Week 4 on the Pacific Crest Trail - Dedicated to Silver

By: Hayley Babbitt

Above: "Tío Johnny" and Julie Jaime at the LA County Fair, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Day 25:

Another zero day with Johnny. Today was the big surprise day, since Johnny had been planning a surprise for us all week for this afternoon. The surprise ended up being the Los Angeles County Fair (opening day), which we were all very excited for. We are so spoiled.

Above: One of the entrance signs to the LA County Fair, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

After finishing pulling some weeds in Johnny’s yard (the least we could do for him), we got ready for the fair and took off by 4pm. The line was insanely long when we got there, but moved quickly. After going under the tunnel of the Blue Gate at the Fairfax complex, we immediately saw the bar. Of course Luke had to get a beer, so I said fuck it and got a spiked lemonade.

Above: Luke with his fair food at the LA County Fair, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

After the bar, I hit up the corn dog truck while Luke and Johnny went to get Australian battered potatoes from the food truck next door. After we got our fill off of our first bit of fair food, we went into one of the big vendor buildings (the spooky/scary stuff building). It was interesting to see all of the vendors and food options everywhere, to the point it was almost overwhelming to the senses.

Julie then met up with us at the fair, and we all went to tour the huge model trail exhibit of Route 66, which I enjoyed thoroughly having driven Route 66 several times. After this, we went to feed some exotic birds which was adorable, and then went straight to The Farm area. It seemed like almost all of the animals (mostly goats and pigs) were pregnant, which is interesting. It was a very cute exhibit, and there was even a little girl in charge of the chicken coop, ecstatic to be showing her baby chicks to everyone.

Above: Some of the goats at the LA County Fair, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

After some cute time spent with the animals in the barn, I was wanting to see the pig races. The races were led by an older, Texan farmer man, who was a positive energy and got the kids involved as volunteers. I loved the pig races, and there was even a duck race thrown in there as well. It was cuteness overload.

On our way to get more fair food, we were side-tracked by this giant floral exhibit. I'm not sure how to describe it other than very floral and artistic, so I will post a picture below. Along with the side quest at the floral exhibit, we had decided to embark on another side quest to ride one of the fair rides. Despite it costing Luke and I $15 for the two of us to go on the fair ride, it was a blast. We love rollercoasters.

Above: One of the many artistic displays at the floral exhibit, LA County Fair, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Above: Luke and I on our expensive fair ride at the LA County Fair, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

We were getting tired by this point and it was getting rather chilly, so we got moving to get me some more food. Even though I was tempted to try some Asian fair food, I ended up getting a crispy chicken sandwich and fried s’mores from Chicken Charlie’s, which took forever. It was alright.

After was said and done at the LA County Fair, and a few drinks and fried food in, we were dead beat tired. We headed back to the car after all of this, and it was around 11pm by this point. It took almost an hour to even move in the line to get out and back home. We got home around midnight, and pretty much everyone went to bed immediately.

Goodnight from a grateful, spoiled jet. Another amazing day over, thanks to tío Johnny. Today felt surreal in the most fun way after hiking for almost a month in the backcountry.

Day 26:

Above: Luke, back into hiker mode while walking through Union Station, Los Angeles, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

“Last” zero day. We woke up to a call from Amtrak saying that our ride to Tehachapi was canceled. Immediately we looked at other options, and thanks to Johnny’s help we figured out a cheaper and faster option: the Metrolink. We got on to a ride from Union Station in downtown LA to Lancaster, where a trail angel would pick us up from the station.

Above: Waiting for the Metrolink, Los Angeles, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

It was a nice and brief ride to Lancaster, and the trail angel, “Split”, was right on time. Split is a tall, big man with a blue Mohawk, and turned out to be one of the friendliest angels of them all. He constantly hosts hikers at his place and cooks them meals, so we took him up on that offer.

His house is very nice, and can hold several hikers. His accommodations include: the living room floor, washer and dryer, and a nice bathroom with a shower. Luke and I feel very blessed for the 45-minute commute he took to get us from Lancaster, and the open home and free home-cooked meals.

When we got to his place, there was a German hiker, “Magic Hobbit”, and a woman named “Cat” from California. Both of them were very nice, Magic Hobbit with a full-on golden retriever personality. It’s been several years since I’ve met such a positive, visibly happy and energetic person such as Magic Hobbit, 26 years old. The only other person I have met that is as happy as him is Pinecone, our first trail friend. Cat caught me off guard with how much she looked like my old high school friend, Ella, if she were 20 years older. She was a chill person with good music taste (she liked my classic rock I was playing on the speaker).

Above (Left to Right): "Silver" and "Magic Hobbit" posing in the backyard at "Split's" house, Tehachapi, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Luke and I noticed right away that Split had a Nintendo Switch, so naturally, when the last two hikers got to the house we started up Mario Kart. Susan and "Silver" were the last two hikers to get to the house, and were great additions to our group for the night. Silver was my favorite. Silver is a man in his 50s-60’s, a retired aircraft mechanic, so we talked about aviation quite a bit. His dream was to fly helicopters, so he enjoyed hearing my possible future plan of switching to rotor wing.

Not long into talking with Silver about aviation stuff, we figured out that we both were carrying the same DJI Mavic Mini drone on trail. That was awesome, and we related how everyone thought we were crazy for carrying a drone. Silver was the only other person on the PCT that I saw carrying a drone. On the topic of aviation, Split is a retired air traffic controller (served in the Air Force), so it was very interesting to ask him questions about his career and listen to his experiences in the tower. Aviation people are always cool.

Above (Left to Right): Luke, "Silver", "Jet", "Split", Susan, and Cat, posing in Split's backyard, Tehachapi, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Susan, who came with Silver, is a tall Dutch girl who was crazy enough to match Silver’s miles, which is why they hike together (they didn’t start together). They’d been doing 20-30 mile days for a while, hell maybe since the start, which just blows my mind. I attempted to show the group stand up comedy (Bert Kreischer's The Machine) in the evening time, but everyone was just on their phones. We all got great sleep that night, to say the least. At least that was until I woke up around 5am with diarrhea, which would lead to the many shits I had that morning before going back to trail. Welcome back to trail life.

Day 27:

In hindsight, the morning diarrhea was probably my body’s way of telling me to reconsider hitting trail that morning, but we would end up coming to that conclusion anyways. After Split dropped us off (with Magic Hobbit) back at the Highway 57 overpass, we said our goodbyes and got moving. Although my left foot pain had been a 0.2/10 in the morning without my gear on, it jumped up to about a good 3/10 only a mile and a half in.

Above (Left to Right): Luke and "Magic Hobbit" parting ways at the PCT trailhead in Tehachapi, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

When we reached the trailhead after some road walking, I brought up the idea of calling Split up and asking him if he would bring us back to his place for another night. It didn’t take Luke any convincing, as he too could use the extra rest (as if we hadn't zero-d basically all week already), so we gave Split a call and he was willing to let us stay another night. What an angel. And what a pansy I am.

Although the pain wasn’t unbearable to walk on, I figured one more day could possibly completely heal it. It was just too close to being healed to screw it up now. It didn’t take long for “Boogie”, a local trail angel, to reply to my Facebook post looking for a ride back into town. He picked us back up at the overpass at 10:30, and took us on a few errands before bringing us back to Split’s house.

Boogie was a very nice man, in his 50’s but looked much younger, and is a trail angel along with his generous wife. He brought us to Subway for some sandwiches, and then to Walmart for a quick “resupply” (basically just snacks for the day at the house, including a rotisserie chicken I couldn’t pass up). He then brought us to his house to meet his wife and give me a ziplock bag of Icy Hot for my foot. I never get over the generosity of trail angels. After all this he dropped us off at Split’s and refused to take any cash from us.

When we got back to Split’s, he warned us of a possibly rowdy group of 6 hikers looking to stay at his place with us for the night. They informed Split they were looking to party, and were pretty rude with lack of communication throughout the day to Split. Even though Split didn’t feel like hosting the group, he’s too much of an angel to leave anyone hanging. So, that evening he picked up the group after they had hit the liquor store, and we were somewhat surprised by the chill people that walked into the house.

The group is young, people in their 20s-30s, and were ready to drink and smoke (and discuss politics?) by the time they arrived. They are nice people, but I almost feel too old for them (even though all of them are older than me). I need to learn how to let loose more.

Anyways, they’re pretty much all drunk now and Luke and I watched The Gladiator while everyone partied. Although they were well-behaved party people and all fun people, I didn't talk to anyone much since I wasn't feeling well.

Now it’s almost 11, people are finally winding down, and I’m glad I have the big couch tonight. I’ve also been icing my foot and applying Icy Hot on it for hours, so hopefully that relieves any last pain I have in it. I should go pray now that my foot is better tomorrow, since we have a lot of miles south ahead of us after almost a week off of trail. Goodnight, and good luck to myself.

Day 28:

Above: A trail sign near Tehachapi, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

15.5 miles. All I can say about today is: wind turbines. Lots and lots of wind turbines. Overall a good day, besides Luke losing a pair of his socks.

Day 29:

15 miles. Walking through so many miles of wind turbines really enables one to shut their mind off and cruise. The terrain was fairly easy, which boosted my morale. I can't get enough flat breaks on this trail. I am happy to be back to the trail life making some distance. Although it's nothing crazy, I am feeling pretty accomplished doing back-to-back 15 mile days after my foot injury and weird stomach bug. I'm not feeling any pain in my foot anymore, which is a relief. I'm feeling strong now.

Above: A view of the PCT near Tehachapi, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

We've been taking long breaks today and enjoying being back in the groove of things. I don't mind this wind turbine cruise one bit. After some time, though, the wind turbines finally started to fade away, and a new mirage appeared. For quite a while, Luke and I were looking straight ahead at these red figures, wondering what they were. Sure enough, it was some trail magic; a shady little oasis in the middle of nowhere. Classic. You can always count on the PCT to have some kind of a random hang-out spot in the most random of places.

Pretty chill 15 miles today, thanks PCT. Goodnight.

Above: A little oasis on the PCT, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Above: (Water cache not pictured) Some amenities (food lockers) at the oasis, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Day 30:

17.5 miles. It's finally time to tackle the infamous LA Aqueduct section. I knew I had a good feeling about this notorious section, despite its reputation. Although the mileage and weather can be daunting, I found the (almost) totally flat terrain to be somewhat of a break for me. Considering it can be 90 to upwards of 100 degrees in the section, most people tackle this stretch at night. However, since it would only be in the 70s we decided to do it all day today.

Above: Me, posing for a picture on the LA Aqueduct, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

We got trail magic not once, not twice, but 3 times throughout our hike on the aqueduct stretch. The first trail magic we received was from a dirty old man driving his truck down the road, and he gave me a cigarette when I asked if I could bum one. The next guy was also driving a truck, and was handing out cold bottles of water to us "poor souls”. Even further down the road, toward the end, we were met by a couple in a van that handed out cold water and Coca Cola. With all of these cold drinks and handouts along the way I felt I was running a marathon or something and we had our own support crew. It was incredible and uplifting to see the kind people during this section.

Above: A little shack at Hikertown, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Above: A random Nicki Minaj poster in the window of one of the rentable cabins at Hikertown, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Later on, we met back up with the van couple, and I gave them a little bit of weed for a rolled cigarette. We made the rest of the miles quick, and got to Hikertown by 5pm. Despite being told over and over by other hikers that Hikertown isn’t worth the stop, not to mention hiker-trashy, we found it to be a pleasant surprise and quite charming. Although our little shack for $25/person is literally just two beds in a shack (plus a few spiders), it’s totally worth not being in the cold and wind outside tonight.

Above: Luke, posing in the doorway of our "hiker box" at Hikertown, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

Oh, I should also mention resupply went well, and I got a delicious double bacon cheeseburger and mozzarella sticks at the little shop down the road. Anyways we have to go to bed now since we have a big climb to do for 14.5 miles tomorrow. Goodnight from the hiker box (literally).

Day 31:

Above: A sign on the PCT, headed SOBO out of Hikertown, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

10 miles. We ended up not doing the full climb today just to take it easy on ourselves after the last few days. Plus, the resupplies are plenty for the next week (Green Valley and Agua Dulce), so we have enough food to take a shorter day. This morning was beautiful, despite the up and down constantly (very steep too), and we had a long lunch break after 7 or so miles. It worked out perfectly due to the climbs being pretty rough and the fact that there was a nice, spacious horse camp 10 miles in. Now we will just have to do 30 miles over the next two days to get to Green Valley.

Above: Luke and some other fellow PCT hikers enjoying a lunch at the picnic table of the horse camp, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

We hear there will be a lot of poodle bush up ahead, which we are curious about. We've heard a lot of horrible things about that poisonous bush. At camp tonight there are lots of hikers, at least 10 I think, and all of them are NOBO so it’s good for our intel exchange on trail (which is the nice thing about our flip-flopping). We chatted for a bit with a bad-ass, experienced thru-hiker named Blaze, a young woman with plenty of miles under her feet. She was a good inspiration for us to get moving more. Anyway, I'm off to bed now. Goodnight.

Above: "Blaze" posing for a sunset photo at the horse camp, California, USA. 2023 by Hayley Babbitt.

This post is dedicated to Silver; a hiking legend, friend, and adventurous, good spirit. Although I did not have the chance to get to know you very well, I appreciate the good chats, wisdom, and positivity you brought into every space you were in. I will never forget how you encouraged me to hike the Florida Trail, and said you would come hike it a second time with me. You've got my gears going. If I ever end up hiking the Florida Trail, you'll be with me in spirit along the way. You are very missed, Silver.

Rest in Peace, Silver.

Above: Silver, a fellow thru-hiker.