Last night it wound up getting ridiculously windy at the tent site up on the exposed sandy hill. I could hear my tent whipping around like a sail in the wind. That sound always drives me a bit crazy. But the worst part about wind like this in the desert is the sand. The fine sand flies through your bug netting and covers just about everything.
I got another incredible nights sleep though. The last few nights I’ve been waking up around 2am, because my body thinks that it’s time to hike! I’m so used to working with about 6 hours of sleep. That the recent 8 hour nights have been a real treat. I feel so completely rested when I get up the following day. This morning I was out of hot chocolate, so I mixed an LMNT chocolate packet in with my coffee. I think it would have been a great addition to my mocha. But it certainly wasn’t amazing all on its own with a coffee packet. It was just a bit too bitter and salty for me on its own with coffee.
The sunrise this morning was exceptional.
I got packed up pretty quickly and was eager to get out of the wind. I knew once I got moving that the wind would calm down a lot. And it did almost as soon as I got down off of that hill. Then I got to walk and enjoy a really beautiful sunrise. The trail was super quiet and I didn’t wind up running into anyone for a couple of hours. Then passed one guy breaking down camp.
I knew I had about 10 or so miles to go to get to the next water source. And there wouldn’t be another source after that for a similar distance. I’m trying to do about 34 miles today to get to Agua Dulce. There’s a campground there and I’m hoping to stay at just to charge my electronics. That way I don’t need to charge in between there and Tehachapi.
I really enjoyed the trail, which had a surprising amount of tree coverage this morning.
The morning went by pretty quickly and it was nice to walk during the temperate part of the day. An hour or so into the day I began a fairly gradual but long climb. It went on for at least 3 or 4 miles and it was probably around 1500 feet of elevation gain. Which isn’t too bad, but I could definitely feel this one. It was the type of climb where around every bend you are expecting it to be over. But I just kept going and going. Once I got up to the top of that climb, I knew it was mostly all downhill for a while. But there would be some small hills mixed in with the descent. Though for the most part I didn’t have another notable climb until I was about 23 miles into the day, coming up from Acton.
There were great views in the sky for the first hour or so of the day.
On my way downhill I went past a campground. So I decided to stop off there and use the bathroom, which is so convenient. Then I only had another mile or two to get down to that next water source. There were a handful of people by the water when I arrived. One guy‘s name was Pappy and this is his fifth season of doing large sections of the PCT to complete it. And he’s actually going to be finishing it this year at Campo. I talked to him for a little bit while I filled my water. There were a ridiculous number of bees buzzing around. But I didn’t get the feeling that they had any intention to sting. There were a couple other guys there, one of them was named Gump. And when he headed out, he said goodbye in a way which led me to believe he thought he’d never see me again. So of course I set my intentions on catching up to him as quickly as possible over this next section. I take my motivation however I can get it.
Even after the sun was fully up, they continue to be quite a stunning morning.
When I left the water source the trails was pretty nice and easy for the next few hours. It was mostly downhill with the occasional brief rolling hill in between. The trail was sandy and overgrown at times. I just tried not to brush up against too much of anything. Even if plants aren’t poisonous, I still try not to touch them. Especially with the weird allergic reaction that I got the other day.
After another hour or so, I could see a building off in the distance. I kind of had forgotten all about this next building. It was a Ranger station or fire station. In 2017 we came here to get out of the heat of the day. I remember there used to be a cooler with an honor system donation for sodas. We met the guy who worked at the station and he was actually the one who paints and restores all of the national forest signs you see around this area. Then in 2022 we headed there because the wind was absolutely crazy. The building has large bay doors and we hid next to them to get out of the wind.
Today, the skies were bright blue, and I spent most of the morning walking along exposed and sandy trail.
This time around, I didn’t have any intention of stopping off. I had only recently gotten water so I was fine on that. And while it was super hot out, it wasn’t necessarily going to be getting any cooler anytime soon. Taking a break there would actually just make it so that I spent even more time hiking during the heat of the day.
Alot of the plants which I walked past today were overgrown and scraped across my legs.
From there, the trail just weaved down and around the side of this large green hills. I could see the trail way off in the distance and knew exactly where I was going. I put a podcast on and tried to focus on that as I made my way down. Between leaving the water source and now I’d probably passed maybe 12–15 people. But none of them were the guy from the water source, Gump. Obviously I didn’t need to catch this guy. But it seemed like a fun mission to have. I figured there was at least a chance that I had passed him at that fire station. There were a couple people sitting over there when I went by. But I couldn’t say for sure.
When I was about three or so miles out from the road into Acton though I finally actually caught up to him. He was sitting in the shade, taking a break, and popped up immediately as I came by. He was a fast guy so I figure he doesn’t get passed very frequently on trail. He got up and we ended up hiking by each other for the rest of the way into town. He saw my AT tag on my pack and was asking what year I hiked it. Then we wound up getting into talking about the calendar year triple crown. He hiked the CDT and the AT as well. So this is his triple crown trail. And you could definitely tell, because that guy was flying.
As I began the descent down to Acton, the trail followed along the narrow ridge for a while.
It was fun having someone to talk to as I made my way down to the road. I think recently I’ve had the most encounters with other hikers who I’ve actually been able to walk with. But typically, I just spend my days alone, except for the moments when I’m passing by other hikers. So it was really cool to walk with him for an hour or so. We talked about the trail and the recent fire closure. Him and his tramily had also maintained a continuous foot path. It’s always cool to meet people who place value in that along a thru hike. Obviously everyone can do whatever they want; whether that be skipping or hitching or anything of the sort. It’s just nice to see a hiker who don’t mind a little additional suffering in exchange for a continuous path from Mexico to Canada.
The two of us walked together until getting down to the road where the KOA is and hikers can get into Acton. I said goodbye to Gump and continued along the trail. He was heading into town to do chores and resupply and what not. At this point in the day, it was ungodly hot. Fortunately there was a water source coming up soon, not far past the road. There was one other hiker sitting there filling up on water. I joined them and filled up about 2 L to get me the 10 miles to Agua Dulce.
I had drank a good bit of water right before coming to the source. So I figured 2 L for 10 miles would probably be sufficient. It’s looking like I’m going to get into town right around 4:30 PM. Which is great because I have a bunch of stuff to get done and I want to eat a ton of food. I’m also hoping to charge everything, shower, and maybe even do laundry at the serenity oasis camping area. A Trail Angel named Summer was coordinating with me yesterday about the camping area. I just wanted to make sure that I would be able to get all of those chores done. There’s a motel right down the street as well, which probably would’ve been an easier option in many ways. But I’d rather be right on the trail by everything.
When I left that water source, a climb began for the next few miles. And I don’t know if it was just me, but I felt hotter than ever. I would’ve guessed this was the hottest day on trail so far for the year. The climb wasn’t even that steep. But it was made much worse by the heat of the day. Plus, the trail was completely exposed through this area.
Everything has been so lush this time around in the desert.
I vividly remember coming through here in 2022. We had stayed at the Mexican restaurant in Agua Dulce until late in the evening. Then hiked out of town a little bit tipsy and made it all the way to a cave that’s just off the trail. When I was getting close to the top of the climb today, I could see the cave off in the distance. It’s only a short side trail off of the PCT. Originally it was a pretty cool place to set up camp for the night, until the wind picked up. I woke up, absolutely caked in sand. If I remember correctly, I wasn’t even able to get my contacts in that day because of how much sand was in my eyes.
As I got closer to the cave, I could see another hiker off in the distance. They were pretty far away though, so even though I was gaining on them, it didn’t seem likely that I would catch up to them before town. I was pretty glad that I had packed out 2 L for this climb. Part of me almost wanted to carry less initially because I usually don’t drink a liter every 5 miles. But when the temperatures are hot like this, I definitely do.
By the time I was wrapping up that climb the heat had me feeling exhausted and definitely ready to be done for the day. Even though in the grand scheme of things, this is one of the “shorter” days that I’ve done recently. I was pretty curious what the temperature actually wound up getting to because it felt close to 100°
The last stretch of the day was completely exposed and unbearably hot..
Eventually, I got up to the top and then had a pretty easy remaining 6 miles to go to town. It wasn’t all downhill, but there was very little climbing left for the day. This section of the trail is really beautiful and passes by the Vazquez rocks area. I’m not sure if it’s a national monument or a state park, but it’s just a geographic area with very unique, large rocks. You walk through what feels like an old dried river bed, with massive boulders alongside the trail.
While I walked, I drank some more water and ate some snacks. And slowly but surely made my way toward the parking area for Vazquez rocks. Then from there, I would get out onto a road and begin making my way into town. I was starving for town food and definitely wanted to go straight to Mexican spot for late lunch. I checked online to see what time the grocery store closed, and I definitely had enough time to go to both of them.
I got into town right around when I expected. Around this time I was feeling a lot better than I had when I was climbing in the heat. It was still very hot out and the day ended by walking on asphalt. But it was really just a climbing along the exposed trail in the hot sun that had me worn now. When I finally got into town I headed straight over to the plaza that has the grocery store and Mexican restaurant. Then went inside to grab some food.
I saw a handful of hikers when I went in there, but I don’t know anybody. So I just wound up sitting by myself and having a really nice lunch. The one great thing about sitting by yourself is that all aspects of your service ate a lot faster. Plus, having worked in the food service industry for many years, I know how to talk to servers and get everything taken care of quickly. I wound up ordering almost as soon as I sat down at the table. And while I waited for my food to come out they gave you chips, salsa, and refried beans. The beans were a nice touch. I drank a couple glasses of water and Coke. Then not too long after I arrived my food came out. Which was a piping hot platter of steak fajitas. It was a massive amount of food and smelled so good. Recently that’s been my go to meal at Mexican restaurants. Unless I just wind up getting some kind of burrito.
I ate pretty quickly and then packed up some remaining food to go. I really wanted to get down the road to this camping area just to gauge what was going on. The guy that I saw earlier today had told me that there were 70 hikers there. I’m sure it’s probably fear mongering, but I definitely wasn’t certain.
Before heading down there, I grabbed a few things at the grocery store. Then walked down the road to go check out the side of the oasis. I passed a few more hikers as I made my way there. And then right before I got to the gate, I walked past three hikers who recognized me. Their names were Trash Panda, Score, and Free Sample. They asked me how my hike was going, and I was able to ask them about the status of the camping. They said there were tons of people, but everything was still very accessible and workable. Apparently there were still places to tent and the list for shower and laundry wasn’t too crazy. That’s all I needed to hear! Sometimes people will get so worked up and add a lot of negative energy to a situation unnecessarily. But that’s fear mongering for ya.
A cute little sign made out of clay, which I saw just off the trail.
After talking with them, I continued into serenity oasis. And there were so many hikers there! It was honestly pretty exciting walking past legitimately 50+ people. The store was briefly closed when I arrived, but the owner said I could set up anywhere and just come back in about 15 minutes. And actually the Trail Angel Summer who I was talking to earlier had texted me to let me know if she had prepaid for my stay. Which was so ridiculously nice of her and she did not have to do that.
I walked around, trying to find a nice flat spot to get set up. Initially, I was a little worried about being around tons of people and having it be too noisy. But everybody snores anyway. So I’m going to be sleeping with earplugs in regardless. I was just excited to be surrounded by this many hikers for the first time all year. It’s crazy how much time I’ve spent on trail this year and this is probably the biggest group of people I’ve seen the entire time.
While I was getting my tent set up, one of the guys I was tenting near came up to me and asked how the hike was going. He recognized me off some form of social media and his name was Gooey. He was super nice and said he’s been following along and enjoying all of the content. Then once he started talking with me this whole larger group of about 5-7 guys who I was camping near came over and started asking a ton of questions. Maybe half of them recognized me and the other half had never heard of me. Which is pretty standard these days. I feel like some places I go everybody knows what I’m doing, and other times I’ll camp with 10-15 people and no one has any idea who I am. Honestly, both circumstances can be good at times. I was feeling pretty sociable today though so that was great. I was excited to just chat with a bunch of people and hang out.
I wound up shooting the shit with all those guys while I got my tent set up. Everyone was so nice and it was just a blast talking to them all. Then I ended up taking pictures with about five of them which was so funny. Just doing one photo after another after another. I totally didn’t mind at all, it was just a pretty funny situation that I’ve never been in before.
While I was there hanging out, Summer arrived and came over so we could meet. And then the owner of the campground came over to give me my bracelet for the night. He was so nice and really made me feel at home. It was such a good time just standing around everybody and talking. This place has ridiculously good vibes from the jump. I knew it was going to be a super fun night.
After talking to all those guys for a while, I walked to go put my name on the shower and laundry list. Then I got some of my electronics charging. And in between all of my chores, I ran into so many more hikers who recognized me on social media. It was honestly pretty wild. It wasn’t like every single person there at the campsite knew who I was, but I was shocked by how many people did. Whole picnic tables full of people would excitedly exclaim that they were so happy to meet me. Everyone was just so positive and kind, asking about how everything was going and what not.
Serenity Oasis! The place to stay in Agua Dulce.
The whole experience was so incredibly wholesome. Every hiker deserves to have this many people rooting for them and in their corner. This is the way that everyone should be supported on their hikes honestly. It felt like going to some kind of a distant family function or something. Even though I didn’t know anybody, and I haven’t been hiking in this group at all, everywhere I went someone was talking to me and asking me how my hike was going. I met so many ridiculously nice people.
It was pretty hard to remember the names of every single person who I met. But some of the hikers that I spent more time with over the course of the evening were Gooey, Bubbles, Shaman, Liv, Holly, Vincent, Gato, and so many more. I wish I could’ve remembered the names of the probably 20+ people that I spent a couple hours hanging out with over the course of the night. I just knew it was going to be ridiculously hard to remember 6+ people’s names at a time when I got introduced to whole groups.
While I waited for my chance to shower and do laundry, I did some resupplying at the store there. That place had every single thing you could possibly need. From stoves, water filters, charging blocks, fuel, to food and electrolytes. As well as drinks, ice cream, and other frozen goodies. I was tempted to get a new stove because mine is super stripped, and it’s very hard to put it onto my fuel canister every day. But I decided to hold off.
I didn’t wind up getting a ton of snacks and things. It looks like I’m just going to be doing a full day tomorrow and then I’ll have about 25 or so miles the following day to get to Hiker Town. I’ll definitely head down the road there to grab some lunch and probably another day or so worth of food to get me to Tehachapi. I did get some more fuel though and wipes, hand sanitizer, and other goodies like that.
This was the area that I set my tent up near. There was a covered large tent for people who wanted us to cowboy camp, and a picnic table.
I was still waiting for my turn to shower so I wound up getting a little bit of writing and video work done. I have a feeling though this is not going to be my most productive evening. I just want to be present and enjoy this incredible group of hikers. I know I’ll be able to get some stuff done periodically. But I have no desire to shut myself into my tent and just go into work mode. Moments like this incredibly precious and I want to enjoy every second of it.
For the rest of the evening I just hung out with all of those beautiful people and had such an amazing night. Everyone had such fun stories to share with each other because they’ve been together for a while. It was such a blast just laughing and joking around with other hikers. And meeting so many people who’ve been following along my journey this year. I’m so excited for all of them to be embarking on their journey. The PCT is probably my favorite of the triple crown trails. And I think it’s one of the best first thru hikes that a person could do!
Eventually, it was my turn to take a shower. And it was piping hot and really nice. I pre-washed my socks and what not and then it was actually my turn to do laundry too. I wound up splitting a load with somebody else just so we could both go at the same time. And then I just sat out front of the office with about 10-15 other hikers and hung out for the next few hours.
My tent and just a couple of the surrounding tents. There were literally 50–60 tents set up here.
We did a bunch of stretching all together and just joked around and talked to a lot. I ate the rest of my lunch from earlier today. Periodically I got a little bit of writing and video work done. It just wasn’t my biggest priority to be honest. Because of doing laundry and everything like that, I wound up staying up pretty late. But I usually stay up fairly late getting video work done anyway.
After a while, it seemed like just about everyone headed off to bed. And I headed to my tent to do the same. What an incredible night this wound up being. It’s funny to think that any part of me was stressed out about the prospect of camping with so many people. Because it wound up being such a fun time. I can’t remember the last time I had such a blast with thru hikers. Honestly, maybe when I was back down in Florida starting this trail. I feel pretty lucky to be part of such an incredible community of kind and like-minded souls. I’m definitely a little bit envious that all of these people get to have such a different and sociable experience on trail. But obviously, I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I embarked on my hike this year. And I’ve been loving this unique journey for a whole lot of different reasons.
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