Day 34, May 21: Mile 474 to 498
Start: Mile 474.2
End: Mile 498.2
Miles: 24.0
Ascent: 5329 | Descent: 4196
I woke up before Amazon and hiked out in the misty dark morning by myself. My mood was still a little sour but I was feeling slightly better than the day before. I arrived at the Green Valley Fire Station where a couple others were and I filtered water and ate a snack, then started up a climb to a ridge where I could see Lancaster out to the east.
I caught up and walked with Spinewalker (who I had met a few days prior) for a bit and we came to a road where the two others, a German couple, from the fire station water spot were. I learned their names- Cloud Whisperer and Fructis (like Garnier, because her hair always looks nice even while backpacking. I also briefly met Road Soda and Chewy, a couple in coordinated Jolly Gear printed shirts and him with a large cowboy hat. They looked like very fast hikers, which Spinewalker confirmed to me after. I kept hiking with him for a bit after the road until his pace exceeded mine and I needed to slow down a bit.
I made it to Lake Hughes Road where a small water cache was and chilled at a picnic table as a small slew of other hikers showed up, including McLovin’, Baggins, Holy Dreamcatcher, and another I forgot. Amazon showed up too. It was fun to chat with people a bit.
After the cache there was yet another coming in the already hot morning sun. We passed three small caves that had small openings but were surprisingly large inside. I had to scoot inside on my back to get inside one of them.
More climbing, more climbing. A breeze came and made the hiking much more pleasant. I called my mom and chatted with her for a bit before coming to a lunch spot tucked under some oak trees. There were a number of familiar faces there from earlier in the day, including Spinewalker. I also may his hiking partner and friend Popeye, a quirky girl from Burbank who I enjoyed chatting with a lot.
The shade, at first a nice respite, actually got too cold pretty quickly, so I continued on after 45 min or so. I had 8.5 miles to go until camp and there were lots of small ups and downs. I was hiking through a burn area with lots of dead trees that made me somewhat anxious. My foot was absolutely killing me and I had to take lots of breaks. I ran into Bandit who was also having lots of foot pain. Though I wanted neither of us to be dealing with it, it did feel nice to have someone to commiserate in the pain with me.
A little later, I came to a road and saw a car as I descended to the parking area. Could it be- trail magic?! It was indeed, at least a little of it. A guy named Scrapbook, who had hiked the trail a few years ago, had come back to look at the burn area and see how damaged it was. He wasn’t intending to do trail magic, but he happened to have a few gallons of water in his car that he offered to us, and he took our trash. Magical indeed!!
I finally made it to Sawmill Camp, a developed but empty campground. The comments from other hikers on FarOut made it seem like it was going to be absolutely slammed with dirt bike riders, but it was somehow silent and empty when I arrived. I’ll take it! There were also picnic tables so Amazon, the Germans (Ghost Whisperer, Fructis, and Bandit) and I had dinner together before retiring to our tents for an early night.