Day 38: Mile 444.2 - 465.6
Today I met some new friends, and also an old friend that I've been missing especially these past couple days.
Let's start with the new friends.
So on the way out of the Acton KOA, and through to Agua Dulce, I got to talking to Mike and Jackie, a father-daughter pair who were section hiking this bit in the interim between Jackie's graduation (congratulations) and starting her first job out of college (congratulations). They had originally wanted to do Walker Pass down to Agua Dulce, but found it too windy past Tehachapi, so from there they bounced down to the Fire Station on Angeles *Forest* Highway (i.e., the "not-the-2" highway in ANF) up to Agua Dulce--they only had two weeks to work with, you see. I had been leapfrogging them the past couple days, but finally today got to talk with them some on trail. Turns out Jackie is a bio-electrical engineering major (think biomedical engineering with an emphasis on electrical systems), who's starting her first job at Milwaukee Tool (where she interned last summer and really liked it). I asked her if she was interested in going back to graduate school, and she said maybe business school, which is the correct answer (it's what my dad advised me to do, for example) (I didn't follow his advice). But she's got a good head about her: she's got that confidence of undergraduates when talking about stuff she's done (before we get all wishy-washy in graduate school) and she can hold her own in a cocktail party. And she also realizes that her education was very general, that the specifics would have come with a technical graduate degree, but she seems to like the broadness of generality rather than the narrowness of specialization.
Her dad, Mike, was also an electrical engineer, but a more classic one: he worked on power systems, specifically, nuclear power plants. Been there for, gosh, coming on 25 years now. He'd started as a system designer and loved it, got to wander all around the plant, got to design all sorts of monitors and measurements, absolutely loved it. Then he moved into operations, where he now manages a group of about 18 people, and is always under the watchful eye of management. And here's the thing: he loves that too. I was curious about this, so I pressed him some more, and it seems for him, the essence of enjoyment is in learning new things. And both as a system designer, and now as an operations manager, he's always learning new things. So he's happy. That's something I'll have to keep in mind: here's a guy who made the transition from line engineering to management, and found a common thread between the two that kept things enjoyable. *That's* valuable.
Of course, Mike is also a really nice guy, and Jackie a girl with a bright future. Runts and I joked with her that, yeah, our stories of quitting our jobs nothwithstanding, she really should build a career and all, that's important. Basically, doing Ron's joke. (And in all due honesty, having a career *is* important. In particular, what that career *means* for you, *that's* important.) In the end, after we left Mike and Jackie at Agua Dulce--their hike was done, they were going to rest, then head into LA for a couple days before heading home--I talked with Runts and asked, do you think we convinced them to do the PCT? No, Runts said, maybe they'll section-hike it (and Jackie had mentioned wanting to do the JMT, and Mike when asked said no since there was just so much other stuff he wanted to do rather than a 6-month commitment), but I don't think they'll through hike it.
Oh, and I also met Runts. Runts is from San Diego, and she's an art major, working mostly in digital media. Gregarious girl, very friendly, can talk about any topic you can think of. Did equestrian back in the day: as we passed through the horse ranches of Agua Dulce, talked about that. Did photography in school, dark-room stuff, talked about that (did you know you could do HDR with film? I didn't!). Talked about her university experience (at Cal State Long Beach, which has one of the best art programs in the Cal State system, even has student galleries and everything), talked about her jobs in retail (she worked for a pet store, both on the retail side and also developing training materials for them), talked about plants (there's an educational walk in Vasquez Rocks that we jawed about). Runts strikes me as a pretty talented person, with a wide eye and a carefree enough attitude that she can bear the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and come out on top. And she did over 20 miles today, beating her personal best by half a mile (still counts!).
And those were the new friends of the day. Now let me tell you about the old!
For the past couple days, I've been missing an old friend. Here, I'll introduce him with a poem. Yes, I know my poetry is bad and cheesy and derivative (the dash work I stole straight from Emily Dickinson, for example, but it's just the show of it: it's really her *rhythm* that I should be stealing, but that's pure genius and awfully hard to do), but if you'll bear with it for just a moment:
there’s a trail — over there —
do you see it? — look! —
round the mountain — there —
that ’fiscial line — see? —
crossing that slope, to that bend —
i wonder: where does it go?
up the canyon — like us! — i know —
but must not it be —
smooth and steady,
finely shaded,
opulently viewed,
leading to high meadows
and undiscovered peaks —
this trail — dusty and hot —
drab — some’d nonchalant —
tough — others’d resolute —
good! — i’d laugh — solid! —
but i know —
when next — i lace my boots —
memory will stir:
there’s a trail — over there!
Harding Truck Trail, 8/17/2017
That guy--the little voice that looks around and says, hey, there's a trail, over there!--that's the guy I'd been missing. Because I realized he's not been around: one of the problems of the PCT is that the trail is set, so I'm not looking around at other trails and dreaming about where they go, I'm just hyper-focused on this one. But today, at 5:23pm, as the PCT did almost a U-turn and crossed Martindale Ridge Road and headed up a small hillock, I turned and looked at where that road went, riding the ridge straight before snaking in and out of the hillsides further up, disappearing into the blue of the west, and that little voice stirred in me and I wondered, hey, where does that trail go? I want to hike *that*. And at that little sentiment, at that little curiosity, I was overjoyed! I tell you, who among you, when he finds that which has been lost, does not call to all his friends and say, rejoice with me!, for I have found that which I lost! I had missed that voice for so long, and without him, the trails seem less fun, less like exploration, less like play. And the geography, the sense of place, is diminished. But with him! That voice was one of the primary reasons for me *doing* the PCT in the first place! (A story I've told before, about the Doppler radar.) And now--after over a month!--to finally have him back; I just hope he stays. It'll just be so much better with him around, trust you me!
There's one more old friend that I've been missing; I may talk about him more if he eventually comes around. I won't hold my breath--he's even more fickle than "that trail over there" and he takes a whole lot more work to cultivate. But if he shows up too, well, then the whole band will be back together and running on all cylinders!
-- Acton KOA > Highway 14 > Vasquez Rocks > Agua Dulce > Martindale Ridge Road > Bouquet Canyon Road
-- Today begins a long food carry: it's roughly 120 miles from Acton KOA to Tehachapi, the next town. (Technically, there's Hikertown and Wee Vill Market in between, and evidently it's possible to resupply at Wee Vill especially, but I didn't realize that, so I'm going straight to Tehachapi.) 120 miles translates to 6-7 days, so I'm carrying that much food out of Acton KOA. That makes my food bag huge, enough so that I had to reconfigure how pack my backpack: now, the tent is actually on the *outside*, strapped across the top. Will need to look into getting a waterproof bag for the tent when next I'm at a gear shop: should be fine for now since I don't anticipate rain, but in future, it'd be good to keep the tent waterproof while it's up there. Especially since I'll likely have to do something similar for the Sierras, when we have to carry bear canisters.
-- Oh, the "something going dramatically wrong" for today? I lost my tripod. I think when I pulled my umbrella--it was a hot day--I think I must have bumped my tripod out of that pocket and not noticed. So it's probably somewhere back in Agua Dulce, lying by the side of the road. Well, I'm not going back there to look for it! Asked Ian to buy another, ship it up to me in Tehachapi. Just will be without a tripod for the next few days. Ah well, so it goes!
-- Finally, I should probably say something about the hike itself. We started out from Acton KOA--I was one of the last to leave since I kept loitering to talk to people like Mark and Ray-Jay who weren't heading onto the trail that day--and headed up the range to the north. Michael B had said it was only 1000 feet gain over the next 8 miles or so: I joked with him that, yeah, but you didn't mention all that gain was in the first mile! It certainly felt that way! But after clearing that we started descending, and here's where I met up with Mike and Jackie, and Runts came along too, and we formed a quartet that headed into the Highway 14 tunnel, then into Vasquez Rocks where the tourists were (and where we got a bit lost--the trail is hard to follow here) and finally into Agua Dulce, where we got a table at the Maria Bonita and had lunch. Kimo was there already, and just as we were finishing up who should come by but Honeybee and Candy Corn and Nikki and Yardsale and Michael B and their table was having a rolicking good time! Runts and I finished up, paid, and headed out, which was a walk through Agua Dulce (fine but for the heat), then another climb up another mountain. This was an infinite climb for me, but just barely: the heat was cut just enough by the breeze that I could keep going without stopping. This was also pretty high up: the views looking back down were pretty striking. Oh, and it had burned, and the blackened shrub trunks were now the favorite spots for these ravens/crows that would squawk and then go coasting on the thermals. Clearly that, I had my visit from my old friend, then the rest of the trail was a descent, with a view of Bonquet Reservoir to the west, now covered in silver from the waning sun. This was a great part of the hike: happy to be reunited, I got in some full-throated singing of Simon and Garfunkel, and Pearl Jam, even some Tori Amos--it was pretty happy (the song subjects notwithstanding). I ended at the road as it was getting dark, and found myself the only one there, so picked the "best" campsite, set up my tent, and made dinner. Halfway through dinner Runts arrived, pretty tired, and we chatted a bit before turning in. So there: there's the hiking bit of the entry!
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