6/20/2023
Section: Milepost 481.3 to 503.0
Distance: 18.35 Miles
Moving Time: 06:46 hrs
Elevation Gain: 3,567 ft
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The stage today travels northwest all day and maintains within the boundaries of the Angeles National Forest. We were treated to beautiful views north of the Antelope Valley through which we would be crossing in 2 days via the Los Angeles Viaduct. The weather is unseasonably cool right now and has been since we started, for which we are extremely lucky and grateful as it looks like it will hold through our day on the viaduct.
We slept in this morning and weren’t on the road until around 7. As we were packing up a hiker came up and said hi. His name was Han Solo as his last name was actually Han and he generally hiked alone. We talked to him for a while and then followed him out on the trail, a few minutes behind. The trail followed a ridge and forest service road for another mile before jumping both the ridge and road and descending a drainage down to Lake Hughes Road. As we descended, we passed by an older couple trail running and continued to wind in and out of depressions in the ridge to maintain a steady descent. The trail delivered us down to Lake Hughes road where some hikers choose to hitchhike into town to resupply. We did not need a resupply but did spend a little time at the trailhead hiker cache where I found a Pacifico and slipped it into my bag, Amanda rolling her eyes at me as I did so. As we left, I sent a few bucks via Venmo to the trail angel managing the cache as a thank you.
We crossed Lake Hughes Road and carried on up the first of several climbs today. As we climbed we saw Han Solo talking with someone in blue about 100 feet above us on a switchback and we carried on. As we came up to that switchback we were delighted to see Sean waiting for us. “I thought I saw you guys coming up so I waited!” He said as we both shouted “SEAN!!” We asked him about his stay as he had resupplied in Lake Hughes. “Good,” he said in response, “except I forgot yesterday is now a holiday and I got locked out of my airbnb!” We all laughed and carried on up the trail excitedly telling Sean how we had seen a roadrunner near Vasquez Rocks the day before.
The trail gained a ridge and maintained that ridge as it passed through new growth around a large burned area. The path under our feet was mostly sand, charred black in places. As we carried along we saw a lot of the plants that grow first out of a fire area in the desert such as Manzanita bushes. Another plant that was becoming more numerous and concerning was Poodledog Bush. Amanda, Sean and I had never heard of this notorious plant before hiking the PCT but it is mentioned highly in the commentary on FarOut and Sean had looked it up in Lake Hughes. Evidently its leaves have hairlike follicles that prick your skin as you go by causing a Poison Oak like rash. The weird part, Sean said, was that you could be pricked in one place and get a rash there and then get pricked a year later in a different place but the rash would come back in both areas - the new and the old. “Kinda like a zombie rash,” Sean added with a grin.
As we came around a bend we were suddenly met with a section of trail inundated with poodle dog brush. “Walk carefully,” Amanda said before setting off. We picked our way through the patch, attempting to avoid contact. Sean had full length pants on but Amanda and I were both working with shorts so we made extra careful to not let the Marijuana looking leaves touch us. We made our way out of the patch and then carried on… into another patch and another. After 2 or 3 patches we came across a stump with a handwritten note stating “Fear not, trail crews have cleared Poodledog brush from here on out,” and they sure had. As we came on another section, there was clear evidence that bushes near the trail had been cleared of the bush where it impinged on the trail.
A few miles on we actually ran into the trail crew. 2 groups of about 15 people each were busily doing trail maintenance under the supervision of a ranger. We thanked the mostly young faces as we went by telling them the trail looked great. They smiled back and told us good luck. We came to a parking lot, arriving on a freshly groomed trail to find 3 passenger vans with a logo stating the trail crews were volunteers from William S. Hart Union Highschool - so thanks for all the hard work William S. Hart Union Highschool!!!
We carried on along the ridge and took a quick break at a forest road crossroads to have a snack before our final climb of the day. I am now taking large bites of pepperoni and then cheddar cheese to get a real charcuterie board effect in my mouth - it works. After our snack we started our climb. About 2 miles in we came across the 500 mile marker and stopped for some pictures and then climbed on. At the top we came to a road and a cistern where Amanda and I traded water bladder for tent and she went on to find a place to stake it. Sean and I met a Slav and Czech guy that Sean had told us about on top of the cistern and we talked for a while. The Slav was from Bratislava and was named Sam, the other guy's name I can’t remember but was from Prague. They were both nice to talk to. We talked about beer and how the Czech’s have the original Budweiser while pulling water out of the cistern.
After water filtering Sean and I made our way down to camp. Amanda had staked out a spot just up from Bear Campground which was an old abandoned campground we were targeting. She said that there were no good places and lots of red ants so she had come back up the trail a bit to find these spots. We settled down for our evening activities and talked while eating dinner. I pulled out the Pacifico telling Sean i had found it at the hiker box near Lake Hughes Road. He smiled and said “That’s good since I put it there!” Evidently, Sean had stayed with William’s group and gotten more trail magic the day before from William’s dad and encouraged the last of the Pacifico’s be left at the Lake Hughes Road hiker trail box. After dinner, Sean gingerly got into his sleeping bag, as he is still trying to heal his tailbone and I did my nightly exercises and yoga. The spot Amanda had picked was right near a large patch of beautiful red flowers which Sean said the hummingbirds loved and I had to agree as I watched about 15 male hummers viciously (as viciously as a 2 oz bird can be) fight over the patch of red flowers. Afterwards I came back for some reading and much needed sleep.
