Night Walk and the Aqueduct

We hit the trail after Aqua Dulce and spent the next few days heading to Hikertown. We changed schedule due to the heat. We wake up at four, watch the sunrise from the trail, and cover as many miles as we can before the heat gets worse. Then we took a long break and walked from afternoon to evening. Watching the sunrise and sunset on the trail is a pleasure, but the days are long and we hardly sleep. The afternoons begin to lengthen and we dedicate ourselves to listening to audiobooks, voice messages or music to get through a long day. We avoid large groups, pit toilets, and touching any shared surfaces to stay healthy. We keep this up for a few days and by the time we get within 10 miles of Hikertown we are exhausted, but the real challenge has just begun. Further ahead is the Aqueduct section, which is traditionally done as a night walk.

Towards Hikertown

We wake up in the morning and ride 9 miles to Hikertown. These kilometers are exciting and, although short, a little frustrating. Finally we arrived at Hikertown, an interesting place. We have a pack to pick up there to hear more stories about norovirus, including stories from some hikers who indicate they have just recovered. We lay down in the shade to rest for hours, collect our box of treats and treasures from home and organize ourselves for the long night walk. We ask our friends at home for voice messages, pictures, stories and questions. It’s 4 o’clock and still too hot to move. When it is almost 5 pm, we are ready to begin our night walk.

The Aqueduct

We left Hikertown just the two of us and our friends aren’t far behind. The Aqueduct is great. It’s nice to walk on the big pipe and we see a little family of goats running through it. However, the famous pictures of the pipe ride are a little misleading: this only lasts for a while and soon a dirt road begins. This will be our path for the next few hours.

We jump in with our friends a couple of times, but most of the time we are entertained for hours with voicemails from our friends with questions and updates about their lives. The sun sets behind the Joshua trees. We were a little delirious from lack of sleep, but we kept going. Kangaroo mice run in front of us, behind us, and sometimes directly at us.

When the voicemails end, we have traveled 17 miles. The wind howls and we feel like it’s just us and the wind turbines in the dark.

Juniper Hideout

We decide to take another three to a rumored growth of juniper bushes where we can shelter from the wind. The gusts and ominous hum of the turbines seem post-apocalyptic. We continue on: my feet are starting to hurt and my energy is flagging. The miles we did earlier in the day combined with this and left us at a total of 29 miles when we stopped at 12:30. We find a sweet juniper tree blocking the wind, set up our tent and collapse. Our night walk is over.

Finally crashing

The next morning comes too soon. To beat the heat we set off at seven. The long days, lack of sleep, and long miles finally catch up to me. The day is long. I spend about a mile walking uphill, listening to Fleetwood Mac (the only songs suggested to me in my playlist requests the night before) and silently crying. I’m very tired, my feet hurt from the walk and I just want to get to the city.

An 8 mile surprise

The FarOut map section for the desert concludes at Highway 58, so naturally we think we have to go today. However, we didn’t realize that most hikers may encounter a problem on Willow Springs Road, 8 miles before Hwy 58. Delirium induced by our long days prevented us from understanding this until 1 a.m. that morning. This means that instead of having to do a 29 mile day, we only need to do 21. This gives me the last push I need to get into town. We kept going and reached the water tank, fueled up with our last bit of food, and walked the last few miles with sore feet to Willow Springs Road. We get there and another couple of hikers have found a hookup that they gladly let us share. We arrived in Tehachapi and plodded through the city streets to a hotel. Sarah orders dinner. I felt dirty when I left the desert, but walking into the hotel room with crisp white sheets I feel absolutely dirty. I shower while Sarah somehow finds some remaining energy. She walks to the Walmart 10 minutes away to get us chocolate milk, blueberries, and Epsom salts to soak our feet.

Tehachapi Treats

While the challenge of the desert challenged us, we have moved on to challenging ourselves, putting in longer miles, longer days, sleeping less, and trying to escape the heat. The zero in Tehachapi is very necessary and we are rewarded with gifts at the post office; a case of grafted cider from our friends in New York and a case of Trader Joe’s products from our friend Schan. It takes my feet two whole days to recover from the Aqueduct section.

We share ciders with our friends and reflect on the desert and all the joys it has brought us, the trials, where it has pushed us and how far we have come. 22 mile days are standard for us now and we have passed the 500 mile marker. Technically there are still 100 miles of wilderness before Walker Pass, but we feel like we’ve reached an important milestone.

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