Caleb is getting water from the creek when I find him. I help carry it back to camp and then we walk and watch the birds and chipmunks around us. There is a phone signal some four miles from camp, so we drive there so I can edit and publish posts. I’ll get a bunch of writing done while we move between the sun and shade as the temperature changes throughout the day.
Soccer Mom finding a good campsite
We stop at Parker Meadow and get to see Search and Rescue training in action. The tent and vehicle setup is similar to movie depictions, but the permission to throw rocks or use bear spray on the people running around in red shirts is only in real life. We see a bunch of four-wheelers and up on the hill, we hear, “I was fucking around with everyone else’s, I didn’t even put it in four wheel drive.” Each driver will wave as they pass.
SAR Basecamp
We meet Red, one of the sheriff’s office’s trainers, who is looking forward to finishing her last 200 miles of the PCT with her husband Grizzly. We continue up the sandy path that sends little particles onto our pants and into our noses with every step. It seems more obvious here but it is also what happens every day on the PCT, which I’m sure occurs on other trails but I’ve never felt so dirty as I do walking through the desert.
The day-use lot and any campground spot are taken, as is the space near the entrance, when we return. Caleb will move the full-lot sign barrier as Darin recognizes us and calms a guy wanting to know where to go.. perhaps park near a no-parking sign like other vehicles on the road. We attempt to walk the trail in the afternoon but the amount of human traffic is too much.
SAR trainees
We will go up the road and explore a softer sandy road down a decline to see more big trees, hidden in a valley, and plenty of piles of dead wood just waiting to burn in the next wildfire. We find an abandoned five-gallon shower bag in need of some repairs and it feels good to rinse my hands, even though the chipped polish shows how dirty my nails are, after a seven-mile day.
We’re up before the other campers and take our time on The Trail of 100 Giants while we have it to ourselves. We will make the over-hour-long drive into the town of Ducor, at 39 mpg, so that we have enough gas to make it up these hills. It’s another 13 miles to the Chinese Food Factory in Porterville where we can sit in the shade for two hours before Caleb is ready to return to the trees.
Music is rare these days, mostly because of choosing to hike without it, but also the choices available when the radio picks up a station. On our return, I will hear “One Minute Past Eternity” performed by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1969, and I think of how much Caleb loves me, just a bit more than the coast redwoods of national park fame. We got 39mpg going downhill but forgot to check the other direction.
Sequoia cone
With the picnic table back in the sun, I’m free to write offline. Caleb will get into the tent to read more comfortably after we watch a dad try to run over a tree. I’m glad it was there, though, or he’d have driven into our site. I watch the son move the car, again, but this time to air up a queen mattress to fit in their yurt with bunk beds and a futon. We’ll take a break from reading, writing, and people watching to stare at trees across the street.
roots of one tree are the size of another tree
We nickname our evening entertainment Timmy Tacticool due to the way he parades around his site with army reserve gear and a rude dog. He was sure to bring charcoal, wood, and gas, and to pick some grass to help start a fire. I have a visit from an aphid of the striped variety and a possible mayfly before we get in the car as the sun goes down. It’s too cold in the shade, even with my jacket on (though I can sweat in it while hiking).
The mosquitoes come out at night, so I can’t leave the car door open for fresh air once our hot breath has warmed the interior. This will get Caleb back in the tent, and I will be there shortly after. The wind has blown dust under our rainfly and onto our sleep gear. I suppose it’s no different than climbing in after a day of collecting dirt on the trail. Everything is always dirty.
When we decided to section hike, we still wanted to help our new trail family complete as many miles as they could. For this reason, there can be a lot of planning that goes into making sure people are where they need or want to be. The group that didn’t stay with us got a ride to Aqua Dulce, which is where we will start and walk south. Ravi doesn’t want to miss these miles either, so Caleb will drop him back at the resort to walk north.
Caleb and I wake at 330 and I go upstairs, after calling all three of them, to make sure they’re awake at 4am. We stop for a gas station coffee for Trailer Park and are dropped off at Vazquez Rocks Natural Area in the dark. According to the rest of the group, I will sprint through the first half of our morning, which considering I was planning to make it to the resort by 10 and got there at 815, is an accurate statement.
It’s still cool out and without a jacket on, I will need speed or elevation to keep me warm. This area used to be a neighborhood in the 1920s to 1960s, but with death in the family came ranch sales and separation. There are a few other trails out here, so I appreciate them being well-marked. I’m not used to being in front, so I wondered if the others had taken an alternate route.
Jess in tunnel, as seen by Lt. Sparkles
As the sun lights up different parts of the rocks, their shapes start to emerge. Gert will see a dragon and catch up to me after the dark tunnel that runs under the Antelope Valley Freeway where I make an echo and he yodels in response. Rachel is in the lead when we pass Ravi going the other way. I know we can’t be but three miles away from the resort, and we’re all ok if Caleb chose to stay in the room and nap before picking us up.
Jess hiking, photo by Lt. Sparkles
Trailer Park finds a Toy Story balloon and looks like a kid out on a birthday hike. I’m so glad that anger and sadness seem to have less space out here as we’re not bombarded with the troubles of modern-day society, just gifted with the positive amenities it provides (like ice cream sandwiches!) We cross the railroad where just before it is a plaque noting the completion of the PCT in 1993.
Trailer Park and Lt. Sparkles
Over the few mosquito creek crossings and Caleb is talking with Troll at the resort. How did he get here? Oh well, Gert grabs his resupply and we’re on our way to a second breakfast at Cowboy Tavern (hiker-friendly) in Aqua Dulce. Caleb says I averaged 2.8 mph. I was motivated to skip the desert heat. We drop Trailer Park and Rachel off at Serenity’s Oasis after visiting with Farmer John, earning a local sticker, and waiting for Ravi to arrive.
roads to Sequoia National Forest
Rachel and Trailer Park have decided to night-hike the next section because they want to do the aqueduct, something Gert was looking forward to as well, but he has decided to wait in a hotel in Palmdale for his wife to fly in. We have chosen to spend the next few days in the woods somewhere and Rachel gives me a sachet of rose lemonade tea to try, since she hasn’t yet.
Joshua trees
We drive north past layered rocks and burned Joshua trees and stop at Stine Cove to put our feet in Isabella Lake. The water is cold, and the wind is blowing; it feels great. It will take over an hour to wind our way along 37 miles of Sierra Way. We stop at Holey Meadow first, and though the camp has no water, it is teeming with mosquitoes. We drive 2.5 more miles to Redwood Meadow, another dry and very dusty camp sans stinging bugs.
Lake Isabella
Caleb will pay for four nights while I visit the gift shop, they have stickers! Darin is in his eighth season of running this camp and his wife helps in the shop. Their dog, Sid Vicious, a Rottweiler-Chihuahua looking mix, keeps an eye on their site and ensures that other dogs know he’s there. We drive to California Hot Springs (population 50, meaning not much town, just farmers) just to burn gas and time and decide to turn around before dark. Dinner and bed shortly after (as is life on the trail).
Up to breakfast in bed so I can publish another post while we wait for the day to begin. Yesterday, nine of us agreed to spend a day at Six Flags, Magic Mountain, just 20 miles off trail, so we will take Gert and Captain Underpants will shuttle the others in his giant van. I have a second breakfast with Gert and we leave the hotel at 9.
While we wait in line to park, we see the van drive by that will deliver Rachel, Trailer Park, Nightcap, Ravi, Seeker, and Greg to the security gate. The park has a drink special where a $20 cup gets free refills on the day of purchase with a 15-minute wait in between, so some of us will do that, but Ravi is fine with water as electrolytes are expensive.
Lt. Sparkles and Jess on Viper
We get lost finding the large orange and green ride and a park employee is unable to help us. It’s a good thing there are only so many ways to get there. Most of us will ride Tatsu, and Ravi doesn’t think it was a great starter ride and already feels sick. The seats tip so that the rider can fly through the air, over band-aids, hair ties, and gum.
Seeker, Nightcap, Jess, Trailer Park, Rachel, Ravi, Greg, Caleb – photo by Lt. Sparkles after Roaring Rapids
Viper is our next ride and we will not ride it again, even without a wait. It left the girl behind us with whiplash and the guy in front of us choked on his spit. Gert says it’s more dangerous than a rattlesnake and my neck hurts. I’m glad Caleb didn’t go on that one or it would be a different day for us. We were able to walk in and get on as the gate closed behind us and now I know why.
Jess, Greg, Ravi, Seeker, Lt. Sparkles, Nightcap, Trailer Park, and Rachel on Apocalypse
It’s hot out, and while we hike a lot of the time, we think about cold things, so a water ride, Roaring Rapids, is the next obvious option. Caleb, Gert, and Trailer Park are the driest when we disembark. Greg tried using his umbrella to stay dry but the man behind the curtain had something to say, and he closed it. There is a drying machine near the exit for $6 a turn that none of us will use.
Caleb, Jess, The Flash, Trailer Park, Lt. Sparkles, Rachel
Our next choice is Apocalypse, a wooden coaster that flies over the ride-loading area. The speakers along the line are making noises that Rachel tells Ravi are working if he’s scared. It was a fun ride and we’re all still having a good time. This is the largest group, outside of high school, that I’ve ever been to a park with. It’s lunchtime when we get in line for West Coast Racers, so half the group goes to find food while we think it’ll only take 15 minutes.
We’ll end up waiting 40 minutes, but that’s because you get to ride twice – once on the first half of the track and then again on the second half, so that it looks like the two cars are racing. Caleb has pretzels waiting for us at 130 so that the girls have enough energy to walk to the entrance where Trailer Park will meet us with the chicken and croissants. Gert gets us some Starburst gummy candy that was being passed out as people exited the park and we’ll go back in.
We walk through the long path of Goliath with four loops chained off, which lets us know how long the wait could be. It’s a fun ride but the abrupt stop to the gut has me sitting out while Rachel and Trailer Park go back for round two. I must’ve eaten too much that I also opt out of the Drop of Doom, but half the group gets the opportunity to pose with The Flash.
We are excited for the Twisted Colossus (so many fun facts about this ride), but some barf will take the car out, and there are two parked in the sun waiting to disembark. We watched them spray it down and towel dry it, but when the staff opened an exit gate, we took it. They would have to close the ride temporarily. I offered one more ride to Rachel as that’s all we had in us, but she was ready to leave too.
We see the others and get a last group photo. They will stay later until Nightcap’s mom returns to pick them up. She was here this morning, so they had a place (her car) to keep their giant, smelly bags all day. We find funnel cakes and ice cream but no stickers. Rachel thinks it’s cute that Caleb and I hold pinky fingers when our hands get sweaty.
Trailer Park and Rachel will take the bus to the parking lot while I stand and watch the water slide (separate park pass) drop people and splash the sidewalk. Those two will stay with Gert tonight, so we drive to the hotel and while Gert and Caleb get in the pool, Rachel and I will put our legs in. I’m not sure if she got in the bug-filled hot tub, but we all needed a shower.
We have the hotel breakfast since it’s included, and return to the room so I can publish another day. We leave the room at 9 and spend some time with Lyric at the Acton KOA (now the LA RV Resort). We walk around to justify the comment scrolling we both got caught in and judge this place for ourselves. We are also meeting Captain Underpants for burgers, so we were scoping out a good spot.
Lyric is camped between two picnic tables in the shade and fighting off bugs. The trail is at the other end, and the laundry is in between. We try sitting closer to the office, but the trash cans are too smelly. We drive to the trailhead and I walk up the hills to take in the views, but no sign of our tramily in the desert. Trailer Park will see us slowly drive away as we return to the office to relax in their entertainment room.
a robin at the resort
Trailer Park was able to reserve a cabin for $65 online, but the woman is now telling him it will be $300, and they will waive his refundable deposit. He calls his friend and lets him know there has been a change in plans. We pick up Gert after noon, and Rachel is half an hour behind him. The supposedly hiker-friendly resort charges $5 for an unpriced Gatorade, like the rest of their options, whereas we give our drinks for free.
We go back to the hotel so Gert can get a bath in his room, and we let the other two shower in ours before they return to the resort with drinks and fast food burgers for other hikers. While they are gone, we take Gert to Sen Noodle House. The guy behind the register asks if this is our first time in, and I tell him, “For today, it is.” The guy from yesterday chuckles and welcomes us back.
burned-out tree from June 15, photo by Gert
We eat our fill of garlic and chilli oil and then have shopping to do. Caleb will get Freon and a little orange air freshener for the car. Gert and I will walk over to the grocery store, and I’m able to exchange some coins for laundry and shower quarters. We will meet up with the others at Captain Underpants’ place in Valley Village.
photo by Lieutenant Sparkles
We find close parking, and he and Trailer Park are outside to greet us. Inside, we meet his girlfriend and Nightcap. Captain Underpants makes us all burgers, two at a time, on his hibachi grill on his patio while various people join to smoke other things. We are offered a box of chips to choose from and a cooler of drinks.
photo by Lieutenant Sparkles
Rachel is napping on the chaise, and Ravi is fresh out of the shower. They are getting their laundry done while they borrow clothes, and are plied with Liquid IV. Apparently, Ravi looked like a hot mess when they picked him up after 2pm. Once everyone is back from the store for meat, beer, cake, and cookies, we can start to watch Mile 666, a homemade horror film about the AT.
It’s nice to talk about editing and have an idea of the work that goes into it. The start of the film is interesting, and I have questions, but at 8pm, Gert is ready to go and deal with his blisters before bed. The couple has a nice place, and the delivery service from kitchen to couch was above par. We admire the painted portrait of Anita Hill on their mantle and the large piece done by the girlfriend’s dad, and say goodnight.
