If Casa de Luna was magical and Hiker Heaven was comfortable, HikerTown can best be described as interesting. Of course we were earlier than most hikers so the facility was not fully prepared. One shower, one bathroom, several individual rooms in outlying buildings, an outdoor shower - not working - and a ten dollar donation sort of describe the situation. Mail is delivered, but the process for sending mail is uncertain. There's free wifi. And plenty of plugs for phones.
The communal lounge inside of a three car garage is equipped with three couches, the bathroom, and a kitchen of sorts. Outside are washing facilities.
The local convenience store/restaurant/souvenir shop will pick you up and take you back as a courtesy. The food is good and reasonable. They even have a huge big screen TV, although it wasn't on at the time.
HikerTown has the feel of a work in progress. There are lots of things to be done. Bob, the caretaker, and Richard, the owner, are doing their best in this little desert oasis.
On another note: the eyelets in my new shoes are breaking again. REI is sending a new pair along with a return label to Tehachapi. Of course I would prefer not to have to replace them after just 300 miles as the last pair waited over 900 miles to break.
Stories abound on the PCT. One section hiker we met today described wiggly things in an upcoming water source. That elicited a story from Hatchet about the Zombie Cricket Worm that infests waterways. Crickets are their host. The worms emerge from their eye and control the cricket to force it to water where the worm lays eggs and the cricket dies. Ooooo!!!
Eight hikers came in late in the day. Most were together in a group but three came in alone. One 18 year old carried full mountain attack gear with crampons, ice axe, and helmet all the way from Campo. I think we're looking at a future marine!
It will be good to get back on the trail! Tehachapi will be the next stop. The real desert is waiting. Sage, Joshua Trees, and cactus come next.
Hikertown is kinda weird. We had wind zombies when we were there. Watch out for them. They are sneaky....
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your hike!
Pearl
Wind Zombies? Are those hikers that come in out of the dark and try to suck the life out of you as you attempt to sleep on the couches? Those we had too!
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