Day 28
Acton KOA (mile 444) to mile 456, 12 miles
Cost: stayed in a very kind man’s front yard, free

No one got up early and it was quite a chilly morning before the sun came out.

In 10 miles the trail would walk through a town called Agua Dulce where there was apparently a terrific Mexican restaurant, so the plan today was to get there for lunch and margaritas before hiking onwards.

I left with Rowan & Cuban B around midday, and it was stinking hot – definitely not the best time of the day to start hiking! We caught up with Roxanne & PT and started hiking together through some incredible landscapes – boulders and caves and the Vazquez rocks where they had filmed lots of movies including Star Wars.

Vazquez Rocks

Vazquez Rocks

We came into the tiny town of Agua Dulce, saw most of the hikers at the pizza place but we had a date with some margaritas so we went next door to the Mexican restaurant – it was going to be an early dinner rather than a lunch now that it was almost 4pm!

The food was terrific as were the margaritas and just as we were thinking of leaving, a waiter came up to us carrying a tray with 5 shots of tequila on it. Oh no! Another hiker called Bill had been sitting at the bar and had ordered the tequila shots for us!

Walking into Agua Dulce

Hiker Backpacks: Gossamer Gear, ULA & Osprey are the most popular on the trail

Margaritas in Agua Dulce

We weren’t sure how far we were going to get after our Mexican feast, 2 margaritas and now a shot of tequila… The worst part was putting our packs on and trying to do up the waist belt!

We were also about to start a 25 mile stretch with no reliable water sources so were carrying our maximum capacity of water (6 litres for me) as well as 5 days of food.

The first campsite on our maps was 10 miles on but there was no way we were going to make it there as we all groaned our way down the road. Less than a mile after leaving we passed a man standing in his front yard and he asked us where we were from and where we were headed. We explained we were doing the PCT and were now looking for a campsite. He said we were welcome to camp in his front yard and we happily took up his offer. Thank you to this kind man and his daughter Hannah.

I’m cowboy camping for the first time ever and as I lie here now I keep hearing funny noises from their horses, a rabbit has hopped past and I’m a little worried that I’ll end up sharing my sleeping bag with a rattlesnake/scorpion/tarantula!

Home for the night