Alpine

The one with the rocks from the movies, a happy Disco Daddy, and an Oasis in the desert.

📍 Location: Acton to MM 454! (Yep, over 450 miles!)

🥾 I actually walked: 14.2 miles
💰 Money: $22.80 bounce box, $34 resupply. $102 at the outfitters, $26 to top up my Esim card. $30 for dinner.
⛑️ Health: I feel great and it was a fun, easy day of hiking.

☀️ Weather: Perfect. Mainly overcast with a sprinkling of sunshine!

🍲 Food: Breakfast was a blueberry muffin filled with cream cheese (weird but tasted good). No lunch, just snacked all day. Then pigged out on Chicken Fettuccine with salad and garlic bread, all washed down with refillable coffee!

💤 Sleep: last night I slept like a log in my tent! I only woke up once when the train behind us was honking. Apparently they were honking throughout the night! I only heard it once.

😃 Gear update: My Tyvek bivvy is in my bounce box (I have no intention of cowboy camping again, too many bugs). Bath wipes are essential! I love my chair and I’ve not seen anyone else with one. My umbrella is also used nearly everyday.

THE LONG WINDED VERSION:-

🚗 8am - Disco and I are ready to go but I need to send a package to hiker town. There is a guy called Jimmy who offers lifts but it looks like he is still asleep as there was no life from his RV. We are just about to put our thumbs out when a very swanky motorhome pulls into the car park. Two ladies get out. “I don’t suppose you are going into Acton?” I ask. “Are you hikers?” Asked one lady. “You must know my son, he’s also a hiker”. And then out popped two young lads. They are from Canada and the mums had flown down to meet up with their sons on the trail, and hired a motorhome. After talking to one of the sons, we discovered that his dad was born in Welford!! (Yep, Welford, Nr Daventry in the UK). This is where I’m from. They moved to Market Harborough and then Canada when the lad was just nine years old. What a small world!!

We are dropped off at the market and then discover that the post office doesn’t open until 10am! So we grab breakfast from the indoor market of coffee and bagels and sit outside charging our phones and writing blogs. We resupply for 5 days worth of food and then I send my package. Our next task is to get a lift back to the trailhead, so we both start walking and out our thumbs out. Within two mins we hear a whistle and a guy across the road is waving us over. His name is Kevin and he has been a trail angel here for over 20 years. He’s a character and knows the area really well. The 15 minute journey took a bit longer as our resident tour guide stopped to show us things. He pulled over and told us to get out (I had to let Disco out as the car was an old cop car and only opened from the outside!). Kevin pointed below and we could see the animal sanctuary which a famous actress operates (I’ve forgotten who). Kevin gets excited as he squeaks “the tigers are out!”. Sure enough, we see tigers roaming in the enclosure. Wow, I wasn’t expect that this morning.

The journey continued, “they recorded parts of Breaking Bad down there”, then he showed us where the movie sets are filmed. He then pulled over again and pointed out a huge nest in a tree in the distance. “That nest belongs to two red tail hawks” he said. I saw them this morning.

1130am - We reach the trailhead and Kevin leaves us with some words of advice.
1. Walk heavy as snakes are out in the grass and they don’t like heavy vibration.
2. Check out the huge rocks this side of the mountain, it’s where Star Wars was filmed. You will see the famous Star Trek rock formation much later in the day, just before Agua Dulce.
3. He gave Disco advice about the Sierras as well.

We both left him cash on his seat and said our goodbyes. It’s getting late so we need to crack on. 11 miles to do today.

💦 Within a few mins of starting the trail, we are already crossing rivers. Disco nearly fell off the log but he just about held it together.

👌 Yey! I’ve just heard from DinkyDi. She’s ok, has shin splints and is taking it easy. I think she’s also having phone problems as I’m not getting her WA messages.

1215 pm - This is a beautiful area. We have lots and lots of massive rock formations. I have a confession, I’ve never seen Star Wars so I’ve no idea which rocks were in the film. Disco, on the other hand is a film addict. He collects films and even has his own cinema room in the basement of his house in Switzerland. He reliably informs me that there are nine Star Wars films!

Random thought: I’m loving the smell of detergent in the wind from my freshly laundered clothes. I’m also super stoked with my new Salomon Senseride 4 trail runners, I’m flying up the mountains today.

🏔️ 1.30pm - We have a break on top of the mountain. I love my little chair and scoff down some snacks.

😂 2:40 pm We are now weaving down the mountain and we can see the Highway in the distance. We think we have to cross it via a tunnel but we are not sure. We discus the options of crossing the interstate as we walk and joke about being in a live “frogger game”. People of a certain age will understand what I mean. Disco then abruptly stops in the trail looking confused “what is the thing that goes green, then red when you press the button?” He rarely struggles to find the correct English word. “A pelican crossing? A zebra crossing?” I offer. His eyes twinkle as he laughs and says “no, a frog in a mixer!”

3pm - The trail takes us through a tunnel that goes underneath the Interstate. It’s good fun I didn’t see the guy behind me as I was recording and it scared the life out of me.

310.pm - Wow wow wow! These rock formations are just amazing. They tower above us and have clear lines, a bit like the inner circle of a tree. It’s something to do with this section being on the San Andreas fault. Apparently, earthquakes are quite common around here.

3:10 pm, We spot more weird statue things. Remember the ugly mini statues from the early days? They are now scattered along the trail and make me smile each time I see them. There is a small plaque next to them saying “Greetings PCT Hikers, from Wunderlik guardians.

Two young lads skip by us and shout “watch out for poison oak, it’s the plant with the three leaves and an oily texture on top”. We spot it immediately and shout a thanks as they were soon a blip in the distance.

4.05pm - There it is! Disco is very excited as we approach the famous Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park. We admire an array of interesting and beautiful rock formations created by the San Andreas Fault. Dozens of movies and television shows have been filmed with this area as their scenic backdrop, including scenes in Blazing Saddles, Planet of the Apes (2001 version), some of the Star Trek movies and television shows, Bonanza, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, MacGyver and The Twilight Zone (TV). We stop here for a while taking photos and reading the notice boards.

Our final destination is less than a mile away, and real food is calling!

4.36pm - Made it to 2ft Adventures (an outfitters supplying PCT gear). Their main shop is in Julian where I purchased my tie died sun hoodie. This is a portable trailer version in the middle of a field. I bought another sun hoodie (same as my heart one as I love it). I can keep it clean and wear it on the plane home. I also bought another Opsack and some dehydrated meals. Now where is that pub before I spend anymore in this shop?

5 o’clock- made it to the Cowboy Tavern had a fantastic meal of chicken fettuccine garlic bread , and salad it was lovely. They didn’t sell alcohol because their licence has not yet been approved, but their coffee was lush! Disco had a shrimp cocktail then

6:13 pm Feeling rather full up, we haul our packs onto our backs for the last time today and walk up the road. We are looking for a PCT hideaway called “The Oasis”. It wasn’t long before we spotted it as there were hikers everywhere. $20 to pitch your tent, showers
(Cold), laundry, a flushing toilet and places to charge your electronics. This will do nicely! We pitch up and settle in for the night.

Today was a great day. I’ve enjoyed walking with Disco and we have had a giggle.

Thanks for listening to my rambles and for following along. I love the comments and notes of encouragement. ❤️❤️❤️.

Signing off now. Jukebox xxRead more