May 20-22, days 51-53, km 833: Hikertown
Distance to Kennedy Meadows, gateway to the Sierra: 247 km
May 20, day 51
We left Casa de Luna at 2 pm; Volunteer Loaner gave us a lift back to the trail. Our goal was to cover as many kilometers as possible, to reach Hikertown by the next day (a total of over 60 km). We managed 23 km, finally pitching our tent in the woods around 9:30 pm. That left 40 km for the following day – a rather daunting proposition, considering we hadn't done more than 32 km in a single day!
May 21, day 52
Despite the fact that Olli was born exactly 52 years ago today, coincidentally the 52nd day of our trip, we got up at 5 am. At the cistern near our tent, we topped up our water supplies. Broke camp at 7 am – a record! Passed the 500-mile marker. A real milestone. ;-) By noon, we'd achieved half-time, 20 km, and cooked Olli's birthday dinner: pasta with peppers, garlic, and hot salami. Delicious! Unfortunately, the weather turned foggy and bone-chillingly cold. The second half of the day's hike dragged, despite a 10 kilometer downhill stretch. After 30 km we reached the Mojave Desert valley, but still had a few foothills ahead of us. That took forever. Around 7 pm, we finally arrived in Hikertown.
Hikertown resembles a western movie set, rather bizarre. You can stay overnight in little cottages. Unfortunately, all of them were occupied, so owner Richard drove us to another of his accommodations, Neenach Café, nearby. Countless hikers were already having burgers at the café. We followed suit, meeting up with Nadine and Russell, Enterprise, and Matt. Later we had grilled chilidogs. Although the café officially closed at 8 pm, it stayed open just for hikers into the wee hours. The crowd sang happy birthday for Olli, played poker, and drank (a lot of) beer. A terrific end to an exhausting day's hike!
Everyone spent the night in the office building next door, which is where Richard, a retired Hollywood producer, has his offices. Staying overnight in the offices of a former Disney producer, how cool is that! Admittedly, mattresses piled up in the room may not be everyone's cup of tea. It rained and stormed during the night ... The forecast for the following day: bad weather.
May 22, day 53
Richard woke everyone rudely at 7 am. Time for breakfast in the café. We had a reunion with Downhill Mike-Downhill, who planned to return to the trail; ditto Enterprise, Nadine and Russell. That was our original plan, too ...
In Hikertown, two packages waited: Olli's new sunglasses, along with two batteries and charger for our cameras (we lost the old ones 10 days ago). Now we have all the batteries, but unfortunately only one camera, which broke after our visit to the cinema in Lancaster. The new camera will be sent to the Mojave PO, which we'll reach in 2 or 3 days. Alas, Sabine's new shoes hadn't arrived, as promised, so we were forced to spend another zero day in Hikertown. On the other hand, maybe not such a bad idea, given the next day's weather forecast: rain and storm.
Moved into the old schoolhouse after breakfast. Around midday, the promised package did arrive. Sabine's shoes are a bit narrow, but they'll be ok. We used the time to copy the SD cards onto the hard drives, which process took many hours. Whether we'll stay another night depends on the weather forecast.
Pictures