pacific Crest Trail. This section is also much more remote than any of the previous PCT sections with fewer road crossings, and almost no cell phone service.

We are definitely planning our hiking according to the water sources!

Sunday June 3rd - PCT mile 602

Jeremy continues to impress us. He keeps up with another tough day, 19 miles, 3800ft up, and too much heat. And he makes it!

We get early enough to enjoy the water at the arrival. Muriel's feet needed it. 😂

Tuesday June 5 - PCT mile 637

It has been a very tough desert hike. An aggravating factor all along the southern part of the PCT is the crossing of many large burnt areas where shade is gone for miles and the landscape is sad.

Very hot, water many miles apart forcing up to 19 mile-day hikes and still climbing 3000 - 4000ft everyday with heavy backpacks due to hauling extra water.

But we've learned a few tricks. We hike from 7am till noon then make a long siesta then hike again from 6 to 9pm. It's such a great idea to hike in the evening with soft sunset lights and cooler air. It is peaceful and the desert becomes gorgeous.

Jeremy follows quite well even if sometimes he's quite a few miles behind. He's becoming a man of the woods!

For the first time we have to rely on water caches. They are water provided by Trail Angels along the way. Because we are in a very dry year there are stretches of up to 40 miles without springs flowing. So 2 of these caches are critical. We hear that they need at least 100 gallons per day to supply the steady stream of hikers!!! But it is stressful not to know if they have been restocked for when we'll arrive.

Wednesday June 6 - PCT mile 652

Yesterday we rested in the shade for 6 hours and then hiked until dark. It was an impressive climb from desert Joshua trees to pines.

And then we hiked down again… that's the story of the PCT! 😂😂

At last we make it to Walker Pass. All hikers agree that this has been the most strenuous stretch of the PCT so far. We are all longing to get out of the desert. But we still have 50 miles of tough desert climbs to reach Kennedy Meadows, the gate to the High Sierras.

For the third time we are lucky to find Coppertone (a wonderful Trail Angel) at our arrival in Walker Pass. He offers free drinks, ice cream floats, fruits, cookies, etc. from his parked RV. It's such a treat!

He was in Acton first, near the KOA, then near Tehachapi and now at Walker Pass. This is his last stop though.

Thank you Coppertone!

We also get a ride to Ridgecrest to get some rest, showers, send the blog, etc.

Next hike is to Kennedy Meadows. We're close to the Sierras!