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Today is the 109th anniversary of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. It was on this day that William Mulholland uttered his famous line: “There it is -- take it.”

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Day 38-42 - Night Hiking to Tehachapi

The section between Acton (mile 444) and Tehachapi (mile 566) was hot, dry, "proper" desert. So we decided to not just skip the hottest part of the day by taking a siesta, but to completely turn our schedule around and do most of our miles at night. Typically that looked like: starting to hike around 1800-2000 stopping around 0100 to sleep for 3-4 hours, hiking some more until about 0800-1000, and then trying to sleep all afteroon.

Leaving Casa de Luna (mile 478), our first night took us past a small cave (mile 486) near Lake Hughes that was conveniently located for us to stop and sleep in. The cave was musty, but warmer than outside so we tried sleeping without our bags - just jackets. Gaelen woke up cold, but Ian was out cold instead.

The second night we arrived at a horse trailcamp (mile 508) where lots of people had set up tents - as it was the only water source around. Trying to set up tents quietly in the dark, we zonked out. The next morning Ian overslept, waking up just as Gaelen was leaving camp. Adjusting to the night hike schedule took some effort and wouldn't really click for a few nights. That day we hiked a bit longer into the day (well Ian did) to reach Hiker Town (mile 517) near Antelope Valley, CA where we spent the afternoon lounging. Hiker Heaven, Casa de Luna, and Hiker Town form a famous trio of layovers after which support from trail angels will begin to wane.

Our third night, we had a new experience in our journey: walking along the Los Angeles Aqueduct. For about 11 miles our elevation hardly changed as we followed one of the large pipes connecting water from the Owen's Valley to LA County. The Aqueduct system is as contentions of an historical issue as it is an engineering marvel (please read the Wikipedia article). Arriving early in the morning at the only tap into the pipe's precious cargo (mile 535), we laid out our bags to sleep. Ian woke up twice fully out in the blazing sun before moving to more permanent shade - suffering decent sunburns to his face, chest, and arms. Chilling with about a dozen other hikers under the bridge as they cycled through the shade like the hands on a clock was quite fun for Ian. Meanwhile, Gaelen had found a bad ass lean-to and slept the day away (perhaps the wiser choice?).

That evening we set out for another long-ish water carry, but right before Tylerhorse Canyon (mile 541) Ian's headlamp gave out. Hiking a few more miles by moonlight before it set behind the hills, we set up camp early that night. The next morning we set out to finish the push into town, but before noon we were driven to seek shelter. We stuggled to find any shade or respite from the sun... Ian eventually rigged his ground cloth and trekking poles into a semblance of a sunshade and tried to nap. By early afternoon Gaelen had had enough and decided to be miserable while at least gaining miles. Ian dithered for a few more hours before continuing. Meeting up at the last water before the highway, Ian dithered further in the oppressive heat while Gaelen reached town and booked a hotel. By the time Ian reached the highway (mile 566) it was 2100 and too dark for any motorists to see his thumb. Luckily, a bus brought him to the hotel by around 2230.

At Ian's request, we took a Zero day in Tehachapi. Ian's feet had been a constant bother since Santa Clarita and he began to suspect his shoes were partly to blame. It didn't seem right to be on the 3rd pair going on 4th at only 500 miles into the trek. Ian also needed to spend some time fighting with AT&T to switch from his old pre-paid plan to a standard plan, and acquire a new (temporary) headlamp. At least REI made it easy to have a (permanent) replacement mailed ahead to the next trail town. Ian's Nana had also sent cookies to celebrate reaching 500 miles - which we devoured!

#pct #pct2019 #tehachapi #laaqueduct