104 miles – 5/8/18 to 5/15/18
Hiker Heaven is just that. The Saufleys have turned their home into a hikers paradise, set up for whatever a through hiker might need. You can shower, receive a resupply box, mail things out, charge all your devices, use their sewing machines to patch things up, and they will even do your laundry for you.
A
bout every hour and a half they shuttle hikers to and from downtown Auga Dulce, most of which end up riding in the back of a pickup truck.
They have a few rooms set up for couples but otherwise you can set up in their backyard which is also home to some chickens and their dogs. They also have at least 10 porta-pottys set up as well. There is plenty of places to sit and relax, a “lounge” which is a trailer that includes a living room with a tv and a kitchen plus a grill outside.
I had originally only planned to stay one night but decided to stay another since my ankle was still tender. I was able to soak my feet and take it easy.
I was also able to take a Lyft into Northridge to go to REI for a new pair of shoes and in-n-out for lunch. It’s still weird going into populated areas.
On my second day there I had Strawberry cut my hair (shave my head) at the DIY hair cutting station. She and Dale also gave Tim a very technical hair cut which included shaving his name in his name in the back and some lines that ended up looking like mountians and eventually earned him the trail name “Mountain Do”.
After packing up and stopping at a Mexican restaurant for a late lunch I headed out of town around 5pm, it was 93°. The first 2 miles was a road walk and I was able to use my sun umbrella to help stay somewhat cool. After that the trail climbed into the hills as the sun set and the temperature dropped to a more comfortable level.
Hiking in the dark can be a bit tricky, especially when the batteries in your headlamp start to die. About 10 miles in I decided to stop and cowboy camp. The next day I continued on hiking through the hills and made it to Green Valley where as I was deciding if I should take a break before hitchhiking into town a woman stopped and offered a ride. Once I got into the very small town I grabbed lunch before heading to Casa De Luna, another trail angel’s home.
Casa De Luna was much more relaxed than Hiker Heaven. Altgough the rules stated that you have to wear a Hawaiian shirt while you’re there. The back yard was wooded and offered plenty of space to camp. The forest also contained a bunch of rocks hikers had painted.
In the evening they served taco salad for dinner and if you danced you got a free PCT class of 2018 bandana. After I did a little dance and got my bandana I snagged a ride back to the trail as I wanted to get going again. I ended up cowboy camping at the ranger station by the trail. When I woke up I discovered that the clouds had rolled in as a fog and gotten things a little wet.
I spent the day hiking in the clouds hoping that they would eventually clear but they never did, it just got a bit more windy as I walked along the top of the hills. After hiking 20 miles I arrived at the sawmill campground which was very much in the clouds with a bit of wind, it was a bit challenging to set up my tent.
In the morning I packed up my wet tent and continued on. Eventually I was able to escape the clouds and find a bit of sun, passing the 500 mile mark.
As I continued I was able to see down into the flat bare valley below, my destination for the day. I dropped down from the hills and snaked through some smaller ones before arriving at Hiker Town, which looked like the set of an old western movie. I arrived just in time to snag a room for the night and get a ride to the market / cafe for something to eat. The room wasn’t that great but for $20 I didn’t really care.
The next morning I caught a ride to the Wee Ville market, which is apparently frowned upon by the owners of hiker town as the hiker town people own the market / cafe I had first gone to (which seemed understocked and had weird hours for their cafe). Apparently there is a lot of drama between the two and in my opinion the hiker town people are kind of jerks. If you want people to go to your place rather than the one down the road make sure yours is better, don’t pull hikers into your drama. Anyways….
After breakfast I hit the trail again and did a bit of road walking followed by some walking on the Los Angeles aquaduct, it was all very flat, luckily it wasn’t hot. I then entered some minor hills before making my way through a wind farm. Once I hit 20 miles for the day I }started to look for a place to camp. Luckily I was able to find a group of bushes to break the wind and called it a night.
The next day I climbed back into the hills, carrying plenty of water due to a dry stretch which had some good climbs at points. I stumbled upon a little trail magic area, a spot with some chairs, an umbrella and water. I guess I didn’t need to carry that extra water after all.
The trail then dropped back down, as it does, along another wind farm. After another 20 mile day I cowboy camped under a nice big tree. Little did I know that just a little bit further down the trail was a water cache and a picnic table which would have been a good place to camp.
When I woke up and started on my way I came across some hikers that were set up in a van next to a road. I chatted with them for a while and drank a soda before knocking out the last 8 miles before Tehachapi. In fact, just as I was getting ready to hitchike a truck pulled up offered a ride. He dropped me off at the holiday inn where I’d appreciate the next two nights. I decided to take a zero to celebrate finishing “Southern California”.
Oh my gosh this was the best read. I felt like I was there. Which of course is why I’m following you because I’ve always wanted to do it but since I can’t I’m living vicariously through you!
Loved the bit about the town drama and the differences between the two places that host PCT hikers. Thank you so much for doing this and sharing it. Just hiking it should be more than most people could do but sharing it as well along the way?, you’re amazing.