Posted by Day 27: AM: mile 504.5 to 517.6 Hiker Town (13.1 Mile) PM: Mile 517.6 to 534.8 (17.2 mile) Total: 30.3 mile (48.7km)
An easy start to the day but hot. The forecast for today is 87F (30C) and tomorrow 97F (36C). By 8am you could feel the heat building as I descended down from the semi forest cover out into the open country approaching the Mojave Desert.
Not much to say about this mornings hike other than it was a hot, sweaty affair.
I got to Hiker Town just before 11am.
Hiker Town is a strange place run by an eccentric old fella named Bob. I’m not sure if the history of this place. It looks like a miniature Wild West movie set with lots of old run down buildings in need of repair. While it’s western themed, there is an acclectic (wrong spelling I know) of old and new. It’s a strange place. It has character for sure and is a welcome sight for hikers as a place to rest up and resupply with water.
I managed my water down to the last drop finishing what I had 0.8 of a mile out from Hiker Town.
The local store, 4 miles away, offers rides on the hour from Hiker Town and I grabbed a ride in for a burger. They also served real coffee which I had to get and a mocca shake.
The next section is along the LA aqueduct which is a long straight affair, out in the open, with no shade and no water. I plan to rest up here and night hike the aqueduct tonight carrying lots of water as the water sources are sketchy right out to the Hwy to Tehachapi, 48 miles away. I’ll see how far I can get tonight, find some shade in the morning to sit out another scorcher and keep trucking in the evening again.
PM Update:
Just before 6 pm a United Nations coalition headed from hiker town to walk the aqueduct at night. Nine of us in total from the US, Canada, France, Czech Republic, UK and Australia.
Conditions were perfect for night hiking with a full moon going to be out.
Initially it was along side an open channel. Masses of water headed to LA. Soon it turned into a walk along side or on top of a metal pipe.
We’ed walked 7miles in very quick time and had a break as the aqueduct headed underground and became a concrete road that would take us 10 more mile to a faucet, our next water source.
As the sun set and the moon rose there was enough light to see without the aid of a head lamp. We walked in constantly changing small groups most of the way, enjoying conversation and a lot of laughter.
By late evening the miles were getter harder to do, the concrete food pad causing most of us some discomfort and having to shift to the edge where the tread was a little softer underfoot.
Determined to reach the faucet we trekked on, finally reaching our distinction just before midnight, having walked would many would consider to be a fulls day walk at 17 miles.
It was great to get this done tonight. Tomorrow’s forecast is 97 degrees, 36 Celsius and it would have been a nightmare out in the open with no shade whatsoever and knowing you are walking on top of a crap load of water but with no means to access it.
Mick Beckers 