Acton – Wrightwood – Day 139 – Fri Nov 10th

Day 139 Fri Nov 10th
North Fork ranger Station Coral – Tent site 2 b4 Angeles Forrest Road
2219.1 – 2234.4
Approx. 3438 ft ascent 1929 ft descent
15.2 Miles

I woke up several times in the night drenched in sweat, feverish and feeling rotten.

Fortunately the paracetamol tablets seem to be having an effect, but any aches and pains I had previously have just been amplified. I guess you could call it ‘man flu’ but having to deal with man flu while doing a thru hike is not ideal.

Our night sleep was also disturbed by some noises in the background. They were difficult to distinguish as we were camped quite close to some crackling powerlines.

Once again, Sarah took the lead and stepped out banging her hiking poles together shouting ‘Get out of here” like some Deliah Smith or some crazy mad women.

I popped my head out of the tent door to see a light coming from the toilet block near the pylon and figured it was a couple of hikers that had just arrived late in the night.

On dragging ourselves out of bed, I don’t know what’s worse; getting up when it’s freezing cold or getting up when you feel this rotten. It was a struggle particularly putting on a sweat drenched t-shirt when all I wanted today was sit in front of a TV watching ‘This Morning’ TV drinking Lucozade.
As we finished packing up and left the coral the sun rose over the hill behind the pylon and it was clear that we couldn’t have stayed here today, even if I was feeling unwell as it was soon become far too hot.

The plan is to just go as far as we can and at least we’ll still be moving forward.
Or if I take a turn for the worst we could knock on the Rangers door and see if he could take us back to the campground where I could recover.

My concern is Sarah will also come down with this and having both of us not 100% will make things even harder, as she’s more than carrying the can at the moment.

Just before leaving we were greeted by the Ranger with probably one of the best beards I’ve seen on trail.
It was almost like our prayers were being answered as he asked if we wanted a sports drink before we left. This was greatly accepted especially as I’ve been dreaming about Lucozade.
We told him that we’d slept in the coral and hoped he didn’t mind as I’ve been feeling unwell.

He mentioned that covid has being going around and took a step back when I told him that I had been unwell. Let’s keep our fingers crossed it’s not covid as that would not be good news at all.

A popular phrase in the Formula 1 industry is “You have to keep pushing” and today that mantra needs to be followed.
Not only has the man flu taking hold, both my knee and right foot are barking at me making each step painful.

However, with my guardian angel Sarah is as chirpy as ever. Doing a great job looking out for me. Hopefully all this will be short lived and I’ll be back in the game soon.

3 miles up towards Mount Gleason, looking back over the mountains towards Acton we see what looks like smoke in the air.
We can also hear the blades of a helicopter resonating around the mountains.

Luckily today doesn’t seem to be too windy which is a blessing. As we’ve heard these wildfires can spread very quickly through the mountains.
We are also glad we are just about to summit the ridge leading to Mount Gleason, which hopefully will offer us a barrier and protection if the fire did get out of hand.

We stop for lunch just after crossing the top and I sit back on a log basking in the sun while Sarah prepares some wraps and bagels.

As we eat, we realise we are being watched by a couple of guys up on the top of Mount Gleason. They got there driving a four by four.
I’m sure they were just appreciating the view, but it was a little weird.
The other side of the mountain was cast in shade and it wasn’t long before we both put on our puffy jackets and winter gloves.
Aftet the mishap with my sleeping pad in Agua Dulce. Whilst I have been unwell Sarah has been kind enough to let me sleep on her airpad, while she just sleeps on a thin foam pad
Roll on the next town, Wrightwood. As hopefully our spare air pad will gave landed thanks to our superstar trail angel Liz.

We spend the afternoon walking through a burn that happened in 2009. The trees that were left behind are bleached white in colour.
It is interesting to see how other plant species are taking hold and maybe this is a glimpse into what some of the other burns will look like in 20 years time.

As the sun starts to set we interrupt a hunter who is out hoping to shoot a mule deer. He looked agitated by our presence and I told him we will do our best to be quiet.
He said his friend was also further down the trail. So I turned my puffy hood inside out to reveal the orange lining as an indicator that I wasn’t a deer.
Orange is the uniform colour that people have been asked to wear in hunting season to prevent accidents.
Sarah and I also switched places so I led the charge and I joked that I’d take a bullet for her.

We pulled in after 15 miles and found some tent sites nestled between the trees with great views of this city lights below.
Looking down on this man-made spectacle was pleasing to the eye and one of the highlights of the day. It looks magical I wonder how many people have seen these city lights twinkling back at them from up in these mountains.
15 miles is way below what we need to achieve, but as I have been feeling unwell so this will just have to do.
As I write this I’m certainly starting to feel better and hopefully tomorrow I will start to recover more and get back up to normal mileage.

Smiles was concerned that he had passed his bug on to us. We both hope so he is ok as he is probably alone out here. Obviously I had Sarah to look after me.

On tonight’s menu is Pad Thai Ramen with cashew nuts, chicken, peanut butter and chili seeds all cooked by yours truly. So I must be feeling better.


What difference to last night when I all I could do was retreat to my sleeping bag shivering cold.