May 16, 2014
14 miles
531 miles
After an amazing night of sleep in the manzanita forest I planned for another easy day. It’s been hot, so hot and the desert is ahead. So our plan to relax most of the day in the shade and attempt a hitch later in the afternoon. The reason for this hitch? Last years huge fire that closed a huge chunk of trail. The options included a 20 mile road walk or a 20 mile aqua duct walk. Both sounded horrid in the 100* heat of the day. So as non purist as it is, we decided to hitch the 20 miles back to the open trail.
The day included a nap, chocolate milk, lots of snacks, shade, and of course rock painting.
Around 5 we (Arctic, Owl, Angle, and myself) headed to the main road. We used the map above as our guide, yup… It made for an interesting adventure. We got a hitch to the Rock Cafe fairly quickly. Thanks Toby! Since we were at the cafe we decided to go in… You know you have to take what the trail gives.
We had a blast, ordered some food and drinks and listened to the amazing piano man. He played some great tunes and was very energetic.
After dinner we headed back out to the road for our next hitch. We got another quick ride, the four of us crammed into a small car. After some confusion we finally made it to hiker town. It’s crazy that we missed the 500 mile mark, but man was it a beautiful night to hike the Aqua Duct. A huge pipe of water on a flat dirt road. The sunset was amazing, and the moon rise at 10:04 was great too.
Cheese also joined our little group. We sang songs as we hiked, took small siestas for snacks, and honored the aqua ducts with an official Mighty Ducks chant. It was a fun way to travel.
We hiked until we couldn’t keep our eyes open. There were bodies (in sleeping bags) and tents all along the road. It was odd, but eventually we joined them. Sleep, is good.
hikingsunbeam 