Wrightwood to Mojave, 202 Miles

After recuperating our bodies and minds in Wrightwood for the last few days, we’re back at it.

This has been our longest continuous section yet. Over these last 200 miles, we have been slept through a snowstorm, summitted 2 mountains, crossed one of the world’s largest wind farms, and went through the eerie site of a recent wildfire in a thick fog.

Day 35, Wrightwood to Mt. Baden-Powell, 17 Miles

Leaving Wrightwood is a challenge, as to get back on trail, we have to take the Acorn Trail. The trail, and the approach to it, are 4.2 Miles and 2,200 ft of steep elevation gain back to 8,200 ft.
This little trail is exhausting enough that it has since become a refrain for us to say “at least that hill was not as bad as the Acorn Trail.” We ascended so quickly that we had the common altitude reaction of our lungs filling with fluid, making us wheeze as if we were smoking for the next few days.

Once back on the Pacific Crest Trail, we hiked to our next big landmark: Mt. Baden-Powell. Named after the founder of the Boy Scouts of America, it measures at 9,300 ft, and is one of the highest points along the entire trail.

We struck camp on Baden-Powell, aiming to summit tomorrow morning. This was one of our coldest nights yet, as temperatures dropped below freezing to 24°F. Unexpectedly, we woke in the middle of the night to find ourselves in a snowstorm. My tent kept us dry and warm through the night, and the landscape around changed dramatically under a fresh layer of snow and hoarfrost.

Day 36, Mt. Baden-Powell to Mt. Williamson, 13 Miles

Waking up, we found the forest covered in snow, branches thick with hoarfrost. Hoarfrost is when water vapor instantly freezes into ice, forming beautiful crystals upon whatever it is stuck to. The cold also brought in a thick layer of fog, decreasing visibility to maybe 30 ft for a large portion of the day.

Descending Baden-Powell, we approached the site of the recent Bobcat Fire, and began to encounter a ghostly landscape. Shrouded in fog and silence, the burned forest looked like the set of a horror film. It was beautiful in a way, but I’m glad that I’m hiking with a partner, as my mind would’ve filled in the blanks with such low visibility around us.

Day 37, Mt Williamson to Sulphur Springs Campground 19 Miles

Regretfully, we begin to leave the San Gabriel Mountain range today, as we transition to the true desert, and the largest we will encounter: the mighty Mojave.

But, before that, we had to bypass a longstanding trail closure. We walked along the CA Highway 2 and met the trail again a few miles later to not disturb the habitat of the Yellow Legged Mountain Frog. Save the Frog!

From the snow, we again met the chaparral and we camped at a location more known for equestrians. There were more horsepens than tentsites.

Day 38, Sulphur Springs to Messenger Flat Campground, 24 Miles

What a day. This is by far our longest day in terms of mileage, as we hiked past sunset. As we pass from the site of one wildfire to the next, we walk along overgrown, unmaintained ridgelines of trail. We must have gone over about 50 large trees and walked through a field of brambles by the end of the day.

These conditions made for very few places to adequately camp, and when we reached our first viable site, it was along an active dirt road. I had a bad feeling about camping here, so we pressed on through the night, and we’re glad we did so.

Though the trail was unpleasant, we climbed a steep hill in the cool of the night rather than the heat of the day. We also hiked under the full moon, which was a blood moon as well.

Reaching our campsite around 10:30 PM, we set up to sleep in, as we had done many more miles than we needed to, and could thus go easier tomorrow.

If you remember back when I first saw a nightjar a few posts ago, I was thrilled to see a bird that I never thought I would have the opportunity to see. You can tell you see a nightjar ahead of you as its eyes reflect back red.
Tonight, we walked up to one, and were convinced by its camouflage that it was a rock. However, we were spooked as this rock suddenly took flight, almost right into us. What we thought was a rock that looked like a bird was in fact a bird that looked like rock.

Day 39, Messenger Flat to Acton KOA Campground, 14 Miles

Scorching heat today as we venture through the Mojave Desert. We reach the small town of Acton, and camp at a KOA where we can do laundry, have a shower and pick up a resupply to get us all the way to the city of Mojave.

It was fun to talk with the locals here, especially one named Christie who is now retired, living in her towed trailer. She goes to campgrounds to which she is a member all around the state. She was happy to be out of the rat race and enjoying going around the state’s campgrounds. Not a bad retirement if I have ever heard one.

Day 40, Acton Koa Campground to Agua Dulce, 13 Miles

After a nice shower and laundering our clothes, we’re back at it. Air temperatures rose into the high 90’s as we are now properly in the Mojave Desert! After only a few miles, we took a break in the shade to let the sun dip and for less direct exposure. In the early evening, we reached our destination.

Before reaching the town of Agua Dulce, we passed an important landmark in scifi history. We passed by the Vasquez Rocks, which have been featured in too many scifi instances to name. Most famously and hilariously, it was the site of the Gorn fight from the original run of Star Trek.

After the Vasquez Rocks, we walked into the small town of Agua Dulce to stock up on water, and, more importantly, to get some pizza.
Big Mouth Pizza. The best vegan pizza one can ask for on trail.

Day 41, Agua Dulce to Green Valley, 13.5 Miles

What started out as a hard day where I was exhausted and nauseous became a great day with animal encounters and a pleasant night hike. We did the majority of our miles after sunset to avoid the scorching heat we experienced during the day. 
I encountered a very large gopher snake, which had me duck and cover thinking it was a rattler. Also had an extended encounter with quail and about every bird in southern California at the only watering hole in the area.

During our night hike, we encountered two kangaroo rats. Look up a kangaroo rat. They are almost too much to handle.

Day 42, Green Valley to Lake Hughes, 12 Miles

A nice day today as we ascended ridgelines thru the aptly named Green Valley. Though it is a profound mystery to me as to why there is so much life here, as the land is dry as a bone.

We notably passed the starting point of an ultramarathon: the Leona Divide 50 mile race. Famous ultrarunners such as Karl Meltzer and Scott Jurek, as well as Bob Berkowitz are past winners. 
We then got a ride to the hikertown hostel, which is built up like a small Western pioneer town. We stayed the night here on a bed and under a roof as we got another resupply and prepared for an infamous section of the PCT.

Day 43,Hikertown to Tehachapi Wind Farm 20.5 Miles

This next section is infamous because it is essentially a 17 mile dirt road walk with no water and minimal shade as you walk by the Los Angeles Aqueduct. I actually found that its difficulty was overstated, and made for a nice hike! Even in spite of the fact that we went to sleep last night at hikertown expecting to get up early to avoid the heat, but instead, we were exhausted and left right when it was getting to be hottest part of the day.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aqueduct

It’s an interesting bit of history, if you’re interested, especially concerning the California Water Wars.

After the Aqueduct, we found ourselves in one of the largest wind farms in the world, around the cities of Rosamund, Tehachapi and Mojave.

Day 44 & 45, Tehachapi Wind Farm to Mojave, 13 & 8 Miles

Today, we climbed 3,000 ft on a hot day. After 4 miles straight up, we reached the “bar and grill.” Here, a kind trail angel set up water, food, chairs and sun protection after a grueling climb. Once at the top, we were a bit frustrated to discover that the trail easily could have gone around these hills and remained flat.
Instead, we went 3k up and then 3k down. Now that’s just cruel!

Worth noting, we are very close to the Edward’s Air Force Base. Where we camped, we saw strange rows of lights moving slowly and silently across the sky. I can see why some ufo sightings happen, as if I had not known we were so close to Edward’s, my mind would wander in that direction.

The next day, we walked along an easier stretch of downhill trail with many Joshua Trees. This has been a great and fun stretch with a lot of surprises. With 200 miles behind us, we are grateful for the rest in Mojave.

By popular request, does anyone have any questions about what we’re doing? Gear, food, sleeping in the woods without a shower for weeks, (most) any question is fair game. I read all the comments, so just let me know, and I will try to answer them in future posts.

Total Miles: 566