PCT Day 10: Aqua Dulce, where?

Day 10   5-28-2015    Sleep 2000-200
Miles 447-494

            Woke up to a sweet cold morning.  I moved swiftly getting through the town of Agua Dulce and got off the road before too many cars.  Then it was hot, hot and more hot.  Big water carry, seeing as I couldn’t rely on any caches.  15 miles on a sun baked south-southwest side of a low elevation ridge.  It was hot.  I thought all my sauna’ing would have helped me with this or maybe it is really just that hot.  I am trying to run a long but the whole time my eyes wonder to Bouquet Resevoir below.  If only I could sprout wings and glide down, I would just face plant into the cool blue.  Although, I guess if I magically became able to fly I would probably do something cooler…maybe not though, it was hot.  I got to the Green Valley fire station around 1330 and drank my fill of water.  I decided before the trip, if it got too hot during the day to hike (i.e. I am losing power, losing focus, losing my mind, or dangerous) that I would try to nap during the heat and hike later at night.  So, today would be the first giver-go.  I laid in the shade with my legs vertical up on the building.  I actually closed my eyes and dreamed a bit.  When I came to, thirty minutes had passed.  But I felt like I was asleep for a full night of sleep, dreams and all.  I guess that is what you get when you are that tired; you sleep faster.  But I didn’t want to go back out and hike eleven miles on asphalt in the mid afternoon sun for this detour.  I tried to sleep more but was really just in a haze.  I decided that it was a wash just dazing here versus hiking. 


Exposed in the sun all day
So I packed up and got moving.  When I got back to the trail head, I was reading the sign and realized they had opened a section of trail.  Great.  I thought this detour was going to shave off a few miles but now I have to out and back for about three miles.  I ditched my pack and got it done without fussing too much.  It felt weird to not have my pack on.  Now back at the road, the fun part.  There was no shoulder and Cali drivers are apparently afraid of crossing the double yellow, even if no cars are coming the other way for miles.  So I got really close to a bunch of cars going 50 mph spitting there exhaust at me…it was awesome!  I finally got through the town and onto the more country road section.  There were hardly lanes and the road to gravel shoulder was so crowned it hurt my knee.  I was walking a third out in the lane and when the four cars I passed the rest of the way came, I scooched over to the absolute side of the road.  Two of them honked at me and made wild gestures for me to move over, off the road get in the bushes, I am coming through.  I can never understand how lazy you have to be to turn your car steering wheel half and inch and then back for two effin seconds.  But they have never run/walked on such a road and just don’t understand.  Still how could they be so ignorant.  Oh conversations with my multi personalities.  Oh hey, watch out, Ostrich crossing…WAIT what?!  I thought I was really losing it for a second, but I took a picture and the sign was real, I deduced.  Ostrich Crossing…don’t see that everyday.  Man this heat is really getting to me.  I was glad when the detour took me off the road and back to the woods, my escape from the scary creatures; back with the mountain lions, bears and dirty hikers.  Thank goodness my kind of crowd.  I hiked in a ways and set up for the night.  A cool breeze comforted me as I massaged my feet and legs while laying on my back.

If only I could glide down there

It was a long day

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nolans 41

Image
It was early February and things seemed honky dory.   We had the perfect season going, zero to 60 and it just kept right on snowing.   350” from November 20 th until February 6 th .   Pow was plentiful, turns were deep, and life was how its suppose to be.   But then I felt it.   A shudder.   A glitch in matrix.   Disturbance in the force.   Well, okay.   I had seen a news report of a “bad virus” wreaking havoc in China and that it was expected to become a pandemic.   And then an atmospheric river hit.   6.5” of water in 60 hours and with a lot of wind.   We were interlodged for 53 hours(not allowed to go outside).   That was bizarre.   But no biggie.   Back to life.   But the snow stopped.   And the rumors grew.   We are a large ski lodge that has guests from all over the world crammed into tight quarters.   I was worried about an outbreak.   Finally, there were rumors of closing, I was relieved.   We were getting derailed in slow motion.   As someone who has struggled with anxiety
Read more

WURL, And I think to myself...

Image
              9 years ago I moved to Alta.  Ever since, Ive stared up at these ridgelines in awe of mother earth.  Isnt she lovely?  I tried to run and scramble on as much of these rocks as I could.  By the end of the summer 2012, I realized I had done much of the route I had just recently heard of (The WURL).  In 2013, it was my goal to do the route in its entirety.  One weekend, I set off from Fergy and crested over sugarloaf and descended home.   Next morning, hiked up Baldy and finished the route.  Total time something like 36 hours with sleeping 8 hours in the middle.  I repeated a similar outing in 2015, “getting more comfortable with the route” I told myself.  But all out efforts on the AT, PCT, and a big ole bike tour, hindered feeling 100% in other years.  So last summer 2018, with no hinderances, I tried. Lots of ridges, Lots of Lonely time             First time.  Moving well, but fading a bit over baldy/hidden.  I got up Red Stack to see a big ol nasty dark cloud over
Read more

Utah Thirteeners

This summer has been a struggle for sure. After spending 3.5 days in the hospital running every test possible, the doctors still did not know what was wrong with me. It was clear that I had had Myocarditis, but that had since cleared up. At first I thought I was on my way to healing up, but then I relapsed and became ill again. I spent a lot of time thinking about what it could be and what I could do. I figured since it felt like Lyme and it would be no harm, I ordered up my herbal remedies for Lyme from before. It worked, not great, but they cleared up my joint pain, swelling, and even made my mental state better. However; the deep fatigue I had been feeling was very slow to improve. I figured I was trying to push through illness, which would additionally stress my already weakened body. I emphasized rest and sleep, but still slow progress. I often thought, “Is this it?” “Is my life over?” “What am I going to do with limited energy and time?” “Am I dying?” It sucked. It
Read more