Trail Day 30: Agua Dulce (mile 454.5) to tent site near Spunky Edison Rd (mile 471.5)

17.0 PCT miles

I had a real hard time getting up this morning. I set my alarm for 4 am, hoping to get through LA traffic to Agua Dulce before the worst of rush hour. However, at 6 am I was still in bed. The bed was so comfortable and the room was temperature controlled. I knew it would be hot on the trail today and it took quite a bit to convince myself to get up.

I finally did, but didn’t leave the house until 7 am. With rush hour traffic, it was going to take almost 2 hours to get to Agua Dulce. I was starting to wonder if taking my zero days at home was making me too complacent. It seemed like it would be easy to get sucked back into my old routine and forget about the trail.

I got to Agua Dulce just before 9 am and was dropped off at the junction where I had turned off the trail to detour to Hiker Heaven. I was going to start the day with a fairly long road walk (~1.5 miles) out of town, and the heat was already starting to set in. I looked at my thermometer and it was reading about 90 degrees (F).

Walking the road through Agua Dulce like a vagrant.

As I was walking down the road I was passed by another pair of thru-hikers who had just come from Hiker Heaven. After exchanging some pleasantries, I was surprised to hear them say that they had a hard time leaving Hiker Heaven this morning. So, maybe zeroing at home wasn't the issue. Maybe this is the part of the trail where the novelty starts to wear off and the mental toughness game begins.

I followed paved roads for a while before heading up a large, dirt road that ran under some power lines. When I got to the top of the hill, I checked my thermometer again. It was reading just about 120 degrees (F)! Did I break it?

Following the dirt road out of town.

Is this real?

At this point the trail split off from the road and became a trail again, lined with vegetation.  I checked my thermometer again and the temperature was coming down to the 100 degree range. It must have been because there was less of a dirt surface for the heat to radiate back up from the ground and more surrounding vegetation to absorb the heat.

The trail becoming a trail again.

This part of the trail involved a change of scenery again. I was now in an area of rolling hills that alternated between shrubs and grass. It reminded me of central California, which made me feel good. Even though I knew I was close to LA, I felt like I was making northerly progress again. The trail was leading mostly west through the San Gabriel range so, at times, it had felt like I was standing still. Now that I exited those mountains, the trail was going to lead mostly north again.

There was a random trail register on the path, so I signed it and continued uphill. It felt like it was getting really hot so eventually I had to find a spot to cool down. There was no shade anywhere at that point so, when I found a spot, I pulled out my cheap umbrella I got weekend.

Trail register.

This past weekend I had bought a cheap Walmart umbrella to shade me during the notorious LA aqueduct section, which went at least 15 miles with no shade. Considering it was already hot (it was still morning!) with very little shade today, I decided to pull it out early. After I had rested, I tried sticking the umbrella handle in my backpack’s sternum strap to see if it would hold. It did! I looked ridiculous,  and my view was blocked a little, but I was able to carry my shade with me while still using my hiking poles. I checked my thermometer and it went down at least 10 degrees. It was now *only* 90 degrees (F). Looking stupid was definitely worth it at the moment. It was too hot to try to be normal.

I'm going to be seeing a lot of owls today.

I finally made it to the top of the hill and got a good, final look back at Agua Dulce. I also got a look north and saw some flat, barren desert. I was not excited about that. Luckily, the other side of the hill had some trees that provided shade.  Despite this, I didn't take my umbrella down until I hit Bear Spring where a gaggle of other hikers were hanging out (including Randy, Renee, and Mike), resting in the shade, and refilling water. I was greeted with, “Cool umbrella.” I'm not sure if that was sarcastic or not.

Heading up the grassy hillside.

The Mojave Desert to the north.

Shade!

Bear Spring itself was just a trickle from its pipe, but it was enough of a flow to fill up 4 liters of water. The next water source would be 15 miles away. I rested in the shade, chatted with the other hikers, and watched some cute birds come in the take baths despite all of us big humans being around.

Spotted towhee at Bear Spring

Eventually,  I had to keep going. I tried to awkwardly attach my umbrella again, and kept going on the trail down the hill. The grasses were now pretty much gone and the area was dominated by green shrubs. It was still very hot.

Some late-season wildflowers were still going strong.

I crossed Bouquet Canyon Rd. and started heading up the hillside again. It was a hot climb and, despite the relief provided by my umbrella, I had to stop several times and wait in the shade to cool down. I was getting great views of Bouquet Reservoir though, which made it a little better. However,  I kept wishing the lake breezes would make it up the hill.

Eventually, I started heading downhill again, but now I was losing light and my feet were starting to hurt. As I crossed Spunky Edison Rd., I heard voices. There were a series of small campsites tucked into the bushes, but most had already been spoken for. I found one that was empty, but it was fairly close to two guys who were chatting and playing music so I kept moving.

Further down I spotted a flat, sandy spot above the trail. I had to do some bushwhacking to get there,  but when I did I found a perfect, single tent sized camping spot in a lovely location overlooking the hills. I had hoped to go a bit further today, but I couldn't pass up such a nice tent spot.

My home for the night.