Trail Day 31: Tentsite near Spunky Edison Rd (mile 471.5) to Casa de Luna (mile 478.2)

6.7 PCT miles, plus 2 miles to Casa de Luna

I set my alarm for 4:30 am this morning so that I could hike before it got too warm, but didn't get up until 5 am. Not soon after I started hiking, I was passed by a man who said he had started hiking at 4:30. I told him he wasn't alone, as I heard people passing my tent around 3:30 this morning.  The heat of the day is making people hike at night.

It was going to be another hot one today. I was only going a couple miles down the trail today to get the Casa de Luna experience. Casa de Luna is the house of trail angels Joe and Terry Anderson.  They open their Green Valley home up to hikers for camping, but also provide pancake breakfasts, taco salad dinners, and commemorative bandannas that you have to dance for.

Since I didn’t have to go very far,  I thought I was safe taking the extra half hour to get up. Unfortunately, by 6 am I was already starting to get uncomfortably warm.  I kept going, resting in the shade every once in a while until I finally got to San Francisquito Rd., which would take me to Green Valley.

It seemed like a fairly busy road (I have used it before to go to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve), so I considered hitchhiking. I'm still not comfortable with the concept of hitchiking yet so I decided to road walk the two miles to Casa de Luna.

San Fracisquito Rd. to Green Valley.

The road walk turned out to be pretty nice for a road walk. Much of it was shaded by trees and there was a breeze along the roadway. I was actually cooler than when I was on the trail itself.

I made my way to Casa de Luna and saw a huge group of hikers lounging in the seating area out front. I came in, set my pack down, and was greeted by a man named Country Gold. He was clad in a hiking kilt (I think the 3rd one I have seen?), but had a southern accent and was pretty much the quintessential definition of "southern hospitality." He was hiking the PCT this year as well, but had stopped for a few weeks to help out at both Hiker Heaven and Casa de Luna.  

He immediately told me to go inside and get the some of the last pancakes that were left before they were “all got up.” I went inside just as the hikers before me had grabbed the last ones. He gave me a brief tour, made me put on a Hawaiian print shirt, showed me the outdoor shower,  buckets if I wanted to do laundry,  the quiet lounge area, and the manzanita forest where I could find a spot for my tent.

After my tour I grabbed my bag and looked for a spot to pitch my tent. The manzanita forest on their property was massive. There were paths leading through it in sort of a labyrinth and the trees were decorated with painted rocks. Some of those rocks were painted by people I had met. For instance,there was a rock with a white whale painted on it labeled "Captain Ahab." I'm willing to bet Sean (who I crossed Fuller Ridge with) had been through there.

Painted rock in the manzanita forest.

Another painted rock in the manzanita forest.

More painted rocks.

Because of my sleeping habits, I tried to find something out of the way. I originally dropped my stuff off as far back as I could,  but it was still pretty close to a group of three people. I thought it would have to do until I saw another path that was slightly hidden. I followed it back a ways and found a single campsite removed from the main drag. That site practically had my name written on it.

Walking from the back of the camping area to my secluded site:

Casa de Luna dress code.

After I got settled,  I went back out front to the lounge area and sat on the couches. It seemed like people were hanging out in their own social groups. I haven’t been hiking with these people so I didn't really fit in with any of the groups. A group that had previously been sitting in the couch area came back from the store and sat around me in the spots they had been sitting before they left. They then proceeded to have their own group conversation around me that I wasn't exactly a part of. It felt like I was in high school again.

I made my way back to my tent to try to take a nap. There was a group of people who had set up their own social circle right in front of the path that led to my hidden campsite. I pretty much had to go through them to get to my tent.

I tried napping but it was way too hot to fall asleep, even with my extra layers of clothing taken off. If it was that hot and uncomfortable just lying there, I couldn't even imagine what it was like on the trail today.

Eventually, I went back out to the lounge and recognized a couple people from yesterday. I sat with them and we ended up becoming our own “group.” It felt a lot better to be in a social environment in which I was accepted, and I was able to relax a lot more.

Hikers lounging in front of Casa de Luna.

Later in the evening, we had our “taco salads.” They were really just nachos. There were bags of tortilla chips as well as toppings like refried beans, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and olives. I loaded my plate up pretty high. It was honestly pretty bland, but it was free calories. The Andersons are incredibly generous for putting it on.

I waited around after dinner for the dance party where the bandannas were handed out. It started getting pretty late, and I wanted to get up early tomorrow, so I went to bed before the bandanna ceremony. When I got to the hidden path to my tent site, several more tents and sleeping pads had been set up. They were directly in front of the semi-hidden path I needed to use. If I get up earlier than those people tomorrow I may be accidentally knocking tents around or kicking sand in people's faces in order to get out.