Hiker town, the aquaduct, the flatness and the starry night

Big, big day. So many things happened and I took so many photo’s that I this might end up becoming a very long entry. You’ve been warned.

I got up and was the first one to be ready. Quickly hopped down to the riverbed, filled up my water bottles from a small spring and headed out. The trail would further descent onto the desert flats again, so all morning was downhill.

I didn’t know it at the time, but we would cross the entire plain shown in the photo above. It looked so vast, dry and pretty daunting. Halfway through the stretch though we would be settling down in one of the most peculiar places we’ve visited yet: Hiker Town. Apparently the place was built by a retired Disney executive, and seems to cater pretty much entirely to hikers. It looks like some sort of western Hollywood set. When I arrived, there were a handful hikers around, but the place had a very desolated and deserted feel to it. I didn’t really know what to think of it yet, except that it looked pretty cool.

The cabins are all for rent for the night, and they basically provide only shelter against the wind that’s blasting over the plains the entire day. It was a hot day again, but with the heavy winds it was bearable. I waited a short while and  soon the others arrived at Hiker Town too. Apparently there was a van available which would drive us to a nearby store to do some resupply and have a drink at the cafe. We were told by the other hikers that there would be no chauffeur this time. We’d have to drive there ourselves. Jimmy jumped at the opportunity to get behind the wheel; Roadtrip!!

We did some shopping and had drinks at the cafe where we played a game of poker. After the refreshments we headed back to Hiker Town to relax during the hottest part of the day. I strolled around the little ghost-town to find the caretaker Bob, who should be able to get me into the locked post-office, where hopefully I’d find my resupply-box with food. It was there. Oooh the joy! All the yummy goodness I’d packed in there for the section to Tehachapi made me very very happy.

After repacking all my food, filling up my water bottles and relaxing some more in the shade with the others, we got ready to hike out again around 1700. Thad had made it into our camp last night, so he was back in the group, and Simon from Canada joined us too today. We would cross the wide flat floor of the desert in spectacular fashion; Hiking over the LA aquaduct. We were all pretty stoked to hike on what would going be a 24-mile flat stretch (we wouldn’t do all of it today). Also we aimed to get a big chunk of the stretch done during the night again. When we first arrived upon the aquaduct, we saw that it was uncapped and we found ourselves hiking alongside of it.

After a couple of miles of following the waterline, the reservoir was forced underground and the PCT led us over this seemingly endless, massive dug-in pipeline. To hike across it was no walk in the park, but it was another interesting challenge for sure. The views from the basin were spectacular, I’ve never seen anything like it.
Before this trip, when I  pictured myself hiking through the desert, this is pretty much what I had in mind. It felt amazing to be fully aware that I am now there, and cruising straight through it. Fantasy that becomes reality. Very special.

The section over the aquaduct was strenuous, but like all things, it ended. It ducked beneath the dusty plains again, and we were now hiking over its concrete rooftop. Shortly after getting off trail, we sat down between the pretty desert-vegetation to watch the sunset and have dinner.

I would have pearl cous-cous for dinner tonight and was unsure if this was suitable for cold-soaking, since I hadn’t tried it yet. I was very pleased to learn that it worked just as well as regular cous-cous. Great meal. The sun had set, it was getting colder, and we still wanted to get some night-miles in, so we packed up our dinner stuff and put on warmer clothing and lit our headlamps. We followed the aquaduct as it got darker and darker. As we were cloaked by the night again, gradually more and more stars started to appear in the sky. Walking through the vast plains stretching out far in all directions made for a enormous canvas for the stars. A dream-like starry rooftop. The night was truly amazing. I discussed with Thad that after living in cities for the past so many years, it’s hard to believe that such beauty is out there every day and that you almost forget. I loved being able to enjoy it again. The combined flat terrain with cool temperatures made for hiking at a nice pace. Jimmy and I played some tunes on our phones, since we both had good cellphone reception and we did some sing-alongs. It was a great-time, night-hiking is cool. Around 2200 we started looking for a campsite, after having hiked some 11 miles after our long afternoon break. Put us at a total of twenty miles today. Tomorrow we will possibly apply today’s strategy again. Right now I am tired, but very very pleased with what I thought (and I think everybody else would agree) was a great great day of being out in the wild, being hiking, and being here.

I’m skippin’ stones ’till I’m lost in the world
Fall in love and then get lost in a girl
You gotta live life
And ain’t no tellin’ what tomorrow can bring
As long as you breathin’ and livin’ ya dream
You gotta live life
I’m packin’ and leavin’ travelin’ and sight seein’

‘Cause I’m skippin’ town I’m skippin stones
I’m skippin’ town I’m skippin’ stones
I’m skippin’ town I’m skippin’ stones
And all I know is I’m alone

I feel the vibe inside me and I’m not gonna let it go
So come on
And I’m laughin’ and cryin’ and buyin’ time
I’m not gone let it go
So come on
And I’m findin’ a dime thata wanta good time and I’m not gonna let her go
So come on
And it’s all on the line but I’m still gone’ shine I’m not gone let it go
Hey
Slow it down for a minute while I capture the sky
Surfing the clouds wind surfin’ through a deep sea dive

‘Cause I’m skippin’ town I’m skippin stones

Skippin’ Stones – Flipsyde