On this Zero Day, Vicki and I left a resupply cache for me at Tehachapi Pass, checked out the California Poppy Superbloom in Antelope Valley, and headed south to the PCT trailhead near Acton, where we spent the night in my Rav4.
From PCT mile 444.3 to 444.3 Total: 0.0 miles 4/22
I’m calling this a Zero Day except that it was actually more like a Zero Week. With all the ice and snow remaining in the SoCal Mountains, and the 300% of normal snow in the High Sierra, I wasn’t exactly in a rush to get anywhere in this crazy year of 2023. Let’s face it: Hiking NOBO in 2023 was difficult without a lot of flipping and flopping. Of course, when I got my PCT Long Distance Permit in November 2022, there was no way to know the future, that California would be hit with record rain and snowfall. Sometimes you have to play the hand you’re dealt, and that’s what I was doing. As a seasoned PCT section hiker, I played my hand in a mellow manner. I was retired, after all. I had very few time constraints, and at this point I wasn’t worried about not hiking the full 2650 miles this year.
We left San Diego early that morning, to avoid LA traffic, and arrived in Antelope Valley mid-morning. Our plan was to check out the California Poppy Preserve, which was currently in a “Superbloom” status. When we arrived, it was obvious that everyone else in SoCal decided to show up! Traffic was backed up along the road, and totally clogged on the way into the Preserve itself, which had a toll booth to collect fees. We also had a feeling, after waiting in line for a while, that the parking lot was full and they were only letting people in as others left. This was silly, so I turned around and fled. We had passed acres and acres of blooming poppies on the way there, with lots of cars parking on the side of the road to check them out. We parked along with them, and hiked on a side trail into the Poppy Zone. It was really quite impressive, and we took plenty of photos.
After that, it was time to drive north, to Tehachapi Pass. I had prepared a Bear Canister with six days of food (along with several gallons of water) and intended to leave it near the trailhead on Cameron Road, about a mile south of Highway 58. I walked around and found a shady bush just up the hill from the trail near an old barbed wire fence. It didn’t look like anyone would discover it there over the next week. And if they did, they’d probably leave it alone anyway, especially if they were fellow PCT hikers.
Then we headed south. We stopped in the town of Agua Dulce to eat dinner at a new restaurant. It was tasty and I mentioned it on the Far Out app, as the Mexican Restaurant was temporarily closed. Crowdsourced food options are always welcome when Hiker Hunger is involved. After that, we drove a few miles south to the Indian Canyon PCT Trailhead in Soledad Canyon, near the town of Acton.
When we arrived, there was a small group of thru hikers hanging out at the picnic table. We said hello, and they told us that they had braved the snowy mountains and were looking forward to a lot less snow in the immediate future. A couple more of them arrived carrying resupply boxes that they picked up down the road at the KOA campground. But they weren’t paying money to stay there. Instead, they headed down below to the big dirt equestrian parking area and set up their tents.. I had been here several times in the past, and never saw a horse trailer, so I told them not to worry.
Vicki and I crawled into my “camperized” Rav4 and slept together happily. It would be two weeks before we saw each other again, when she picked me up at Walker Pass. That’s a long time to be sleeping alone, we thought. After being married for almost forty years, you get used to sleeping together. I tried once more to convince Vicki to join me on this hike, but I didn’t press my luck. I knew that she was firm. And I also knew that hiking fifteen miles per day simply wasn’t in the cards for her. Now that my old blisters from the early days of the hike were fully healed, I was excited to step up the pace, and planned to hike fifteen mile days, day after day. If those worked well, I would upgrade to twenties when I returned to hike the SoCal mountains, after the snow finished melting.
We looked out the window as we lay there under our down quilt. It had been a good day, thanks to the poppies, although the driving time was long. But we knew that it would be worth it. And I was happy to be hiking Sections E and F, which I had never hiked before. New vistas! New flowers! New excitement! I could hardly wait to get started.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
<< Back to Day 15 Onward to Day 17 >> 
hikingtales.com 