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Day 31: heaven’s gate

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Day 31
Miles: 10
From the Acton KOA to Hiker Heaven (aka the Saufleys’)

The sun is coming up on our hiker sleepover in the gazebo – one early bird packs up and jets, the rest of us gently stir. It’s morning.

We’ve only got ten miles to go today to arrive at the Saufleys’. Located in Agua Dulce, they operate a thru-hiker waystation at their home. Some operation – they ask that no more than 50 hikers a night come through. (!) They also hold mail and send mail for hikers, which is what I’m particularly excited about. Besides a box of extra food that we sent ahead, and our bounce box, which is full of extra gear, and a box of goodies that my mother has sent,  I’ve ordered a brand new pack which should also be waiting for me.

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Day 30: all wrung out

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Day 30
Miles: 12
May 31, 2014
From sulphur spring to the Mill Creek fire station to the Acton KOA

Pushing miles always sounds good on the day I’m doing it, but I regret it the day after. Today’s the day after… We’re dragging, as usual, and the last ones out of the camping area.

There’s a complicated detour section coming up. From here on there are poodle dog bush infestations. Some of the reports seem greatly exaggerated, others more serious. Then there’s the fact that I’ve never seen a poodle dog bush rash. It’s said to cause bloating, pain, oozing pustules,  and itchiness, but these are all second hand reports. That said, I’ve never seen a poison oak rash, but I trust that it’s nasty. Anyhow, some hikers are detouring onto a forest service road right from sulphur springs. Others plan on taking the trail to the Mill Creek fire station then detouring from there. Others are hoping for a hitch.
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Day 29: highways and valleys

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Day 29
Miles: 24
From little Jimmy Spring to sulphur spring

When our alarm goes off at the amazingly early hour of 7am, only one other hiker is left at little Jimmy campground. Apparently early has different definitions for different people. Gizmo and Dirtnap, bringing up the rear again.

The trail today has a lot of decisions. Instead of a long, unbroken, dirt conveyor belt to Canada, the trail has closures, road walks, and too many road crossings to keep track of. The decisions start right away, as J and I look up at another crazy climb up a ridge. Highway 2 sweeps around the ridge and connects back up with trail where it comes careening back down. Uphill is always the answer, so up we go. Nothing like a good haul in the morning to remind you that you did the same thing yesterday.
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Day 28: switchbacks

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Day 28
Miles: 14
From Wrightwood to Little Jimmy Spring Camp

I wake up and take another shower. Might as well start off clean for the next section. Don and Yvon feed us breakfast, then Yvon takes us to the store for a new fuel canister and then to the trailhead. Yvon explained last night that get daughter has found surrogate mothers all over the world – so she likes to take care of the children of other people who come their way. These debts and gifts of kindness get passed around in a giant loop all over the world I suppose. My mother likes to take in the children of friends and strangers too. I wonder if it all eventually shakes out even – it seems that those who are better at giving have more room to receive.

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Day 27: Best kind of morning

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Day 27
Miles: 7

I wake up and look outside the tarp – it’s the crack of dawn, cracking its way into my little blue home. Behind a screen of pines, the day breaks pink and gold, and J and I watch the sun rise with our heads still on our pillows. “So this is what sunrise looks like!” I exclaim. “It’s beautiful!”
“Who knew?” jokes J. We watch the sunrise snuggled together. The morning fades into normal morning-ness and we go back to sleep. No point in wasting a perfectly cool, lovely morning by being awake.

I’m exhausted. J and I can pull big days, but when we start stacking them in a row it takes us down pretty quick. We only have seven miles to do today – if we’re taking a rest day, why not rest here, on the mountain, in the pines? So we stay.
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Day 26: faultlines and climbs

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Day 26
Miles: 19
From a few miles from Cajon Pass to cool views above Wrightwood

I don’t know why I bother setting the alarm. It’s a joke. I turned that sucker off and went back to bed. An hour and a half later and I regret it already – I’m overheated before even crawling out of bed. I can keep a committment to anybody else but myself. I’m always willing to let myself down, turns out.

It takes us an hour to pack up and now it’s really hot. I don’t know who turned up the heat on the sun today, but it was unnecessary. My feet hurt. My hair is in my face. I’m sweaty. I’m hot.
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Day 25: going backwards

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Day 25
Miles: 20
From the Mojave Siphon Power Plant to a couple miles past Cajon Pass

J’s Aunt Amy makes us a breakfast of veggie omelets, strawberries and toast. Back to trail food after this… J’s cousin Dan loads us up and whisks us back to the ugly power plant where he picked us up. “Are you sure you don’t to just start back up from Wrightwood?” he asks us, one more time. We’re sure. It seems kind of silly to go backwards just so we can walk back into Wrightwood two days from now, but being committed to walking the entire trail makes all of our other decisions less complicated. “Are we really doing this?” we ask ourselves. Yes. The answer is always yes. Forward-ho.
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