Highway Hiking
Zero in Wrightwood, Recap:
Wrightwood has probably been my favorite trail town so far. It was extremely hiker-friendly (everyone in town was so nice, it was very walkable and easy to get around, and a lot of businesses catered to hikers). We originally planned only one night in Wrightwood, but after seeing our adorable cabin we had booked we decided to stay an additional night.
We did all of our town chores like laundry, cleaning our cookware, backflushing our water filters, and resupplying our food over those two days. In between all of that, we went out to eat and hung out at the house. I feel like we all bonded so much more by staying together here, and we had such a fun time. It was me, Shortcut, Girl Scout, Hot Pink, and Tom for the first night, and the second evening we were joined by one of the guys’ friends, Stakes.
At one point while in Wrightwood, I had a really great talk with Shortcut about how I’d been feeling the last week or so. After having such a negative week, feeling like I was slow, and feeling lonely throughout the day not having someone to walk with, it had been hard for me to get to Wrightwood. Now that I was here and still with these great people, I was feeling as though I was having a change in perspective. I had been wallowing a bit in the past at the falling apart of our earlier trail family, and because of that it fed my negative feelings about not feeling adequate enough to keep up with the others I’m with, who all have a naturally faster pace than mine. And as a result of that, I’d been feeling lonely and isolated, which festered my negative feelings even more.
After talking it through, I was ready to move forward and turn a new leaf. Even running back in to Mountain Man had made me realize that trail life and the relationships you create can be transient at times and that a “goodbye” is never truly an ending. I’m realizing it’s very likely that I’ll get to hike with all of my friends again at some point, and even if I don’t get that opportunity, it’s ok. I want to continue moving forward.
Something else that was a big topic of discussion these few days in Wrightwood was if we were going to summit Mount Baden Powell or bypass it. I was keen to go up and over the summit since I had bailed on San Jacinto and missed that summit. I felt more confident after the snow experience coming through Big Bear, and even after hiking through the sketchy snow right before Wrightwood I was feeling enegized. However, after getting a report from the Umbrella People who were a couple days ahead of us that the descent from Baden Powell was a nightmare, we decided to go around.
Luckily this time (unlike San Jacinto) there’s an alternate footpath we can take rather than just skipping ahead. We’ll hike Highway 2, a closed highway that goes up through the mountains and more or less parallels the trail for just over 30 miles. It should be an interesting and different start to this next section, and I’m looking forward to what the miles bring us!
~Mile 380
After hiking on the actual trail for about 4 miles to Vincent Gap, we started the road walk. It’s super easy to road walk since it’s flat and basically straight, but it’s a bit boring and hard on the joints and feet. We also have full packs since we just left town, and that always makes the first day back on trail a bit difficult. I feel like I’m finally getting better at packing my pack though which is a nice feeling.
After hiking around 4 miles of the highway, we stopped to set up camp. Since we’re just on a paved road, we can’t really set up tents, so we all just laid out our ground sheets and are laying on top of them, exposed to the air (this is what’s called “cowboy camping”). It’s pretty beautiful to look up from my sleeping bag and see the stars above me, twinkling over the desert valley below.
It’s me, Girl Scout, Shortcut, Hot Pink, Stakes, and Tom (who’s trying out the trail name Bubbles, due to his impressive and constant belching). We’re all tucked in to our bags in a neat little row. I feel like I did so much laughing today, this group is endlessly funny. I’m having a really nice time with eveyone and am looking forward to this upcoming stretch. I’ve also been listening to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and have really been enjoying getting lost in a fantastical story. I’ll likely finish it tomorrow or the next day, so I made sure to download the next book so I can continue listening when this one ends.
Mile 400.6
Did 16.3 miles today, 13 of that on Highway 2. The road was pretty rough on the body, and it was luckily a beautiful road to walk with great views. After a day and a half of road walking though I’m happy to be back on the trail. Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow but probably doing at least 14.5, since we’ve had a couple lower mileage days and boring road walking.
Something interesting about the road today was how much snow and debris there was. Now I know why the highway is closed! There were sections where we needed to put on our microspikes because there was so much snow. Several areas had seen major rock slides, with one area in particular that had several giant boulders that had fallen down to the road. Every once in a while you’d see a small rock tumbling down the slope up ahead or near you, and it made for an uneasy feeling each time.
I got to walk a ways with Stakes in the afternoon which was a lot of fun and a great way to pass the time. He’s from Australia and we had a great conversation about all kinds of topics ranging from travel, to hobbies, to politics, and other things in between. It was great to get to know him by knocking out some miles together and enjoying the beautiful views of the cloud covered valley.
At the end of the day we passed mile 400! I’m so proud of myself. I remember back to the first night on trail wondering if I’d be able to do this, and here I am 400 miles in and feeling as though I’m strong and ready to keep going. Only 300 miles left of the desert! I should be in Kennedy Meadows (the entrance to the Sierra) by the end of May, or the very beginning of June. At that point, I’ll likely be flipping up to Northern California to bypass the snow-covered Sierra Nevada for now. I may even need to wait a couple weeks to do that, because NorCal might still be covered in too much snow. If that’s the case, it would be really nice to go home or have Erich come out here for an extended visit.
Mile 418.5
Today was a slog, and I’m not even sure why. We all woke up really slowly and had a nice calm morning at camp, but as soon as I started hiking things just felt hard. I could tell my energy was low, and my body was stiff. Just getting 5 miles to the water source took effort. After seeing everyone at the water source and taking a snack break, I turned on the “Inside” album by Bo Burnham and felt better. After a few miles though I started to slow down again. I ran into the group about a mile before the next spring which was a great relief. I joined them, and luckily had some service so I was able to call and talk to Erich, which I really needed. I love him so much, he always lifts my spirits and makes me laugh. It was so good to hear his voice, especially so on a hard day.
I carried on and it continued to be a slog, but I knew I could do the remaining 7-8 miles, it would just be tough. I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire since I finished the Prisoner of Azkaban the last few days, and that helped me pass the time.
About 3 miles before camp, I came upon Shortcut having a solo dance party at a lookout spot. It was AWESOME. She totally lifted my spirits, and said she had stopped to wait for me which I greatly appreciated. I took a short break and stretched and drank some more water and then we continued on.
When we got to the last campsite before the road, the rest of our group wasn’t there. I got a message from Girl Scout on the Garmin saying there was trail magic a mile away and that we should come. We packed up so fast and haphazardly, excited to get to trail magic and also to see our group. My pack looked ridiculous because I just threw everything into it, my sleeping pad even had air in it still lol. We were packed up within 2 minutes, and then started literally running down the trail. I ended up running the entire mile all the way to the trail magic.
After slogging through every single mile today, I RAN that last mile. And you know what’s weird? It felt easy. Maybe it was desperation to get to camp, but it actually wasn’t that hard.
Now I’m at the trail magic and life is so good. An awesome couple has a few tables set up with drinks, pizza, snacks, and DOGS! (Dogs not for eating). It’s such an awesome experience after a tough day. I’m so happy to be with the group and tomorrow morning these amazing trail angels are going to cook us breakfast! Serious angels. Really enjoying trail right now, even on the hard days.
Mile 436.1
This morning was great! I felt really good and the trail magic was incredible to wake up to. We ended up hanging out there until about 9am.
The afternoon gave us a 4-mile climb after lunch which was rough, then 6 more miles to camp. It was getting late in the evening, and my feet felt like they wanted to give up on me. I took ibuprofen to make it through, and didn’t roll into camp until after 8pm when the sun had already set. My feet feel so swollen and unhappy. Going into town tomorrow, only 10 miles. I can make it.
Also, I saw 4 snakes today, two of them rattlers. Cowboy camping tonight.
Mile 444.1
After getting into camp so late last night (8:15pm) it was surprisingly easy to get up this morning. I was motivated to get to town, and also wanted to start hiking in the cooler hours of the day. I didn’t get out of camp until 7:30am, so in this next stretch coming up I want to make sure I’m leaving as early as I can, sometimes even at 5am if necessary to knock out the miles before the sun gets too hot.
I’m finding that the heat just totally zaps me. Maybe it’s because I grew up in northern Minnesota, but hiking with a 25-30lb pack in this desert heat with no shade for hours on end is pretty brutal for me. Stakes and Girl Scout seem to be handling it easily, but they’re both from Australia and are used to buckets of heat.
Girl Scout and I hiked the first 4 miles together to the water source this morning and it was nice to hike with someone for a change since I’ve been doing a lot of solo hiking the last few weeks. We chatted and then laughed hysterically when I thought I saw a rattlesnake in the bushes and when I tried to run, I tripped over a rock and fell, as Girl Scout described it “slow motion falling”, onto the ground. It took effort to stand up, partially from my heavy pack but mostly from the giggling I couldn’t suppress.
We took a break at the water source to fill up our bottles and then pushed the last four miles. The heat was tough, but especially the last two miles I could really feel my feet. They are just getting really swollen throughout the day, and I certainly notice it in the mornings too. Probably a mixture of being hot, dehydrated, and sore. I think the road walk a few days back really messed with them.
Around lunch time we got in to the town of Acton and went straight for the restaurant. I ordered a big burger with a salad, and then after we all ate, Stakes convinced me to get more (to be fair, I was still hungry). I ordered a root beer float, mashed potatoes, and another salad. Bubbles helped me finish the food because I couldn’t get it all down, and we were all so happy to feel fed.
Tomorrow I need to go to the grocery store to get some food in my resupply, then I’m heading to the post office. I'm sending my snow gear home since we’re done with snow for a few weeks, and I also am thinking about sending my warmer gear (gloves, down booties, sleeping bag liner) ahead for when we get to higher elevation again. It’s going to feel so nice to have a lighter pack, especially with longer water carries and hot days in this upcoming section.
Mile 454.7
Today was hilarious and very needed. This morning after running errands we had all planned to get a ride with a trail angel back to trail around 11am. Girl Scout and Shortcut left a little bit before us, and while Stakes, Bubbles, Hot Pink, and I all waited for the shuttle to come back, Bubbles looked at us and said “What if we just didn’t walk the 10 miles today…?” It was all the miles we had planned to knock out, because there was a hiker campground we’d heard good things about in Agua Dulce, only 10 miles down the trail. I asked him if he meant we should just stay here in Acton for another night, and he clarified that he meant we could potentially just “yellow blaze” to Agua Dulce from Acton. (Yellow-blazing refers to riding in a car to get further down the trail)
Our eyes lit up with the possibility of a zero-mile day, and especially since it was a 10-mile water carry right at the heat of the day, it sounded incredibly appealing. My feet were still feeling swollen and unhappy, and I definitely wouldn’t mind taking a day off… By the time the trail angel had come to pick us up, Stakes, Bubbles, and I had all decided to yellow blaze to Agua Dulce together.
Once in the car we felt giddy and relieved. This was all of our first time doing a real yellow blaze, and honestly? It was SO fun. I think I had expected to feel guilty, but in my core I truly do not. This day has been way more fun and memorable than it would have been because we’ve all just been hanging out, bonding, and joking around at the campground. We also ran back into Mountain Man there after having not seen him for about a week! He left in the late afternoon, so we would have missed him otherwise.
There’s certain activities in trail life that “purists” can get judgmental over, yellow blazing being one of them. They might think that just because you didn’t hike every mile of open trail, you’ve cheated or you aren’t being a “real” thru-hiker. And to that I say “bullshit”! A huge part of doing a thru-hike is freedom from what others want or expect from you, and doing whatever it is you want to do. It’s also about feeding your soul, and doing what feels right each day. I can understand that hiking from point A to point B without any detours or side quests sounds appealing to some, but just like being at the grocery store and grabbing a pint of ice cream that wasn’t on your list, sometimes you just need to give yourself a little treat.
