Date: 2007-06-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Tehachpi, California, mile 558 north of US/MEX border. From K-Mart internet cafe, a mile bike ride from Santa Fe Motel......Gruelling thru-hike pace up through the desert, water scarce, and plenty steep in many sections. Passed through some incredible Trail Magic purveyors' domains ; water, beer, showers, rides to and from Trail at Jeff and Donna Saufley's Hikers' Heaven and Joe and Terri Anderson's Casa de Luna, 23 miles north. We finally got hooked up with Retro for a while and hiked some memorable miles together.      We arrived at Richard Skaggs' Hikertown (mile 518) around noon after climbing up and down thru forbidding landscape of Tejon Ranch's reluctant acceptance of PCT passage over the ranch property to find the gate at Hikertown semi-locked up and the manager departed to LA for business, with somewhat contradictory instructions as to what to do next. We let ourselves in and sought shade on the "lawn". Other hikers had left their packs outside the fence but none were at Hikertown, all had hooofed the mile west to Gil's Country Store we suspected. I appropriated the Rickety Hikertown bike and rode out to Gil's to pick up our food package, and found about 9 or 10 other hikers, absolutely filthy, lounging on the concrete patio adjacent to the store alongside Gil's horse corral, snoozing and hydrating, eating ice cream ,etc. A bizarre scene.    Retro, Woodrose, and I walked away from Hikertown into the Mojave Desert @ 1900 hrs into the cooling evening and rising west wind, soon to join up with the open California Aqueduct , an concrete sluice with escape ladders every thousand feet or so, the place often depicted in TV Rescue shows. We soon joined the LA Aqueduct which crossed the CA with a mile marker of 318; initially an 8 foot diameter riveted steel pipe, which ultimately disappeared under ground becoming an enclosed concrete sluiceway with numerous twists and turns, but remaining substantially level, with low concrete structures and access ports every so often. The big sun went to bed as the big moon rose over the desert and the wind rose at our backs. We pushed a hard pace following Johnny Retro and rested occaisionally atop the concrete bunkers, where we often heard the water rushing below. Among the other hikers that we were following, we were on the heels of Billygoat and Captain America. Billygoat is 68 and has hiked over 28,000 miles and is on his 9th PCT hike. BG said in the "old days" hiking along the PCT, the Trail followed the Aqueduct for 60 miles and their were hatches on the structures every 3-5 miles ; hikers would lift the lids and attempt to dip their water from the flowing LA lifeblood.    The moonlight was spectacular, illuminating the desert and its' bizarre barren bleakness. On we marched, stopping at midnight to eat and rest. We slept on the road for and hour, got up from the cold and continued on, overtaking Billygoat, CA and Disco D.an, who were sleeping on a concrete structure in the moonlight. Billygoat, long of hair and beard, popped up from behind the box , eyeballing us...."Out for a walk, are ye, yes?" , and laid back down. We hiked on until 0200 and crashed in the chapparal like coyotes int the dirt, woke up a 0500 and walked on out to Cottonwood Canyon bridge, to find two emergency vehicles and paramedics evacuating a hiker (Boudin) who was unable to continue due to leg or foot problems. We were able to take water from the aqueduct there and Retro went on ahead of us. We continued on in and out of the compant of Billygoat, CA, and Tall, shaven headed Freeway. Billygoat, a Mainer, had wonderful advice about hiking and conservation of water and energy. "Down" , his instruction for resting, and "Move", his instruction when standing. All of the hikers admire my desert bride, my "Tentmate of the Month" (year, life.) "Long distance hiking is the great equalizer, you know, " explains Billygoat, "It has no favorites. It doesn't matter whether you are a man or a woman, whether you are 20 or 70, how rich you are, how poor, how much education you have or not, you still have to climb the mountain. I think we'll get to Tylerhorse Canyon at about 1130....""There it is, that's Tylerhorse below us".....Our next water and rest stop. It was 1142. We joined Johnny Retro snoozing in the dirt and meager shade alongside the trickle of Tylerhorse. A big Chinook helicopter (we were near Edwards AFB) roared around the top of the canyon rousting us as other overheated hikers straggled in looking for shade and water. We three SW Floridians crawled around in the moving shade, snoozing on our little pads under our three Golite Chromedome umbrellas. We walked on at 1800 hours.    The next day we marched on toward Tehachapi getting lost in the myriad of horrendous motorcycle tracks that have destroyed the countryside for endless miles, and wandering down thru a huge windfarm. The motorcyclists are ruthless killers, slaughtering Mother Nature with reckless passion. Mr. young gw Bush could use a few brigades of them in his military. Give 'em guns, I say and fight them terroriss from Suzukis and Yamahas ! To paraphrase one of our last great military strategists, William Westmoreland, "Send me another 50,000 troops (killers on scramblers ), and I'll have this mopped up in another six months." I'm heading back into the desert tomorrow with hopes that maybe I can learn to think like an American. On to Victory and cheap gas and big big cars. Let's kick some ass and torture people like on Fox TV. USA!USA!! I got the Sunday LA Times today to get caught up with the Mission Accomplished team of deluded psychotic pseudo patriot heroes. Powder burns on the childrens' and old ladies' faces. We'll teach those Iraqis and them not to attack the WTC'    150 miles to the Sierras. We sent food resupplies ahead yesterday from Tehachapi, including a 5 galllon bucket full up to Muir Trail Ranch, who will haul it up to us in the high Sierras on a packhorse train. Reckless Wandering. Mu' el Sk- nur (Old Testament spelling.)