We wake up in Hiker Town. It’s early and we do not plan to start hiking soon. But we cannot sleep in any longer. The trail and sunshine has trained us to rise by 6 am. It’s a cycle we can’t seem to break.
Even if it weren’t for the sunshine on our tent, Hiker Town sits just off the highway. All night long and this morning we hear trucks and cars as they hit the rumble strips. The sound of rubber vibrates in the air bouncing of the tiny shacks of Hiker Town, where tired travelers lay sleeping.
Lupine gets up to make some coffee, setting up her stove in front of one of the small Hiker Town buildings, where there’s a couch sitting out front. I sit on it in the sun, writing in my trail journal. A couple of other hikers, Chef and Finders Keepers approach. Finders Keepers asks “did you smell that couch before you sat down on it?”
“No” I respond, “because then I wouldn’t have sat down on it.” Chef laughs. I assume the couch is fairly gross since it’s outside, and frequently hosts the butts of other hikers all season.
All of a sudden Siracha appears from a building. We thought he left this morning. It turns out he cowboy camped last night, taking the brunt of the wind. When some other hikers took off around 4 am, he took their hiker house.
The four of us are planning to takeoff early afternoon, around 1 or 2 pm. But first we get a ride to the Neenach market for breakfast. Lupine gets a Filipino breakfast and I choose a breakfast burrito with eggs, potato’s, bell peppers, sausage and bacon. When I’m done I’ve had my fill of burrito. I will not require another I estimate for at least 7 more days.
When done, we ride back to Hiker Town. We kill time chit chatting and warming ourselves in the sun. For the portion ahead we will follow the L.A. Aquaduct for a 15 mile stretch across the Mojave desert. There will be no water, and no trees to shelter from the sun. In a month or two from now, this area will be brutal. It’s a difficult area to cross unless you travel at night. That’s why we plan to leave later in the day, when we can expect the temps to cool. Fortunately for us, it’s still early in the season. I check the weather report and the forecasted high is only 68 degrees celsius. Today’s crossing should be no problem, but still we take our time to depart.
As we sit around the table, a sheriff’s car pulls up and let’s out a hiker. We wave to the sheriff as he leaves. It turns out the hiker he dropped off had left yesterday from Hiker Town and gotten lost on the aquaduct. He hiked for a day without food and water and when he emerged delerious, some people called the sheriff. He appears okay now, although a bit shaken and confused.
Filthy from the past several days, I decide to shower. The shower at Hiker Town is outdoors, behind a makeshift shower stall, fabricated from 2x4s and astroturf. It’s labeled with a sign that says “hot shower”. I take the bait, and leave my clothes aside the shower stall, in easy reach in case the promise of a “hot shower” is a farce.
A propane tank is connected to a radiator where the water is routed through. I turn on the water and it spits out cool water at first. Then it warms. I hop under the spray as the wind blasts through, shaking the tree branches over my head. Burr, this is cold. But I can do it. “This will be worth it” I tell myself, frantically scrubbing the dirt from my feet. The water no longer feels warm, but I’m committed now. I might as well get as clean as possible. I reach for some shampoo, run it through as much of my hair as possible, rinse it, scrub my body, and rinse, shivering with the wind. I have goosebumps as I switch the water off, and reach for a small handkerchief, trying to dry some of the water from my skin. It’s not too effective, but I slip my shorts on anyways and jump out into the sun.
It doesn’t take long in the sun and wind to dry. Lupine, inspired by my shower, follows suit, and skips off to the shower. Soon after she yips outloud. Someone asks how the water is. She exclaims that it’s not warm.
After showers we pack up our tents. Siracha sets out early, since the temps aren’t too bad. Lupine, Chef and I hang around longer, charging our phones, and relaxing. As we wait, we become antsy, and eventually set off to hike the aquaduct at 1 pm. We wave goodbye to Hiker Town.
We cross through some farm fields, then emerge next to the waters of the aquaduct. I soon notice a snake as it slithers off the trail.
As we hike in the sun, we talk endlessly about various topics, scrolling from politics to movies and books. We laugh, and exchange ideas. It’s fun to hike with Chef, as it makes the time pass more quickly in the desolate, flat baron landscape.
The time flies by as we walk. Before we know it we’ve gone 13 miles, and the skies begin to darken just as we arrive to the wind farm. Giant turbines spin overhead and sprawl for miles. The wind beats against our faces as we push on into the evening.
At 15 miles we arrive to where our water cache should be. “Hey guys” a voice says in the dark. It’s Hot Rocks. He directs us to where the water is and we ask, “where are you?”
“I’m cowboy camping on this slab of cement.” He responds. We walk down a trail to find him and he tells us he’s sleeping on his elevated camp, because there are mice. He directs us to where some others are camping across a dry ravine.
As we cross the ravine, Finders Keepers greets us with a bright head lamp and helps us find a place for our tents. I pitch the tent as Rachel prepares dinner. Tonight it’s quinoa with peanuts and chicken curry. When Chef and I finish setting up our tents, we all sit in a circle sipping a couple of beers we brought along from our stay in Hiker Town. When we finish, we all dissapear into our tents.
I awake in the middle of the night to our rain fly flapping violently against our tent with the wind. I hop out of the tent and resecure the stakes. The wind is blowing hard and as I look upward the wind turbines spin furociously overhead. I take a minute to admire them as they spin, “whirsh, whirsh, whirsh”. Then I crawl back in and fall asleep.
Leave a Reply