Ostriches, Coyotes, and Mountain Goats

Stats: Wednesday 6/15, MM 558

(189 new miles, 558 total miles, 2,092 to go)

Sunday morning after my zero day, Peter drove me and a few others to get coffee at 6AM, then off to the trailhead. The first 4 miles weren’t too bad, then we started up Mount Baden Powell. The trail was more crowded than usual because of the weekend and lots of day hikers. Very steep climb, frequent stops and frequent panting. 

But amazing 360 view at the top, so well worth all the effort. Would have been nice to use a day pack on this climb!

Monday, got to mile 390 where we saw a sign saying, “danger, yellow frog”. The trail was closed, we had to walk the road for 4 miles, then through a campground and a side trail, then back to the trail. Strange!

I haven’t seen many hikers lately. Passed someone I know, Kate, going back to get more water. Thankfully it wasn’t me going in the wrong direction – happened to me once on the AT 😊. Hot day with no wind, another 20-mile day. 

Next day I found myself hiking from shade to shade to cool off some. Flies and mosquitos swarming all day, they were all over me when I got to camp. But not in my tent, thankfully. Camped next to a hand surgeon from Czech Republic – meet people from all over the world!

Wednesday I went into Acton, ate at 49ers restaurant. Very nice owners, very accommodating to hikers. Resupplied for 4 days, then took Uber to a KOA campground. Saw a few ladies I’ve seen on the trail before, they asked me about Smokey. They knew him and were concerned because they lost track of him. I told them I saw Smokey much earlier in a sleeping bag right off the trail. Found out he was helicoptered off the mountain later that day due to dehydration because he didn’t carry enough water. His dad picked him up from the hospital, then came by the KOA to pick up his friends. A good reminder about the importance of carrying enough water, even with the extra weight!

The KOA had a Pool, laundry, showers, camping, store. It was a little noisy at night because of the train tracks nearby. Trains blew their whistle several times during the night, and each time were answered by coyotes howling all over the place. 

Next day I hiked 10 miles to Agua Dulce, a small town on the trail. A policeman stopped me, rolled down window, told me about a restaurant called Homemade where hikers eat. Met Hare Bear and Veeve there, ate breakfast with them around noon. Veeve was taking a few days off, and Hare Bear was going to camp nearby and hike out later when it got cool – it was 97 degrees out today. I decided to head out, got another 10 miles in before stopping for the day. 

Nailgun and Hare Bear

Friday was going to be another hot day so I got going at 4:30AM with my headlamp on. Hiked about 12 miles when I found trail magic by the side of the road. Oreos, WATER, chips, protein bars, gum, and wipes. What a blessing to find these oasis spots in the desert! Met T-Rex and Hare Bear there. 

Hiked to an ostrich farm to stop for the night. The couple that owns the farm picks up hikers on the road, charges $5 for pickup and $5 to camp. A few years ago there was a fire on the trail so they didn’t want hikers staying on the road, decided to open up their property. T-rex, Rachel (Scotland), Kildeer from Michigan all stayed there, too. They didn’t have hot showers, but had clean water and a bathroom. Some of ostriches were 9 feet tall, can’t imagine running into one in the wild!

Next day I hiked with T-Rex, who has a similar hiking speed. We were looking for water, and found cistern with a plate over the top. When we moved the plate it smelled like a skunk inside. That’s why we have filters – once filtered, amazingly the water was clear and tasted great.

 

The next morning T-rex slept in, I got going early. Got into Hikertown at 1PM, lots of hikers already there. Very hot, as usual. They had a small grocery store where they cooked burgers and had sandwiches. Ate lunch there then did some shopping. That night almost everyone (including me) hiked out at 6PM to get some hiking in when it was cooler. This part of the trail is along the LA aqueduct in the Mojave Desert, about 20 miles long. After 8 miles, I put my tent up next to the road, thankfully hardly any cars so very quiet.

Started hiking the next morning through a wind farm, much cooler 70 degree day. But wow, the wind blew like a hurricane the whole time. Hiked about 5 miles through a turbine farm. Like walking in a wind tunnel!

 

Came to a smaller mountain, not bad climb, went to a spring with good water. Filled up, Upbeat came by. We’ve been passing each other for a few weeks. Tempting to stay near the water, but too windy so I kept hiking another 4 miles to the top. At the top was a water cache, and the wind had died down a bit so I camped there. But overnight wind picked back up. Thought my tent would blow over, but it held. 

Hiked 16 miles the next day to Tehachapi, where I planned to take a zero day on Wednesday. I’m more than ready for a break and some rest! 

Transport from trail to town

Thank you all for your prayers and support, means a lot to me! I’ll end with some videos from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Windy camping spot 

Wild wind, LA aquaduct

And more wind, turbine fields

Snakes need water too

One very long train

Mount Baden Powell panorama

Desert Panorama

Ostriches

Mountain goats

Big Bear Lake

Mojave Desert

Snow in the distance?

Godspeed, still from the desert!

Nailgun