Killdeer Chronical

  Day 80 ( June 19 ): Going "Wild" I woke up at 3 AM and was at the bus stop by 4:20. Somehow I  misplaced my 1/8" foam pad. I was dropped off at the Trailhead ( the same place Cheryl Strayed, author of "Wild" started hiking from in 1995 ) and started hiking at 5:15.  I made the stupid mistake of going past the water cache without checking/ filling my water bottles. As a result, I had to hike 16.8 miles with a 1,700 foot elevation gain with only 2.5 Liters of water. I didn't even Camel Up ! Good thing it was cool. About 2 miles in, I  passed a hiker camped on the side of the trail. He passed me by 9 AM and I  never saw him again.  I made it to Golden Oakes Spring at 2:30 and started to collect water. The spring was such a small trickle that it took an hour to collect and filter 6 Liters of water. There had been some concern during the previous week about some of the water sources on the trail being contaminated.  About 2 dozen people got sick with a ga...

  Day 71 ( June 10 ) I started the day in Santa Clarita by doing laundry and Resupply. At 11:45 Fred Cannon picked me up and drove me to Green Valley. Along the way, we traded stories about our time in the Army. He has in the Armor, stationed in South Korea ( near the DMZ) in 1970. After he dropped me off, I waited at the Green Valley Market until 2:45. Note to self: When waiting in a building, plug all devices in to charge ASAP ! A kind lady drove me the 2 miles to the trail. She has done a lot of hiking in Europe but not the PCT because she has a fear of snakes. I started hiking at 2:45 and reached Lake Hughes Road 7.6 miles away, at 5:45. There was a cache of water and snacks but I  started hiking the 2 miles along the road to Lake Hughes. Comments on FarOut ( the Navigation Ap I use ) indicated that there was an Ostrich Farm that host hikers. Unfortunately I  had no cell coverage where the trail crosses the road ( Dear T-Mobile: You say you have the best coverage in t...