Sunday May 18, 19.6mi/31.5km
La Liebre Hills PCT (160.1/3470ft) to Cottonwood Creek PCT (178.8/3120ft) (CA) +0.9mi correction
I left my cozy little spot in the bushes and had an easy hour like to Hikertown.
When I got to the road there I called the WeeVill Market for a ride, since I knew they did this for hikers. It’s kind of a general store and convenience store with a grill.
The first thing I ordered was a massive breakfast burrito.
For Third Breakfast®, I had a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and some fruit.
After a couple hours I couldn’t eat anymore, and I got a ride back when another group of hikers called for a ride from the trail. Now back at Hikertown, I went in to explore the place to see if it had changed since I had last been here in 2015.
It seemed basically about the same and still looked like an old Western movie set.
They did have a shower setup, so I figured why not.
Their hiker box was massive, featuring the usual assortment of mystery foods, plus at least six pairs of old Altra shoes, insoles, and even socks.
Yuck, who wants used footwear. I spent an hour there socializing with the other PCT hikers and then continued on the trail, along with two other hikers. Most of the hiking today was along the LA aqueduct, which was uncovered at first.
This section is famously dry, with the next water being 18 miles after hikertown. But, I noticed a local resident had set up a spigot and some benches in the shade for hikers. Nice!
There were a couple other hikers already here resting, Stones and WhaleTail. So our group of three hikers had now become five, and the shadeless hike along the aqueduct continued. Last time I was here in 2015 it was a miserable 80°F. Fortunately today it was only 65ºF but also quite windy.
What do hikers do to entertain themselves when walking for 5 hours on dirt roads? For this group, impromptu karaoke, and then a fun current events trivia game, similar to NPR’s “Wait wait don’t tell me”. Eventually after much laughter and loud singing, our voices were tired and we just admired the scenery. I knew I was in the Mojave Desert but I forgot that I would be seeing Joshua trees again. Neat!
There were many hours of walking along the LA aqueduct. At this point it is covered over in cement, so you’re literally walking on top of millions of gallons of rushing water, without access to any of it.
Toward the end of the day we started to enter the area with all the wind turbines.
And by 7pm I had found a nice big juniper bush to set up my tent behind, to be protected from the massive blasts of wind.
There’s actually a high wind warning for tonight, I hope it doesn’t get too bad.
This area is always windy, it seems.