6/22/2023
Section: Milepost 517.6 to 541.5
Distance: 24.07 Miles
Moving Time: 08:35 hrs
Elevation Gain: 2,556 ft
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So much had been said about this day. It is supposed to be, if not a beautiful stage, one of the more iconic ones. The LA Viaduct is a large underground pipe used to shuttle water around California and the PCT walks on top of it for a span of around 20 miles. In the early parts of the stage, the viaduct is above ground and the riveted panels that compose it are a notorious site referenced in many PCT blogs and stories. Typically, Antelope Valley, through which the viaduct runs, is extremely hot. At this point, in late June, it is not uncommon to see triple digit temperatures here but, as Sean and I had said to each other countless times yesterday, this was not a normal year and today temperatures were expected to be in the high 60’s. This was extremely fortunate for us because it really allowed folks hiking today to start whenever they wanted without fear of getting stuck without water in the middle of the 14 mile carry. This might have been why, despite Amanda and my best efforts, the 3 AM start time was actually 5 am.
We woke up and were ready by 5. I technically could have been ready at 3 because that gas station hot dog I ordered after the burger was not jiving with my stomach. I had gotten up at 1 and stepped outside, noting a massive red meteor in the sky, or a jet with afterburners on, and made my way to the restroom. We probably should have just gotten up then because I woke Amanda up anyway but we went back to sleep and got back up at around 4:15 instead.
We grabbed two glow sticks and I wrapped mine around my neck. It wasn’t truly an all night hike but might as well enjoy the early hours of the morning with some fun light tricks. All the other hikers today were going to start around 6 so we got a little jump on them. We crossed 270th Avenue and climbed a small berm on the opposite side before heading out on a long stretch north. We stopped and filled our water bladders to 2 liters at a small spigot before turning east again. Here, the aqueduct came into view next to us - a 20 foot wide span of water flowing lazily east with us. Eventually the straight lines we were following started to deviate a little bit and the aqueduct came to a stop. Here the trail turned north and continued on seemingly forever its surface now the iconic black metal, riveted section of viaduct. We began walking on the viaduct. Amanda commented that walking on the rivets felt like a mini massage. At one point we crossed over a gravel road intersection high above on the viaduct- i think PCT hikers were meant to get off and walk the road a bit before this but Amanda and I were committed.
As we hiked on, the viaduct eventually went completely underground and sections became concrete covered. Things started to get monotonous. There was no elevation change and very few directional changes. The few cars that came by became big events as we both became highly excitable at the smallest things. At mile 535 we came across our next water source. This was cottonwood creek and faucet and we stopped to fill our waters. Shortly after starting to enjoy our break Jai and Ness joined us. They had started about 30 minutes after us. Jai believed we really had started at 3 and incredulously asked what we had been doing all morning. He gave a laugh when he found out we had started at 5. Markus (Push Pop) showed up and then Sean as we were disembarking. We said good bye to everyone and that we would see them up the trail. We hiked on into the wind farm section of the viaduct and our voices were quickly drowned out by the subtle roar of about 100 turbines running above our heads. We walked in the roar for another 3 hours, the trail continuing on in its boring, straight trajectory until we had left the turbines behind. We wound our way up to a creek where a very nice camping area was located. Amanda and I set about putting our things together in the shade of a wonderful old oak tree. Jai came by as well as Ness but decided to camp further up the trail. We said we might join them before I settled down to write and make dinner. It was our longest day so far and also the flattest but it marks the beginning of the end of the desert. In 9 days we would be in Kennedy meadows and that will be it for the desert. Crazy that we have been on this trail for a month but what an experience it has been.
