Day 44: Night Hike on the Aqueduct
May 18; Mile 510-534
I left camp at 6; though I only had 7 miles to cover before reaching town, I wanted to leave plenty of time for napping before the night hike. The trail crossed a road soon after leaving my camp. Over the next three hours I spent a lot of time thinking of its steady downhill grade as I trudged up and down several pointless, steep climbs on the way to Hiker Town. Several other hikers I talked to all mentioned the same regret at not being able to just take the road into town.
At last I reached the iconic, odd collection of buildings known as Hiker Town. It was a handful of motel rooms dressed up as an old western town. You could stay the night in the bank, the theater, the chapel… And as I walked through the dust in a daze, I heard a call from afar: “Stormy!” It was Tinder and DD!
Several hikers congregated in the central plaza until a van arrived from the Neenach market to give us a ride. I bought some snacks to add to my food bag, and then I enjoyed a big cup of fresh fruit and a burger with the other hikers. The owner of the market brought out cups of ice cream for us, and we lounged in the shade as the afternoon heat gathered.
After we got a ride back to Hiker Town I spent the afternoon lying on my pad on the patio of the room that DD and Tinder had rented. I took a short break to wash my filthy socks on the washboard they provided, and the water that ran off was black. By the time it was running light brown, I decided they were clean enough. The clock ticked past 4pm and then 5pm, and I could put it off no longer. If I wanted to reach the water cache – 17 miles away – it was time to head out.
As I left town I met another hiker going my pace named Dolphin. The sky was beautiful as the sun set behind us, and the Joshua trees lining the trail were silhouetted black against the orange and pink. Finally we’d reached a flat section of trail, even if it was mostly a dirt road, and it felt good to hike faster.
Around 9pm we stopped to eat dinner. There was a concrete slab that offered a bit of protection from the relentless wind, and I set up my little stove to cook. The stars were bright overhead, and lights twinkled on the horizon where Lancaster lay to the east.
The hours passed in a blur of stories and walking. A line of blinking red lights appeared through the dark, denoting the start of the wind farm. Each light was atop a turbine, and as we neared them the blades glinted red in the reflected light.
We reached the bridge at 12:30am, high-fiving each other in exhausted glee. There was a wash below with spots that were a bit more protected from the wind. Too tired to do much, I ended up cowboy camping for the first time on trail. I pulled my hat down over my eyes, put my ear plugs in to block out the eerie sound from the turbines, and slept fitfully as gusts of wind ruffled my sleeping bag around me and covered everything with sand.
14 Comments
Sheila
I think the acronym PUD originated on the AT — “pointless ups and downs” 😉 congratulations on your first night hike, your first cowboy camp and getting ever closer to the Sierra! I’m really looking forward to when you reach the PCT miles that we hiked as part of our Big SeKi Loop so I’ll *really* know what you’re talking about!
chasingalpenglow
And I’ll know what your SeKi hike *really* entailed 😉
Dov
Will all great Neptune’s oceans wash this mud clean from my sock? No, this my sock will rather the multitudinous seas mahogany, making the green one brown.
Isn’t cowboy camping magical? It always makes me feel so much more connected to the natural landscape. I hope your aqueduct hike was adequate 🙂
chasingalpenglow
Oh man I would not call cowboy camping in a wind farm magical… I really like my tent
Therese
I’m glad your night-hike worked out so well! I’m also glad that you could do it with Dolphin and that you got to try cowboy camping. Sounds like you’re getting the full trail experience! It’s great to have the aqueduct section of the trail behind you. Love you! xoxo
chasingalpenglow
For all the negative buildup, it sure was fun!
Ann
I’m amazed at the weaving in and out of each individual’s hike forming such an amazing community on the trail. It’s great that company seems to come when you need it. And wishing you a belated congratulations on the birthday mile and mile 500!
chasingalpenglow
I agree! And I still meet so many new people every day on trail – there sure are a lot of us thru hiking!
Tom
Driving at night and seeing the red lights of wind farm turbines from the highway is one thing, walking among them and sleeping under them is quite another. So glad this stage is behind you. Love, Dad
Ray
Nighttime adventuring is really a different creature, isn’t it? Sounds are crisper, images more enchanting and mysterious, imaginations enhance everything . . .
I initially thought “aqueduct” in your headline would mean water. But no. It seems to define a relentless wind. What an added degree of difficulty.
Have to say Hiker Town reminds me of someone’s hobby rendition of the West World set. Hope you had no android encounters . . . that you know about.
Take care, Karen. Thinking about you most every day.
chasingalpenglow
Thank you! And we were treated to one short stretch of exposed aqueduct with the blue water flowing past. It seemed in such contrast to the arid land around us
Norene Lewis
What an experience! Never came close to it…well, only once. Short story for another day. Onward!
Bryan and Berta
Really enjoying reading your blog! Great photos and descriptive entries. Enjoying moving north with you vicariously! Easier on my old feet and knees too. Thanks!
chasingalpenglow
I’m glad you’re enjoying it!