Miles hiked: 9.2 on PCT; 7.6 on detour.
Today's hike featured another detour around the area burned in the 2013 Powerhouse Fire. This detour includes a bit over 11 miles of road walking past the little communities of Elizabeth and Hughes Lakes. I wanted to continue trying to have as complete a continuous footpath from border to border as I could, so while the others I was camped with opted to hitchhike the road portion, I left around 6:30 to walk it. The walking was easy and most traffic was only going one way so I could stay on the no -busy side of the road. I got to get a bit of a feel for these communities; horse, llama, and ostrich hobby farms, an old unwatered golf course, houses big and small, fancy and not, lots of people driving toward the south west to go to work. I got some new birds for the trip list walking along the lakes: American Avocet and Ruddy Duck.
About a mile before I got to the title town of Hughes Lake, a truck passed with my camp mates in the back. I waved, and by the time I found ben at the Rock Inn, they were already half way through breakfast. This restaurant is built all out of stone and is apparently a bit of an historical landmark and is also popular with bikers (leather, not Lycra). I got some French toast and bacon, then as seems to be the pattern with hikers, breakfast turned into a few beers and before long it was past lunch time. It was great to relax a little bit. I was able to ice my lower leg, which got a bit sore during yesterday's big miles, and also to just rest it. AZ aged the piano for an hour or so, and we got some amused but friendly looks from the bikers, who were all the older, more gentlemanly sort.
As luck or fate or something would have it, the waitress who was there just for the lunch rush offered to drive us the rest of the road walk. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, but ended up taking the ride to help me keep a bit slower pace to take care of the legs. My willpower isn't strong enough, I have found, to walk slowly during a road walk. We all piled into the waitress's Excursion and went barreling on down the road, at times with little regard for the painted lines. Before we knew what had happened we were a few miles past where we wanted to be dropped off, but after a quick U-ey we were back on track, piling out of the car, having snacks, rubbing sunscreen at least most of the way in, and adjusting packs.
There were 2 possible routes back to the trail. AZ, Kobaine and I opted for the potentially steeper but more direct route, which is part of the official detour and rejoins the PCT at mile 493.4. The others took what at first seemed like a less steep road around a hill, but ended up getting tempted by a different route to rejoin the PCT at mile 596ish. The trail climbed up through Doug fir and oak that sort of looked like the dry interior coast range forests in central California, and eventually led to more chamise and masa its ridges. At any rate, we all rejoined at mile 500 to celebrate with some more beers that Slingblade had gotten us all (but we had to carry our own).
It was around 6 at this point and Slingblade, Ranger and Ladybug (aka Tent Talker) decided to camp just a bit later, setting up camp right in a dirt road. The rest of us kept going, aiming at least for the next water at 502.4. There were 2 possible water sources here, a tank and a wildlife guzzler. Kobaine and AZ got there first, and when I arrived they informed me that both water sources were dry. This was a little concerning to me since I was down to about half a liter and really didn't want to walk any more with my sore shin. But it turned out that what they thought was the guzzler didn't really match the description in he water report, so I told them I was going to keep looking. They decided to just push on to the next water at 505ish, and shortly after they left I found the guzzler. I got what I needed plus a bit extra in case the other guys need some if/when I catch them tomorrow.
I set up camp just a bit farther down the trail, not wanting to camp right next to the guzzler to not disturb shy wildlife coming to drink. My shin was fairly sore at this point, and I was feeling pretty stupid for getting hurt again already. But Libby happened to call just as I took my phone off airplane mode to see if I might be able to call her, and she gave me good PT advice, as always.
There is a good star show tonight, as the moon, now waning, won't rise for a couple more hours.
Birds:
California Towhee
California Thrasher
American Crow
Acorn Woodpecker
Anna's Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
European Starling
American Avocet
American Kestrel
Mallard
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Common Yellowthroat
Ruddy Duck
Phainopepla
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-tailed Hawk
House Finch
Purple Finch
Western Wood-pewee
House Wren
Oregon Junco
Wrentit
Haha, of course I made you carry your own beer. It's a known fact that I can't be left alone with a six-pack!
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