I woke up around 6 the next morning and could already feel it was getting warm. I wish I had got up earlier because we were heading down to the Mojave desert floor where it would be much hotter. Despite the looming heat ahead I got excited when I hit mile 500. I couldn't believe I had gone that far already. The next water source was a guzzler built specifically for hikers. It was swarming with bees and other bugs trying to get a drink. The water was cool and mostly clear, but there were lots of large pieces of debris floating around in it. I used my newly acquired bandana to pre filter out all the big stuff. I had about 15 miles to go before the next water, but it was all downhill so I decided to chug a liter and only carry two. As I descended the heat increased with every step I took. I came to what was supposed to be my next water source but it had gone dry. I still had 6 miles left and only 1/2 a liter left. I was pretty bummed so I took my tyvek out and made some make shift shade to eat lunch and take a little break. I was incredibly thirsty, but I knew I just had to make it 6 more miles. I drank 1/4 liter and lunch and ate all of my food that had any sort of water content. I spent the next few hours hopping from shade to shade so I didn't overheat. I could see the highway where my next water source was, but it seemed to take forever to get to. I would have paid $20 for an ice cold frost blue gatorade at that point. The next water source was at a trail angels property called the hiker town hostel. When I finally got there I immediately dropped my pack andbegan guzzling water. I found the rest of my group and we all sat in the shade to figure out our plan. The next section of trail was a long the LA aqueduct and had offered zero shade or water for 18 miles, despite millions of gallons of water flowing through it. We decided to night hike out to avoid the heat and carry less water. We set out right at sunset hoping to get as far as we could that evening. Once it got dark the stars put on a show for us as we hiked. I saw some spectacular slow moving shooting stars that I'll never forget. As the milky way rise up it got brighter and briggter. It was quite and experience walking through the desert at night. The silhouettes of Joshua trees looked like something out of a Dr suess book watching us as we hiked. Along the aqueduct there were raised concrete platforms every half mile or so. We stopped for a break a couple times in them to rest our feet and stare at the stars. We hiked until about 1 am and realized we were all exhausted. We had hiked 30 miles so far, our biggest day yet. Despite this we still had 6 more miles to go the next water source and shade. I set my alarm for 5 am and told OB1 and Sarah now Dilly dally to be ready to get up early. The stars were amazing so I also did some astrophotography that night.
Day 36 - 30 miles
The moment it started getting light I could already feel the air starting to warm. I packed up camp and got going as quick as I could. There was only one spot of shade for the next 20 or so miles where the aqueduct crossed a gully via a bridge. I got to the bridge around 830 am to find pacer candyman and beans passed out in the shade. It felt weird making camp at 830 in the morning, but it was going to be well over 100 degrees that day. It was hot even in the shade. I tried taking naps, but I kept waking up to pools of sweat on my sleeping pad. By about 10 am there must have been 30 hikers all sleeping under the bridge. It was really high and not that wide so the shade area was rather small. Every 15 minutes hikers on one side of the shade would have to pick everything up and move to the other side as the sun moved. It was a game of sleeping hiker leap frog all day long. At 6pm decided to head out. It was a 20 + mile water carry uphill so I was going to attempt to night hike it all the way through. I passed through giant wind turbines as the sun set that evening. They are mesmerizing to watch up close. Once the sun set the wind really picked up. There were several times it must have gutted over 50 mph. I'd come around a corner and bam the wind would hit melike a truck. A few times i could barely make any forward progress up the hill because the wind was so strong. My pack acted like a wind sail and nearly blew me off the side ofrhe trail several times. I made it till about 330 am and i had to stop. my sleep schedule was so thrown off by this point. I felt like a was drunk stumbling down the trail with only my headlight for light and wind gusting for all directions. Ididnt even blow up my air mattress that night. I just load my tyvek down and got in my sleeping bag.
Day 37 - 30 miles
I didn't sleep long as I wanted to get to water, which was the road to tehachapi, before the heat. Also. coppertone was supposed to be at the road again. I had an amazing desert sunrise to hike to. One of the most memorable on the trail thus far. I got to coppertone around 9 am and he greeted me with a root beer float. It was already warm again so it really hit the spot. Dilly dally and OB1 came in a little while after me. The three of us ended up passing out in coppertone's chairs because of our lack of sleep. After a quick nap the three of us hitched into tehachapi and got breakfast at dennys. Later we met up with the rest of the crew and got a motel for the night. As soon as we checked in we all immediately fell asleep for about 4 hours. Night hiking had done a number on our bodies and our sleep schedule. I was glad we were taking a zero the next day
Day 38 - 6 miles