Tour de Trail Angels: From Hiker Heaven to Casa de Luna to Hiker Town

Day 29:
*Zero in Aqua Dulce! And for an added bonus, Krazy Kary, a very unique and eccentric trail angel, drove a few of us to REI for the afternoon. She has always been a ranch girl and remembers getting her first pony at age 3. In her teenage years, living in Malibu, she used to ride her pony bare back to the beach with her surfboard somehow harnessed to the pony. She'd hitch it to a tree and go surfing all afternoon. We heard tons of fascinating stories from Kary and the trip was a complete treat. Also, Kary is one inclined to use terms like "Clusterfuck," to make "cock" jokes as she does raise chickens and turkeys, and to hang a Tales from the Crypt head from her rearview mirror - it's a warning to people not to mess with my truck, because then they have to deal with me."

*Zero day at the Saufley's. About 10 hikers set up residence in their backyard for two nights. Our first real taste of the hiking community since we started the trail!! Hung around, listening to The Beatles and Willie Nelson records, and watched The Big Lebowski.

Day 30:
*We leave the Saufley's into a light mist. Donna Saufley, a most excellent trail angel and human being said as we left, "Not many get to leave here in the rain," but thus it was so. We hiked 17 miles through clouds settling over us and through rain to stumble upon the Hiker's Oasis Cache - a water cache under cover of trees with Hawaiian decor mixed with Halloween decor, a bunch of lawn chairs, and an entire cooler filled with soda and beer. What's more, there was a note encouraging us to hike 7 miles more to the "Casa de Luna" for taco salad for dinner and pancakes for breakfast. We arrived to loud music, a bunch of empty beer bottles, people playing frisbee and hackey sack, dogs barking, a futon with people sitting on it and drinking, and two of the most kind and generous trail angels-Joe and Terri Anderson.
Casa de Luna = hawaiian shirts, flip cup, taco salad, magical manzanita garden. What happens at Casa de Luna, stays at Casa de Luna.

*We met "Team, Smrt"(pronounced smart). Six hikers who took a wront turn and hiked 50 miles in the wrong direction. They found themselves at Casa de Luna for the second time in one week. Based on the amount of beer they have been consuming since the beginning of their trip, it was inevitable.

Day 31:
*Dump day at Casa de Luna. We helped load some of the junk from the front yard, drank some coffee, and then headed out into the rain once again with full 1 pound breakfast burritos. We met up with our new hiking crew, Todd, Heaps, and Monologue, and enjoyed some laughs and some Pink Floyd at the campsite.  The clouds dissipated briefly and we had sun--first time in 4 days. 

*Let's not forget about the family who let their generator run all night long.

Day 32:
*The clouds must have settled upon the saddles because we all woke up with our gear drenched. However, this only lasted temporarily because the clouds finally broke and the desert heat fell upon us. Luckily, our destination was Hikertown, another hostel type hiker refuge put on by Bob and Richard. A strange place run by strange men and a bunch of live stock. Richard worked in movies and so he had a bunch of old set-design material and props, which make it difficult to tell which facilities were real and which were fake. Very relaxing and Richard made pancakes for us in the morning to boot. The only weird part was when Richard offered Ben a part in hi latest film, x-rated starring an 87 yr. old woman.(SSN: HAHAHA!)

Day 33:
*Nothing much besides 6 miles, approximately, of walking along the LA Aqueduct through the desert valley(yeah for Joshua Trees) and some pretty serious heat. Yet, the night ended spectacularly as we cowboy camped at the base of Tyler Horse canyon, two ridge lines rising up on either side of us, and sleeping under a full moon and stars in the great American desert-very western!

Day 34:
*Hiked through another windfarm and hitched into Mojave.