Start: Mile 510.9
End: Mile 526.8
Miles Hiked = 15.9
Last night I had camped at the bottom of the foothills just before entering the Mojave desert west of Lancaster.
It was 6.7 miles to Hikertown, my next resupply point. The trail then heads towards Tehachapi.
A few minutes after starting my mornings hike I passed the following sign:
It was another beautiful morning with clear blue skies:
Hiker town is a rustic private outpost along Highway 138. The PCT passes right by it so most hikers pay a visit. It kind of looks like an old Wild West Town. It has water, small bunk rooms for rent, showers, restrooms and hikers can mail in their resupply boxes for pick-up.
My plan was to hike into Hikertown in the morning, pick up my resupply box, take a shower, spend the day resting and then start my walk across the Mojave in the late afternoon. There is about a 20 mile walk across the desert and the PCT basically follows along the LA Aqueduct. I hoped to walk about 10 miles in the late afternoon/evening and then get up and hike the remaining miles early the next morning. This is a common hiking strategy. When it’s hot, some hikers will do their hike at night when it’s cooler, or get up in the early morning (like 3 or 4 am). Luckily the weather was very mild – the highs today were only forecast to be in the mid-70’s.
Everything went as planned. I arrived at Hikertown about 9:15am, picked up my resupply, secured the only bunk room with a private bathroom/shower and rested all afternoon. It was a nice relaxing day and everybody at Hikertown was very friendly and accommodating.
I started part II of my day’s hike about 4:45pm
and was soon walking along the aqueduct
There was a warning
Even though I was walking along the aqueduct, the next water source wasn’t for 17 miles! Frustrating!
After several miles, the trail is on top of the aqueduct pipeline
Then there is a cement “road” on top of the aqueduct that cars can actually drive on
It was a beautiful sunset in the desert
There were a few sketchy cars driving down the road so I stealth-camped in the desert away from the road.
Thanks for reading.
One Dream, One Path, Four Feet 