One last look at the Aqua Dulce
area before heading out to the
unknown.
Heading over the hill to the
Bouquet Canyon area.
I'm having Saufley
withdrawls. Let's
take another look
at Buddy. Ok...
I feel better.
The mountains in which we were hiking are called the Sierra Pelona, which means "Bald Mountains" and, true to their name, are practically treeless. We were able to cover a number of miles before the heat became too intense and we decided to take a 2-hour siesta.
This section of trail is used quite a bit by trail runners. In fact, just up the trail from where we took our siesta, there was a bench under a large oak tree as a memorial to a trail runner. Too bad we hadn't held out just a little longer.
As we were hiking, we ran into a runner and talked for a while. The runner, Lori, frequently meets hikers on the trail. Once, she met a hiker and told him she would leave him a "goody bag" at the upcoming ranger station. He thought she meant a couple of candy bars, but when he got there, there was a roast chicken, cold beer, iced water and other stuff. She asked us if there was anything we would like. "How about I leave you guys a cold beer after your long hot day?" she asked. I was just fantasizing about how this would taste when Scott piped up, "Oh, that's really nice of you, but we are going to be hiking through the desert tomorrow and don't want to dehydrate." Isn't he great? She gave us her number and said to call if we needed anything at all. (I was hoping we would get to the ranger station and find a roast chicken and cold beer and then, while I ate, Mr. Killjoy Vegetarian could sit and drink his warm Crystal Light, which he claims is good no matter what the water temperature. Well, isn't that swell for him?) [I think I preferred the "Whining Amy" to the "Hostile Amy" -Scott]
Lori also told us about a race she was participating in the following day. It is called the Billy Goat Gruff 1-miler. She pointed to one of the mountains we had just traversed. She said on the mountain, there was a trail that went pretty much straight up and down that was a mile long and the runners basically get to the top anyway they can-running, clawing, etc. The fastest time is 14 minutes it's so steep.
When we reached the ranger station we filled up with water and sat talking. As we sat, the Greyhounds approached. They are three other hikers, Scott, Tracy and Kelly, who showed up at the Saufley's the day before. (2 of them hiked the whole trail last year) They started a little more than a week after us, take no rest days and hike about 25 miles a day. They are very lean, very tan and bring to mind three sleek greyhounds. (This isn't their trail name-I just think of them that way) I can picture them leaping effortlessly down the trail. I on the other hand, look pretty much as you remember except dirtier and mosquito bitten. Life isn't fair.
[Amy keeps asking me what kind of dog she resembles on the trail. I'm not touching this one. -Scott] (and don't any of you either)
After talking with them for a while, we left to make camp along the trail.