Days 27-30:
Just 8 miles down the trail was the Acton KOA Campground, which has a swimming pool and hot tube. This was an opportunity I could not pass up. If I had carried on the day before I would have arrived here very late in the day. By spending a night on the trail beforehand and just taking a nearo walking 8 miles to the campground in the morning, I could now enjoy a full day here! This is what I am calling the "strategic nearo": walking less at the right time to maximize lounging time in the future. I did this at the hot springs already and it worked again well for the campground.
在前面13公里的地方有一座設有游泳池和熱水池的露營區,不進去玩我會後悔。如果昨天沒有提早停下來,我昨天晚上就到了,不過晚上天氣比較涼,不太適合在游泳池玩。因為昨天故意提早休息所以今天早上走完13公里後就可以花半天在游泳池那裡休息,享受南加州的大太陽。上次在野外溫泉也是這樣前一天提早休息,讓隔天可以在溪邊休息的時間更長,今天也按照一樣的計劃。
It was Memorial Day when I arrived, so there were a lot of families here, but as the day went on there were fewer and fewer people by the pool. It was 30 degrees today and sitting by the pool eating ice cream was just perfect.
今天剛好是美國的國定假日所以我到的時侯人很多,但時間越晚要離開的人越多,最後變得很平靜。今天的溫度升到30度,在游泳池旁邊吃冰淇淋偶爾下去泡水好舒服。
A few other hikers decided to stay and camp under the trees near me, but almost everyone pushed on to the next town.
其他走PCT的人休息完繼續往前走,有幾個跟我一樣決定在這裡搭帳篷過夜。
The next day it was just a short half-day walk into the town of Agua Dulce. Along the way I passed the Vasquez Rocks, where many movies and TV shows have been filmed over the last century. I also finally saw someone on horseback on the PCT.
隔天走了半天就到一個小鎮,鎮外是很多電影跟電視劇拍攝的地點,石頭受長期風化作用讓這裡的風景很搶眼。今天也終於看到人在PCT騎馬。
Arriving in town, the most important thing to do is of course... to eat! Mexican food this time:
每次到了城鎮,最重要的行程是大吃!今天吃墨西哥料理:
Then I got a ride to Hiker Heaven. This is the personal residence of the Saufleys. They have opened up their guesthouse and huge yard to hikers and have a team of volunteers helping run the place. It is very well organized and takes care of all hiker's needs.
之後我搭到『登山客天堂』的接駁車。這個地方是一對美國夫妻的私人住宅地,他們歡迎走PCT的人來住他們家旁邊的小屋子或庭園,也請志工來幫忙。登山客需要的需求他們很了解,而且所有的事情都有條不紊。
You can receive and send packages from here. This is the outgoing mail just for one day:
他們會幫我們代收包裹,我們也可以在這裡寄東西出去。這些要寄出的包裹是一天的量而已:
They have tents set up with computers and charging stations, as well as an outdoor shower.
庭園裡有帳篷,裡面有電腦,充電插座,還可以洗澡。
In the garage are all the packages waiting to be picked up, and where the laundry is done. The laundry is free and the volunteers do it for you! There is of course a donation bin here, too.
車庫內唷有等待有人來領的代收包裹,也是洗衣機的位置。我們的髒衣服只要放在網袋就會有志工幫我們洗。這裡也可以投錢給夫妻來抵消這些他們提供的服務的費用。
I picked up some foam from the local hardware store and added it to my waist belt. This is a size S backpack but it is already almost too big in the waist for me. This should help it fit better, especially if I do end up losing weight. The good news is I weighed myself at Hiker Heaven again and still haven't lost any weight!
我在當地的五金行買了一些泡棉綁在背包的腰帶上,背包雖然是S號但腰圍已經快要太大了,有了這些泡棉腰帶就可以扣得緊一點,如果以後自己變瘦也還可以扣得住。我在登山客量體重時發現我到現體重還沒什麼變,代表我吃得狗多。
After a full day of rest, I headed out the next evening into the mountains again.
休息完一整天後,隔天下午我又出發了。
I finally camped alone for the first time on the trail tonight. I chose a tentsite near a road and a water cache. Someone had even left a nice beach chair here, so I started up a campfire and sat down in my chair/throne to eat dinner as king of the campground.
今天晚上終於第一次一個人紮營。在我睡的藏水處有人放了一張椅子,我生火後把椅子放在火旁邊當做營地的寶座,坐上這舒服的位子後自己像國王一樣邊吃晚餐邊觀察我的王國,也就是這個營地。
The next day was foggy again and passed through a few shockingly green areas. I almost felt like I was hiking in Taiwan again.
隔天早上又起霧了,步道有幾處非常綠,似乎走在臺灣低海拔的森林。
The PCT is a very flat trail. Here you can see how it winds its way through the mountains, not taking a straight line on a map, but rather the path of least change in elevation.
PCT是一條很平緩的步道,這張照片顯示步道不會走地圖上的直線,反而會在山腰繞來繞去走高度變化比較小的路線。
After a half-day of hiking, I arrived at another trail angel's house: Casa de Luna, home of the Andersons. The first order of business here is to hug the hostess, Terrie, and put on one of the Hawaiian shirts they have on a rack.
走完半天就到下一個trail angel的家,叫做「月亮之家」。 首先要去抱主人Terrie,再來要穿上一件夏威夷風格的衣服。
They have been hosting people at their house for ten or twenty years already. Again, they have opened up their yard for hikers to lounge in, and there is plenty of room in the manzanita trees behind the house to set up tents. People also paint rocks here and leave them lying around, which makes for some interesting viewing material as you walk through the tent forest:
Terrie和她老公十幾年前就開始歡迎登山客來他們家休息。跟登山客天堂一樣我們可以睡庭園。後庭園有很多沙漠樹,也有很多來過的登山客留下來的石頭藏在樹林中,石頭上畫了漂亮的畫面或好笑的句子,在森林裡邊走邊看石頭很有趣:
Terrie和她老公十幾年前就開始歡迎登山客來他們家休息。跟登山客天堂一樣我們可以睡庭園。後庭園有很多沙漠樹,也有很多來過的登山客留下來的石頭藏在樹林中,石頭上畫了漂亮的畫面或好笑的句子,在森林裡邊走邊看石頭很有趣:
There was a great café along the highway nearby where I had both the best milkshake and the best burger on trail so far.
附近有一間餐廳,我跟Mantas去吃,這裡的奶昔跟漢堡都是我在步道上買過品質最好的。
In the evening, the Andersons serve build-it-yourself taco salad every night. Delicious and filling, but make sure you follow the rules for dishing up or Terrie will give you a smack with her wooden stick (see picture)! It's all in good fun, though.
每天晚上在月亮之家主人會提供墨西哥式沙拉,成份分開擺著,要拿多少就拿多少再自己拌,不過在拿的時侯要按照Terrie的規定不然就會被她打嘍(不會痛啦她是個好心人)。
Before leaving, everyone needs to do a little dance to get this year's PCT bandana, sign their name on the big sheet, and have a picture taken with Terrie.
離開前要跳舞給Terrie看才可以拿到當年的PCT頭巾,要在一大塊布上簽名,也要跟Terrie拍照。
I was averaging 20 miles per day earlier in the trip, but in the last four days I've only done 42 miles total. There have been three great places to stop and relax and I don't regret slowing down to fully enjoy each of these spots. Now that I'm past here, though, I'm going to try doing some bigger miles, perhaps even 30 miles, in the coming days.
以前每天平均走32公里,但最近三天加起來才走了67公里。有三個地方很值得停下來看看,我進度變慢但我也沒有後悔在這些地方花多一點時間。不過這一段已經結束了,接下來要開始趕路,甚至會試著一天內走接近50 公里。