We woke up and left camp early, so as to avoid as much of the heat of the day as possible. But much to my surprise, the weather remained cool, and the trail took us through tall, shady shrubs, then through a taller, shadier live oak forest.
The temperature and shade were nice, but bugs found them nice too. We were under constant attack by black flies. I ate 4 of them (accidentally).
Water was also still a challenge. Some of the traditional water resources for this section of the trail were dried up or not working. We planned to get water at a cistern called WR502B. Then, this paper towel changed our minds.
On the way to WR505B, we passed mile 500 of our hike. There were several rock sculptures to mark this milestone, each at different spots, depending on how optimistic the artist was.
When we did reach WR505B, it was a cistern designed to collect rainwater off its own roof. There were a lot of dead flies and miscellaneous debris in the collected water, but once filtered, it tasted great.
We continued through the cool live oak forest, and the trail began to descend.
After a while, we were back to unbearable heat in a barren desert.
The heat and the trail’s apparent aimlessness were hard to endure. For distraction, Elizabeth and I sang the entirety of “100 bottles of beer on the wall”, to keep sane, but it only takes about 20 minutes. And it’s a real feat to keep in time when you’re breathing hard, going up a hill.
It would probably take about 280000 bottles of beer to sing through a whole PCT thru-hike.
At long last, we reached a straightaway alongside farmland, meaning we were almost to our destination, the Hiker Town hostel.
Reaching Hiker Town itself was an odd experience. In the middle of the desert, there is a tiny fake-Western town, built specifically for hikers. The owner likes hiking and building things.
We opted to rent a room, for the rather reasonable price of $20. It was also thoroughly decorated.
We took a shuttle to the store and restaurant, and had dinner and resupplied. The restaurant reminded me a bit of Bel-Mateo Bowl’s food — like it might have been frozen until very, very recently. But, it was cheap, plentiful, and caloric.
As for the resupply, peanut M&Ms figure big in my future. But it wasn’t too bad. Tomorrow, we’ll do the most notorious section of the PCT, the walk across the Mojave floor. We’ll see how that goes.
GREAT POSTS!