Day 44 (2 June) - Mile 454.50 - 468.23

Agua Dulce to Campsite at Mile 468.23

The plan today was to wake at 7:00 AM and get on the road at 8:00 AM to drive back to Agua Dulce to get back on trail. This might have worked if I set an alarm, but I didn't and woke at 7:20 AM which really wasn't too bad.

Of course I had to take a shower since I could. And then the Zaren family joined Tim and I for breakfast and I said my goodbyes.

It it was way cool that Joe and his family opened his home to Tim and I. Even though I only spent 1.5 days there, it was an incredible visit. Between Joe's wife, daughters, in-laws, brother and sister-in-law, nephew, and mother they all made us feel welcome and at home. What a great family. I hope to visit with them again in the near future.

We drove to Agua Dulce and arrives around 9:30 AM and was ready to hike at 9:45 AM.

Tim decided to walk a short way with me though town. The PCT actually goes down the Main Street of Agua Dulce. They even have this cool PCT sign right in the middle of town.

Canada is slowly getting closer.

After about 10 minutes Tim decided he had enough. It was pretty hot, so I understood. We said our good byes. I will see him in 4 days when he meets me at Hikertown to resupply me.

The road walk through town was 2.16 miles and I stopped under the rare tree for some shade. Today and the next 3 days are supposed to be pretty hot and I am walking through some of the hottest parts of the trail...great timing.

Just under 1 hour of hiking I finally arrived to where the trail leaves the road and actually hits a trail.

PCT sign of the day where the trail started.

It was now just after 10:39 AM and the day was getting hotter.

Walking through the hot desert.

As I walked I came across this PCT log book in a metal case on a pole. I've seen these throughout the hike but don't know if I have posted a picture on the blog, so here it is. It is kind of fun to flip through the blog and see when people I've met have passed through here.

PCT log book.

At this point the trail started climbing. For the next 4 miles the trail will climb 2,003 feet. It is now 11:30 AM and is becoming the hottest part of the day. I have have to do is get these 4 miles done and then I will find some shade and rest for a while.

While climbing the valley with the town of Agua Dulce got smaller and smaller.

I climbed from down there.

Finally, after 2 hours of climbing, I made it to the top. And lucky me, there were a bunch of trees to hang out under. When I got there Tyler was there. He passed me earlier climbing up the hill. He is from North Carolina originally but is now living in San Fransisco and is studying environmental science. We talked and ate lunch and relaxed under the tree. At this point I have under 6 miles to go till my planned stopped, so I have plenty of time to wait for the day to get a bit cooler.

I hung there for 2.5 hours till 3:30 PM and decided to continue on.

Self-portrait "Chilling in the shade"

There is a spring less than 1 mile away that I will need to get water from since it is the last water for 15 miles plus I will have a dry camp tonight. It was a pleasant walk to the steam through many shaded areas.

Shaded trail.

it wasn't hard to find the spring since someone was nice enough to put up a sign:

Turn here for water.

When I arrived at the spring there was a couple hanging out. They said they had been there since 11:00 AM...5 hours ago! This is typical of what some hikers do. They wake up early and get some miles in before the heat of the day, then they find some shade during the hottest time of the day, and then they get some more miles in before it gets too dark.

Anyway, the spring is a pipe that water is flowing out of at about 1 liter per minute. The tricky thing is that there are bees everywhere. Luckily my bladder has a wide enough mouth that I could just put it on the end of the pipe then sit in safety away from the bee.

Bee free water collection.

At this point I have 15 miles plus a dry camp before the next water. I decided to take 5 liters even through it means 11 pounds of water. With the heat, and knowing there are some climbs ahead, I figured 1 liter per 4 miles plus an extra liter for the dry camp.

After collecting and filtering water I headed back on trail. Only 5 mile to my campsite for the night. The trail crossed over a saddle and a view of Lake Hughes came into view. From up here is looks really nice, but I know from Brad who hiked this area last week, the lake is dry. This is however not far from Casa de Luna, a trail angel house that I plan on staying at tomorrow.

I will be down there tomorrow.

The trail continued down and was close to crossing a paved Bouquet Canyon Road when I saw this poison oak warning sign. It is so cool of people to post these kinds of signs.

Watch out!

After crossing the road, this sign was by the PCT. I don't know what Spunky Canyon Road is, but San Francisquito Canyon Road is where the next water is and also where Casa de Luna is.

13 miles to water and trail angel.

Ah...here is a closer view of Lake Hughes:

Inviting looking, but dry lake.

After crossing the road the trail started climbing again. It wasn't quite as bad as this morning, but it was a tough climb none the less.

Finally, right around 6:30 PM I arrived at my campsite. It is pretty nice and well protected by bushes, but it is pretty close to power lines and I can hear the electricity running through it. Maybe it will soothe me to sleep tonight.

Tommorow is supposed to be hot, so I will try to wake up early and get the 10 miles in before it gets too hot. I don't have an alarm to set, so hopefully it works out.

Nice protected tent site for the night.