October 2nd Hiker Town to Red Carpet Cache

Out of bed early and on the trail before anyone was up. Crossed Highway 138 and began making my way up into the hills again. Before I knew it, I was walking on another burnt hillside. The trees were destroyed, but the regrowth of prickly brush was prolific, with many places on this part of the trail being overgrown. As I hiked on, the brush scratched my shins and calves from just above the ankle to slightly below the knee. Crossing this private property owned by the Tejon Ranch, there are plenty of cow pies to dodge as you climb up to ridge tops and descend into washes. This stretch of trail was among the worst on the PCT. Finally, I got back into a shady section under the branches of oak trees. Not much to see other than the trees themselves, which I find nice to look at, but beware the acorns. The way they are gathered in spots along the trail, you take a wrong step and you'll look like one of the Looney Toons characters when they're waving their arms wildly about trying to keep their balance as they skate on a bunch of marbles. High up in the hills, I came across another water cache, which I must admit I'm beginning to love. They take away a lot of worry. Will the next spring be flowing? Is that creek dry? Will cows have contaminated the source? Is it really twenty miles to the next avaiable water? All those unknowns are removed by a stash of gallon jugs or two-liter bottles. I don't rely on them because the fact of the matter is, I can't. Except for a few well known caches in the southern sections, all the rest are completely unexpected. Most of the afternoon was spent walking along paths lined by manzanita and brush on the ridgeline of the Sawmill Mountains, with the San Andreas Rift Zone to my right and Lake Hughes visible in the distance. Dropping down to Lake Hughes Road, I crossed it and about a quarter mile down the trail found a great place to camp under some Cottonwood trees. Sort of felt like royalty since I pitched my tent on top of an old red plush piece of carpet, which certainly made the ground much softer. This was also another cache area with dozens of empties probably used at the time of the northbound migration. I found a full Arrowhead jug up closer to the road that I brought down to camp with me. Not the most inspiring day on the trail, but it counts and at this point, I'm definitely counting the days.

32 Miles