Tehachapi – Acton – Day 132 – Fri Nov 3rd

Day 132 Fri Nov 3rd
Tent site 2 – The Oasis – LA Aqueduct
2106.2 – 2132.1
Approx. 1434 ft ascent 4619 ft descent
26.1 Miles

The sun seemed to rise earlier due to the exposed ridge camp spot we had chosen for the night.  Its rays warmed the tent to a pleasant temperature and for first time in ages we woke up almost feeling too warm. Waking up when it is warm like this makes it so much easier to face the day and get out of a cosy sleeping bag.

After packing up our gear we sat in the sun on the chairs provided with a dead lizard for company.  For the first time in ages we ate a cold breakfast of cold oatmeal and a ghetto mocha. 

We filled our water bottles from the cache that had been stashed by Jason the trail angel that helps manage the Oasis.  Apparently, he is an ex-thru hiker and lives close by + this is his way of helping give back to the trail for all the kind gestures he experienced.  A big thanks Jason for all your good work. 

We left a 5-dollar donation has a gesture of our gratitude to say thanks for this little oasis in the hills. 

As we walk away from the campsite we can both smell bacon in the air and we wonder if it’s wishful thinking or whether we’re just missing those Saturday morning breakfasts back home.

Today we should aim to try and get close to the aqueduct section of the trail.   The aqueduct takes water from the Sierras all the way to Los Angeles and is a major point of contention

We have water sources at 7.5, 14 and then 28 miles from where we started out today.  The flatter more exposed section of the aqueduct means we’re going to have to make sure we remain hydrated + take extra precautions.
Many hikers decide to go through this section at night to avoid the heat of the mid-day sun, but generally that’s earlier on in the season when it’s even hotter!

 We noticed yesterday how the temperatures cooled throughout the afternoon as we got higher in elevation.  Today we’re being slammed right back down to the valley floor so we expect it to be hot!
We stopped at Tyler Horse Canyon as there was a water supply highlighted on Far Out.  It was more like a trickle to be fair!

Here we met in new Sobo called (American) Colin– trail name “Smiles” Back in the real world he told us how he now worked for the government and prior to that he had been a marine.  He seemed a really friendly and interesting chap and we could see why he got his trail name. 

He had passed through the Sierras a week or so later than us and had experienced more extreme weather where the temperatures really plummeted to around -7.5 C.  One of his pals summitted Whitney in a blizzard and had frost in his hair and beard + said it was super sketchy. 

 
After leaving Bishop to get back on the trail Smiles also described similar altitude sickness symptoms to what Sarah had experienced. Saying that he would wake up at night feeling breathless. 

Prior to his stop at Bishop he didn’t experience any issues with the altitude.  His thoughts were that taking a few days off trail somehow effected how well acclimatised he was to the higher elevations.

We all stopped underneath the shade of some trees by the creek and enjoyed an hour or so together whilst re-hydrating and getting to know one another.  Smiles had been hiking on his own since Mammoth and seemed pleased of the company. 


After the mornings downhill, we headed towards Cottonwood Creek where we found another water cache. 

The bottles of water had green algae floating in them.   We made sure we filtered and then treated the contents as the next water source was another 14 miles away. 

There was a concrete building next to the water cache that was peppered with gunshots. 


This second part of the day consisted of a lot of road walking which offered another challenge and put a lot of strain on our joints and other muscles.  Towards the end of the day we were all complaining have saw hamstrings. 
As the sun started to set we saw a large dead rattle snake on the side of the road turned upside down.  I flipped it over for a closer inspection and its markings and head shape exactly matched the one I’d seen way back in Sierra City.  Although this one was larger and more formidable. 

We finally found what we think was the start of the aqueduct under the light of our head torches.  It appeared to be half buried in the sand and was surrounded by sage bushes.

We decided to call it a day here and camped just off the dirt road in amongst the sage bushes.  In the distance we could see the twinkling lights of another town and our peace was interrupted by the occasional car blasting its way through the dusty dirt road that was close to where we had made camp.

Camping next to roads is neither ideal or safe, but by this time we had all run out of steam and figured we had safety and numbers this evening.
Smiles prefers to cowboy camp just sleeping exposed on his sleeping pad on top of a sheet of PolyCro.  I joked that lets hope a snake or tarantula doesn’t want a little “snuggle snuggle” this evening…