Day 27 - Striding out alone!! — Walking People Out of Poverty

May 12th

Depart Aqua Dulce (Mile 454.50)

Arrive Casa de Luna (Mile 478.20)

Today was my first day alone in the trail and I decided I would get on the trail as soon as possible and then stop for breakfast later. As you can imagine, with so many people, it was a bit of a “gong show”, and after packing all my gear I found Tina and said a hasty but sincere farewell. I was able to get a ride on the first truck into town, with another 5-6 hikers, and we were dropped off in Downtown Aqua Dulce at around 7 am. There was mayhem as everyone grabbed their packs and hiking poles, and I was the last person to hoist his/her backpack out of the truck. Everyone was scattering in different directions but stopped and turned when I yelled “ camera” in a very loud voice. Lying on the sidewalk under my pack lay a very expensive, not to say heavy, camera. A hiker returned to reclaim his “toy” but didn’t seem the least bit pleased as he moaned about the weight. I would have thought that it would have been been evident, at a very early point in the planning process, that a large heavy camera was a luxury item not worth the hassle. There are superb, lightweight cameras that would have easy done the job. All of my pictures are courtesy of my I-Phone 7, which I think has produced superb images. All of the other hikers dispersed, mainly into a restaurant or coffee shop, but I started to walk and headed back towards Vasquez Rocks. The reason I was going in the opposite direction was to ensure I didn’t miss any of the trail. If you remember a lady gave us a ride up to Aqua Dulce yesterday and I wanted to ensure that I was being faithful to the trail. When I’m looking for people to sponsor my walk I want to ensure they get their monies worth and also assure them that their money is well spent.

After a mile or so I turned around and retraced my steps, and if any of the hikers in the coffee shop or restaurant, and who traveled with me on the first vehicle out of Aqua Dulce, saw me I’m sure they would have thought I’d gone the wrong way! The first 2 1/2 miles were pure drudgery as we walked by the main road leading into and out of Aqua Dulce, and almost every house had one or two ferocious guard dogs. I’m so glad they were on the other side of a fence! There was a rather comical moment that occurred as I was rounding a curve in the road, when I came upon a service company involved in water well systems with the grand name of Boston Henry. What was comical was they had a road named after the company that was maybe 6 feet long!! Eventually the trail led us into more familiar territory and after a while I was finally caught up by none other than Legend. Jeff, is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, and at 27 is wise way beyond his years. Legend got his name back in 2016 when he walked the PCT that year. He was at the road the trail crossed a few miles out of Wrightwood, with a small group of hikers, and hitched into town and back again. The difference being he returned to his friends with pizza and steak!! That same year Jeff had walked the Appalachian Trail, completed the PCT and then knocked off the Continental Divide Trail thus completing the Triple Crown of through hiking in a calendar year. The neat thing about Jeff is he is so well grounded, polite, courteous and with zero ego. After an hour or so the terrain became more hilly and I advised Legend that he should push on as I didn’t want to slow him down. A short time later I came upon a French couple having an almighty argument and you might ask how I know that! Well the woman had raised her voice considerably and was yelling at her husband. It was obvious to me that she wanted to be anywhere in the world at that point but NOT on the PCT. I hurried on by just in case the lady decided she needed someone else to vent at!

Onwards and upwards the trail went and it was great walking as I was taken up and around the mountains but the nice thing about this type of walking is sooner or later the path starts to go down and soon I was enjoying a late morning downhill section. The only negative being I could see a road, and on the other side was a trail going up! I rounded the last bend before the trail dropped down to the road and saw a nice little grassy area which was a perfect spot to have lunch. Within minutes I was eating a very tasty tuna salad wrap washed down with water! As I was packing up a hiker passed, although I’m not sure they saw me, and a few minutes later I followed after them. Several minutes later I was at the road, and sitting there, in splendid isolation, with a cool soft drink in their hand was the mystery hiker. It turned out to be a youngish lady I had met the night before in Aqua Dulce who went by the trail name of Sink, and she had discovered a cooler full of “trail magic”. I lifted the lid and pulled out an Orange Crush which went down way too easily, and pondered taking a second, which I would never do of course, as that is neither being fair or courteous to the hikers who would be passing this way later in the day. After chatting for a few minutes with Sink, whilst enjoying my drink, it was time to move out as there was a long afternoon ahead of me. I quickly crossed the road and set about climbing the hill which led up and away from the road. What was interesting was the trail was going in the exact opposite way to my morning walk. On and on I climbed and I was seeing every square inch of the mountains I was traveling through. Finally after several hours the trail started to head down. I joke to people that the PCT is the only walk I’ve undertaken whereby the downhill sections actually go uphill!! It was refreshing as I rounded corners and saw the trail still going down. Eventually, at around 6 pm I arrived at a road and was greeted by a Trail Angel called Nancypants who asked if I would like a ride to Casa de Luna. How could I refuse? The Casa was 3 1/2 miles down the road and after walking 23.7 miles I gratefully accepted Nancypants kind offer.

After putting my backpack and hiking poles in the back of the car I enjoyed some fruit and a Ginger Ale as we drove down the road. It’s always a relief to get the bag off your back and enjoy the creature comforts of riding in a car. I thanked Nancy for the ride and entered the surreal world of Casa de Luna. Everyone was wearing Hawaiian Shirts (men) and the ladies wearing brightly coloured and rather eye catching African style clothing. I was given a crash course on the rules and escorted to the back of the property and shown the area designated for camping.

There was a large grassy area that was out of bounds to camping, but beyond was a Manzanita forest with a path that wound through it. It was magical and I’m kicking myself for not taking a photo as I think you would have been every bit as smitten as I. There was also brightly painted rocks and signs nailed to some of the trees, and I should add a lot of tents! I quickly found a spot to camp and quickly set up my tent and got organized. I will tell you all about my evening at Casa de Luna on my next blog, and trust me - I think you will be intrigued by what happens there, but for now here are the days photos.