Thurs. June 9     Miles today: 26.5     Total so far: 505.1

We were up at 5:00 am today, and so was the jolly ranger!  We could hear him laughing and talking with his ranger friend as they got ready for THEIR day.  Our first “job” was the stiff climb out of Green Valley, up over the top, and down into Elizabeth Lake Canyon.  At the bottom of the canyon, near the creek, it was like a green jungle of oak trees, wild grape vines and flowers.  But once we crossed the creek, it was the beginning of the long, long climb of Liebre Mountain, which took us the rest of the day.

With the two new trek poles, and a good nights rest, I was hiking faster than I thought, and this actually turned out to be a problem, because we ended up bypassing an important spring where we’d planned to get water.  We roughly calculate our mileage by knowing how long it takes to cover a mile, and I thought, “This COULDN’T be the spring–we’re here too soon!”  Well, it WAS the spring, and by the time we realized our mistake, we didn’t want to go all the way back, and it made our water situation for much of the day pretty tough (we had 10 miles of uphill climb to the next “water hole”).

Looking down at Lake Hughes

Up and up we went until we could see Lake Hughes–the PCT used to go that way.  We kind of wish it still did.  We like lakes!  On the other side of the valley, there was a sort of “tidal wave effect”–thick clouds spilling over the mountaintops.  We wondered what that might mean in connection with our weather up ahead. 

 In the afternoon, we got to have a little celebration–we reached the FIVE HUNDRED MILE MARK!  Somebody even “wrote” it with rocks on the trail.  Hurray!  I took a picture standing by the “mark” to show the view you get from there.  We hiked on, very excited and happy, and finally reached Liebre Mountain Truck Trail where we found a “first”–instead of a cache for PEOPLE, it was a trail cache for HORSES: two full water buckets, and a flake of alfalfa!  Awwwwww!

By then, we were two very tired hikers, and shortly past the Truck Trail, we found a flat place among the oak trees and stopped.  The wind had really started howling,we were at 5,500 feet elevation, the temperature was 55 degrees, and getting colder.  Brrr!  We zoomed into our silk longjohns that we sleep in and got into our sleeping bags FAST!  But between listening to the wind and being excited about finishing 500 miles, it was awhile before I fell asleep.  I love this trail!  Every day is some new adventure!

Wed. June 8    Miles today: 25:3      Total so far: 478.6

The Saufley's garage

We were up at about 5:00 am this morning and had a bit of a tough time repacking our packs, because we kept getting in each other’s way in the cramped space of the RV.  We took our “Saufley Electric” clothes and returned them to the laundry basket in the well-organized garage.  Then it was “Good-bye!” to Hiker Heaven and a pleasant 1.1 mile walk down Darling Road and back to the PCT.  We walked all the way through sleeping Agua Dulce, and finally began our climb into the Sierra Pelona Mountains.  Now we were REALLY back in the groove!

A little way into the mountains, we passed a ranch that had an airliner fuselage by the farmhouse.  Wish I knew the story behind that!  We came to a trail register, which Bill signed, “Bill & Monty Chipman, back to peanut butter and crackers!” 

 I continued to enjoy the trailside wildflowers as I walked along, though now that it’s June, things are drying up, and there are less flowers and more stickers to catch on our shoes!  When we reached the top of our first climb,  I was excited to see what I think is called a “lenticular” cloud.  I’ve seen pictures of them, but never before a “real live one”.

Reservoir in the distance

Our PCT  led us down toward Bouquet Reservoir, then up and over another ridge into a very pretty, very green canyon.  We were in and out of canyons the rest of the day, but at about 3:30 pm, we had a BIG surprise! 

Casa de Luna PCT "cache"

We had thought we were hearing people’s voices up ahead, and as we came around a bend in the trail, there was an almost life-size plastic skeleton clad in hiking bandannas, and holding out a can of beer!  This “boney” hiker showed the entrance to a sort of “cave” in the manzanita bushes lining the trail.  Inside were lots of comfortable chairs, a pink plastic flamingo, an inflated plastic palm tree, and a cooler full of soft drinks and beer.  The “host” was jolly, rascally Joe Anderson, and many of our PCT acquaintances were already there, having a very silly, fun time.  Joe invites everyone who stops at his “oasis” to come to his house in Green Valley for more fun.  Bill and I had a root beer and a “regular” beer each, as yet more hikers arrived.  It was all totally fun, but we had 6 more miles to hike before reaching the road, so we pushed on.  Mr. Anderson said he would be at the road trailhead by 6:30 to give rides to his house, but we had decided we’d rather just camp in the peace and quiet of the trail. 

Trouble was, by the time we did our 6 miles and reached the ranger station at the road, where we filled our water bottles and had supper, I was totally wasted.  The problem was, for the first time in my life, I was using TWO trek poles instead of one.  My feet and legs LOVE the trek poles, but owooooo, my poor shoulder muscles!  They were aching terribly, and my arms were totally worn out.  I just felt like I could not go any farther.  So we  made a nice camp a little way up the trail past the ranger station, and had an “evening entertainment” of listening to “ranger radio.”    We checked Bill’s feet, and they are doing great!  He did not have to take even one Motrin today.   I went to sleep thinking, “Thankyou, Lord, for helping Bill’s feet–now I need some help getting used to these trek poles!”