PCT Day 43
June 12 2021
Mile: 498.2 to 517.6
Start: Sawmill campground
Finish: Grassy side yard at Weevill Market on highway 158
We woke up as the sun rose and headed out into the woods before it got too hot. We were low on water but the cistern at the campground was somewhere in the backcountry after some serious bushwhacking and navigating skills since it wasn’t labeled on any of our GPS apps or paper maps. We decided to hit up a more reliable cistern and water tank that were only a few miles up trail, instead of going on a little early morning adventure at the campground.
Finding our way back to the PCT was a little challenging since we had bushwhacked the night before to the back end of the campground instead of taking a .3 mile long side trail like normal people. Luckily, the entrance to the side trail was next to our campsite so we hopped right back on that and popped out on the PCT via a trail this time instead of boonie stompin’ our way through the woods.
The Pacific Crest Trail passed through more burnt trees and skeletal remains of what was once foliage after the fire that had happened recently. The cool thing about the trail in this section is that with the soft ash and sand you could see lots of animal tracks which was pretty neat. This section of trail had actually just reopened a few days ago so we were lucky to be allowed out here since hikers even just a week ago had to figure out the logistics of hitchhiking and shuttling around a 25 mile section of trail.
Shannon and I finally made it to the cistern and water tank after not having water refilled since lunchtime yesterday. Both water sources had historical comments in the Guthook navigation app about nasty decomposing animal remains that had been scooped out of the water that the hikers drink from. I guess 2 years ago a black bear had fallen into the cistern, couldn’t get out of the high smooth concrete walls, died and floated around in the water source rotting for weeks or months until the US Forestry Service hauled it out. This section of PCT was pretty waterless so your options for staying hydrated were limited and it seemed like at one point that only place that had water also had a dead decomposing bear in it which was pretty gross. It was almost like a game of “Would you rather…” and your choices were between 1) becoming dehydrated and dying in the desert or 2) drinking a murky cocktail of rotting bear carcasses. Nasty! We were so grateful that the dead bear in the water source was a thing of the past.
Unfortunately for us however, a few days ago someone commented on the Guthook navigation app that they had fished out a decomposing squirrel from the cistern while collecting water. Gross! With that news we weren’t sure if the drinking water was going completely free of dead animals so when we arrived at the cistern we thoroughly inspected it. You had to stick your head in a hole, look around and see if you could see anything floating. Luckily for us the water looked nice and clear and deep so we filtered 4 liters of water from the cistern and made a second breakfast with the filtered water. We flew the drone a bit and as we were drinking the water and enjoying coffee and tea in the shade.
Shannon went back to collect some more water to tank up for the day so we each would have 4 liters of water to hike with. When he opened the creaky metal cover to the cistern, something brown, furry and rotten floated by in the water tank. He almost puked at the stench and then grabbed two sticks and chopsticked out the rotting hunk of dead rodent or small animal onto the ground. The creature had been in the cistern so long that there were no distinguishing features left – it was just a blob of fur and stank.
Unfortunately for us, we had already drank a bunch of the water. So we said screw it and filtered some more water and just kept on living our best lives, drinking who knows what in this freaking nasty rotten animal water. I held out my water bottle to Shannon when he returned after fishing out the decaying animal and asked, “More protein please!” He turned slightly green and smiled.
The whole dead animal incident reminded me of when I was working as an intern in a manufacturing facility. One of the windows had been open and a squirrel had fallen in the vat of fluorescent penetrant dye used to find cracks on the outside of metal parts. The squirrel died over the weekend, turning into a furry gray tennis ball that bobbed up and down in the vat of chemicals, until one of the ladies had found it Monday and scooped it out. The dead squirrel was probably one of the grosser things I’d seen as an intern and made me remember never to get that dye on my hands!
A couple of hikers arrived after we realized that we’d been hanging out at the nasty water cistern for over 1.5 hours and needed to get moving while the temperature was still somewhat cool. We weren’t going to do huge miles today, but didn’t want to get stuck hiking in the hottest part of the afternoon with no shade, which consumes so much of your energy, water, and mental positivity.
Shannon and I trekked through fields of golden and purple grasses that were now just dried out husks from the drought of Southern California. We kept going in and out of burned zones and at one point saw enormous padded footprints in the ash from a mountain lion! We ran into Maya and Jay again who were hanging out at Horse Springs Campground where comments on the navigation app said that a mountain lion mama and babies had been seen there recently by hikers who had hung out there or camped there. That would explain the lion footprints we saw not too far back! Sheesh – we weren’t going to camp up there with the mountain lions or linger long. No thank you!!
We showed Maya and Jay about wild chia seeds that grew so big out here in the ashen soil, like two or three times taller and fuller than the one plants we’d seen previously in the desert. In return, they taught us about the California Buckeye tree up ahead with its gorgeous intricate coneflowers. The California Buckeye we saw was covered in honeybees who were absolutely in love with the plant, and I got some great macro videos and pictures of the bees.
Shannon and I wound down the mountain and onto the road where we found a small shady flat spot behind a big rock where we leaned back and napped in the dirt, like the dirtbag hikers that we are. Shannon was out cold in the afternoon heat and so I caught up on my book and watched the road as motorists and cyclists passed by on the street but didn’t see us. Maya and Jay spotted our packs and swung by after they had picked up their van to chat. They gave us each two fresh dates. Yum, fiber! I’d never eaten fresh dates before but it was the season in California for them and they were very sweet and full of seeds around a big pit. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a whole date before and thanked them. As they drove off, we said goodbye and packed up to finish up the afternoon slog on the hot exposed desert trail.
The hot sun slowed me down, even with my umbrella out for shade, and we got passed by hikers Hooch and John Z, the latter of whom had created an ultralight backpacking company called Palante backpacks or something like that. Apparently John Z is some sort of YouTube or hiking celebrity but we didn’t recognize him. All I recall is that he really didn’t like it when Shannon suggested his trail name should be “Little John” like the sidekick in Robin Hood because John Z was a very big guy. He thought Shannon meant the rapper Lil Jon and somehow didn’t care much for that either. Oh well…not everyone can appreciate club hits such as “Turn Down for What” or the legends of Robinhood. Can’t please em all!
Shannon and I pushed on in the stifling afternoon heat and left the super hot mountain behind. Sometimes when it’s too hot even the lizards and snakes take refuge – we barely saw any today and rustled up two deer by accident from their nap in the shade. We descended onto a flat prairie filled with tumbleweeds that had been pushed up against a farmer’s fence from the constant winds. It was insane – I couldn’t believe how many dang tumbleweeds there were here! We found an absolutely enormous tumbleweed and filmed our version of a western film with the big boi. The things you do to keep entertained on the trail…
We finally got cell service as we walked towards the highway and talked to the owner of Weevill Market which is a hiker friendly convenience store that allows PCT hikers to camp in its backyard. The owner said that he was running errands and would pick us up in about an hour but that we could try hitching to the market if we wanted to get there sooner. Hooch showed up on the road trying to hitch after leaving his hiking buddy for the day John Z, who had wanted to put in another 10 miles after already having done 30 miles today. Apparently some of these guys do “Casual 30s” or back to back 30 mile days like it’s no big deal. No thank you! How do you enjoy the trail if you’re doing 30 miles a day everyday?
It seemed like at the road that no one wanted to give us a hitch for some reason. 45 minutes after starting to thumb our way the 8 miles down the road, a lady from Hawaii stopped to pick us up. She said that in Hawaii that the aloha spirit is where you never leave anyone stranded on the side of the road. She also told us that we’d probably never gotten a hitch because the area here is known for actual robbers who try to hitch and then hijack the cars. Yikes! We promised her that we were just hikers looking to go to the market to grab food and stay the night. The Hawaiian lady was visiting her sister who was so pregnant that she looked like Buddha with her big belly and told us that she had stage four cancer so this might be her last trip to the mainland from Hawaii. We got dropped off at Weaver market, promising the lady that we would pay it forward and thanking her profusely and wishing her luck with all heard the rest of her journey.
When we got to the market, we heard that there had been a four car pileup accident the day before on the highway and the cars caught the nearby fields on fire because it was so dry. Apparently the car accident fire burned down 700 acres of land, as well as several powerline poles as well. That meant there was no electricity here and for at least eight miles, all the way to the interesting place called Hiker Town back by where we tried to hitch. Paul, the owner of Weevill Market, had gone into the larger town of Lancaster to grab bags of ice to keep his food preserved while the power was still out. He was so nice and still let us come in the store and pick up food for dinner and snacks, even though the store was technically closed for everyone else. We took photos of our purchases because we were going to pay for it the next day as we couldn’t really go anywhere and no one liked hitchhikers out here. Graciously, Paul said that we could all settle up tomorrow when the power was back on hopefully. Thankfully, the water was still running and we had a hose for water, a flat grassy spot in the shade for camping and could go across the highway to the field to use the bathroom.
As we were eating cans of chili and drinking ice teas (and the guys had beers), a nice guy named Dan from the trailer park behind the store gave us each bottled water and let us borrow his wash basin so we could do laundry with the hose. When the sun set and the temperature got cooler out, Dan brought over a propane heater for us to put under the picnic tables as the night settled in. He was so sweet. He is really good at drums so we had some live music from his trailer for part of the night while we’re eating dinner. It was pretty cool because there were no lights on out here since the electricity was cut for miles and miles around. The stars were super bright, and we could see the dark side of the moon showing clearly in the navy blue sky. It was a neat experience.
Shannon and I made bets with Hooch over some alcoholic drinks over what time that we thought that the power would come back on. Apparently the power company told Paul that the power was supposed to be back on at 6am yesterday morning, but then when it didn’t turn on they said 5am tomorrow morning. Hooch called out midnight, I said noon the next day and Shannon said 6pm the next day. We were playing “The Price is Right” rules so during the early morning around 2:22am, the power came back on and the lights woke me up. Hooch had won the bet but we still did a silent victory dance in the tent, knowing that tomorrow we’d have cold beverages and homecooked food on the grill to eat. Hoorah!
