Day 25: Mile 406 to 430   (24 miles)

(Some of the land burned by the fires)

Another long walk ahead of me today. Early on I passed a trail cleaning crew known as the Southern California Trail Gorillas. They had brought along their horse named Duke to help carry in the equipment to clear downed trees and fix other parts of the trail as needed. They do a great job maintaining the first 700 miles of the PCT for hikers and horse travel. A couple miles later I reached the top of the ridge where I was able to get cell service for the first time in a while. I checked the weather which shows another possible snow/rain storm coming in a few days. It has still been surprisingly colder then normal temperatures. I won’t complain, it actually helps with making miles each day and less of a need of water compared to being 100+ degrees.

I cruised on down the ridge to the Mill Creek Fire Station where I found Grapefruit, Blue and Jonny Walker all hanging out. There was a brand new case of Pepsi glass bottles and some Mexican bread along with a trail register for the hikers to sign. The three of them decided to go take a nap under a tree and I finished up with the snack and continued down the trail.

As the miles added up, the sun slowly started to drop in the sky and it appeared I was going to be cutting it close to arriving at Messenger Flats by the time it got dark. Once I got to the top of the ridge, the wind picked up and didn’t let down as I ran down the trail to help make up a little bit of time. Hiking in the dark wasn’t on my agenda today. I ran the last half mile all downhill and found a nice spot just off the trail. I quickly set up the tent while fighting the wind as it was almost completely dark out. I slipped into my sleeping bag and found out that I was able to get some cell service. I was updated and unfortunately heard that the Sultan boys soccer season was about to come to an end in the playoffs as they were about to lose to Seattle Academy. I checked the weather one more time to try and see about this rain or snow that was heading my way and easily fell asleep to the sound of the wind hitting the tent.

Day 26: Mile 430 to 454   (24 miles)

Woke up and crawled out of my tent to an awesome sight of the clouds low across the valley. After only a couple miles and before dropping lower then the clouds, I stopped for a quick breakfast and talked to a couple hikers who were passing by. I noticed a LA County Fire helicopter fly overhead and hopefully there isn’t anyone else missing or any fires near by.

I continued on until I reached the North Fork Ranger Station where there was soda and candy bars with a jar for donations. I added to the jar and had a coke and Snickers bar. A few minutes later, Grapefruit and Blue came down the trail and also helped themselves to some soda and candy. We talked about the storm that was heading in and trying to decide what we all wanted to do. Blue and Johnny Walker were thinking about hitching into Hiker Town to wait out the storm. Grapefruit and I both wanted to get to Lake Hughes to get our resupply and just see how far we can get.

We continued on and it didn’t take long until I reached the Acton KOA. It was too early to stay though, but they do have everything a hiker needs. Shower/laundry, with real grass camping. They even had a pool and hottub. I decided I would continue up to Agua Dulce which is a very small town with only a couple stores in it. I hitched back with one other hiker who was heading back to the KOA. I got back and pitched my tent and got myself a much needed shower. I had no need for laundry and just didn’t want to do anything else. I just laid out in some real grass and ate dinner and relaxed.  I camped next to Mojave who I had lost a few nights ago. He said he chickened out and hiked to the road and found someone passing by and got a ride and skipped ahead to the KOA. He has been in town for couple days just hanging out waiting to leave again. So at least he was okay. As darkness set in, we crawled into our tents and back to sleep again.