6/21/2023
Section: Milepost 503.0 to 517.6
Distance: 14.80 Miles
Moving Time: 05:26 hrs
Elevation Gain: 1,419 ft
Click here for current location
Today was pretty short and sweet and it had the benefit of ending in one of the most fascinating camping sites along the trail - Hikertown. The stage winds its way in a sort-of sideways “U” fashion ending the same longitude as it started but about 5 miles north. The path begins in the Angeles National forest and descends throughout the day until it is level with Antelope Canyon so that, tomorrow, we can cross the valley at one of the lowest points on the PCT and begin our climb up to Tehachapi.
We woke…well, I woke around 5 and got up before eating my morning pop tart and watching Amanda slowly make her way out of the tent. After a bit of delay we joined Sean on the trail at around 6:45 (so, you do the math there) and were on our way. Amanda led and made great progress on a fairly level trajectory for the first 5 miles. The trail wound through medium oak trees and we saw limited people save for Collin, the French guy we had camped with a few nights before. Sean, Amanda and I talked about a lot of things from healthcare to habitats as we wound our way east and then North.
At mile 506.5 the trail turned abruptly north and began winding down the grade again towards an intermediate plateau between the Angeles mountains and Antelope Valley. At the plateau, we followed a road and crossed a stream where we said high to the Collin who was filtering water and took a quick break. From the water stop we pressed on, eventually climbing a short bit and crossing the road. Sean told us all about a tree off the trail that had the largest nut in North America -the Buckeye Tree. After crossing the road, we wound through some low, grassy hills. The trail made some maddening twists and turns back on itself before eventually dropping us all the way down to the valley floor. Here, the trail straightened out and made a beeline north towards highway 138. The path widened and Amanda, Sean and myself were able to almost walk next to each other.
The trail dumped out on highway 138 and kitty corner to our exit we could see the ~2 acre complex of quirky miniature buildings that we knew to be hiker town. We waited for a break in the semi-trucks and ran across before crossing 270th street and climbing up the berm to enter hiker town’s gate.
Once inside we were met by a zany miniature town of cartoon houses surrounding a double-wide house and porch on which a few hikers were already sitting and talking. We took note of a sign offering free rides up to Neenach market where you could do a lite resupply and get some food. As we rounded the porch we were called over to a garage/living area where a younger and older woman were already getting drinks and snacks going for Akira and Collin. I got a Tecate and Amanda and Sean got coconut waters. We sat and chatted for a while. Amanda prepaid for 2 showers and got us a stay in one of the whacky cabins then Sean called for the free Neenach market ride while Amanda and I put our stuff away in the cabin. By the time we were done the ride had arrived. We headed over and found Sean waiting in a golden, late 90’s Windstar van with a grumpy looking driver. We got in and Collin and Akira joined us, filling out the car.
The ride took about 5 minutes and, as we exited the van, a set of 4 hikers got in, telling us we should get the hiker burger. We thanked them and entered the market like kids in a candy store. In our first round of purchases Sean got 3 Fantas, Amanda got 1 and I got a grape Fanta and a Stone IPA. We ordered a burger each and I went with jalapeño poppers over fries. Outside we found that Sean had already downed 2 Fantas and Amanda got to work on our own. Coming down out of the mountains today Fantas were a huge point of conversation so we were excited that Neenach market not only had them but had the cool old style Mexican Fantas.
We talked for a while and found out that Akira was a truck driver in Japan and had heard about the trail on an apple podcast and had decided to do it. Our names were called and we got our burgers. They were excellent and came with a spare slice of ham bundled up inside. We ate in near silence for a few minutes after which we commented on how great burgers were. After we were done all of us made independent, haphazard trips back into the store to get a number of things including ice cream and circus peanuts. After we were all set, the driver took us back to Hiker Town and we congregated on the porch for the afternoon. I should say, I congregated while Amanda actually did chores which needed to be done, including her laundry and took a shower.
A group that has been a day or two ahead of us for a while was at Hiker Town and headed out for the night. Night hiking wasn’t really necessary this week because of the unseasonably cool weather in Southern California but hiking the viaduct at night has become something of a tradition so many people still do it. This group was definitely getting amped up for the hike, downing 4Locos and smoking a ton of pot. At about 6 they finally got in gear and about 10 hikers headed out for the trail. One girl stayed behind, referencing a pain in her knee. She was going to hitch to Tehachapi and wait for her friends while she recovered. We talked some more and then Amanda and I headed to bed thinking we were going to try and get up around 3 and at least hike half of the viaduct in the dark. We said good night and I ran around to trying find Marta, who ran the place, to see if she could let me in to take a shower even though it was after hours. I got lucky and she let me take a quick shower after which I took some pictures of the little cabins and tried to write but it was getting late and I quit a little bit after starting. Finally, I laid down on a real mattress next to Amanda and fell asleep.
