pounding pavement

Day 30 ~ [PCT] miles 478.2 - 517.6

We woke up surprisingly early, had a couple of pancakes and got a ride back to the trail, courtesy of the Andersons.  We arrived at the trailhead around 7:30, ready for the big detour -- an approximately 21 mile ROAD WALK [groan].  Most of the characters at Casa de Luna planned to hitchhike the road walk, but since the detour cut off several miles of the trail, we figured the least we could do was to take the detour. 

About 5 or 6 of us headed out.  At first it was fun, we were all walking together, it was cool out, and I think we all felt good about our decision to walk rather than catch a ride.  We stopped at a convenience store pretty early, bought some cold drinks, filled up our water and took a lengthy break.  We all parted ways and met up again for lunch at a shady roadside pulloff, where we found a dead pig in a ditch.

It was a nice change of scenery for a while, scoping out rural California and all of the dwellings with their eccentric lawn ornaments. As the day went on, the miles came slower as the temperature grew hotter.  We rationed our water as to not run out.  Luckily some sweet family had put a sign out in their front yard inviting hikers to use their hose.  They came outside and visited for awhile, really nice people! 

We finally arrived at the open portion of the trail, and had to travel 6 miles through private property where camping was not permitted.  We arrived to Hikertown, a hostel right on the trail, around 9pm, hungry, thirsty, and tired.  Hikertown was an interesting place, a compound of various outbuildings for hikers built around the owners' home.  We had dinner, took a cold outdoor shower (in the cold), and now we're lying under the stars with the sounds of the highway to lull us to sleep.  It's ok, I shouldn't have any problem sleeping after the longest hiking day in history (nearly 28 miles)!