Day 34 - What a pretty walk! — Walking People Out of Poverty

May 19

Depart Mile 587.2

Arrive Mile 612.04

I was up and on the trail by 6:00 am as I had decided to get a few miles in before breakfast. The first couple of hours or so were very similar to what I experienced over the last few days. There were lots of steady ups but very little by the way of going down. I found a terrific spot for breakfast, after knocking off a few miles, which was sheltered from the wind and located under a big tree. After restarting I noticed the landscape had begun to change and now there were wide open spaces and lots of trees. The one thing conspicuous by their absence was the windmills and I was starting to wonder if I had finally out walked them! Suddenly I encountered a climb and it was unlike any I had encountered previously on the trip. Normally the PCT is all about the switchbacks, and the one thing you can guarantee with certainty is the fact the trail is predictable. Except for right now as this hill I had started up was different. It went up and up and up, and because there were trees in either side it was impossible to see what lay beyond. Shortly after starting up there was a sign warning you to stay on the path as you were now on private land. The sign also advised you not to detour due to cattle being in the area. The lack of switchbacks now made sense, as why would any landowner want to spoil their land in this way? Eventually the climb was over and I now entered a beautiful wooded area and embarked on arguably the finest walking thus far on the trail. The path meandered through a woodland of big evergreens and I passed a young woman who was taking advantage of the shade to phone home.

At lunch I stopped at a water source, to both eat and fill up my water bottles and there must have been a dozen hikers already there. They were, for the most part, getting lunch, although a couple were getting ready to have a siesta! I had passed the 600 mile marker just prior to lunch, and had made the decision to try something different at lunch, so instead of my usual wrap I chose to cook pasta which was very good. By the time I had finished lunch, re-stocked my water and started to leave camp most of the hikers were either sleeping or resting. This is a pretty regular occurrence on the trail, especially with the younger generation, as we older walkers have to get the miles in why we can, whereas the young ones eat up the miles at a pretty voracious pace, and so can afford to rest up in the shade! I should add that this group consisted of Coach, Bollocks, (from London, where else with a trail name like that!), Mr. Giggles and Narwhal to name a few, and where the same PCT’ers who greeted me as they walked through the Best Western hotel lobby in Tehachipi. We had been flip flopping for several days.

The afternoon walk was extremely pleasant, although a little disconcerting towards days end. I had heard the sound of gunfire earlier in the afternoon, but now it was a lot closer. I’ve never been a big fan of guns and although I wasn’t overly worried it was disconcerting to say the least. All of a sudden there was the sound of 6,7,8 shots which positively “cracked” and I suspect it was from an extremely high powered rifle. I was eventually caught by 3 young women, Joe Dirt, from California and two Swiss missus!! I’m kicking myself for not writing their names down, although I believe one was called Kermit and the other may very well have been Mr. Freeze. Shortly after the ladies had joined me, Coach, Bollocks, Narwhal and several of their retinue arrived. They all needed water and had to travel about half a mile down the road to the source, and as I didn’t need to go I offered to look after their packs. I felt so sorry for Narwhal and Bollocks, as they were both carrying injuries, and poor Bollocks looked in agony as he shuffled down the road. It appears he had severe chafing in the “nether regions” due to inadequate underwear. Several of Coach’s group returned with water and we decided to see if we could find a suitable campground and we set off, after deciding to push on to what appeared to be a promising campground 3 miles away. As always the last 2-3 miles always seem to be the longest!.