[pct-l] Trailhacker is on the trail - Section C

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I just dropped off Trailhacker at the start of Section C. We parked  
the car at 8pm. The temperature was 102. It didn't seem too bad. You  
know the old saying: It's a dry heat. So we started hiking.

Amazingly there are still a few flowers blooming in the desert. We  
saw burrowing 5 owls staring at us right away.  Lots of tiny baby  
quail and bunnies, too.

We slept in Teutang canyon on the trail. It is difficult to sleep  
without any blankets over your body. You sit there looking at the  
stars and there's nothing holding you down. Maybe you will float away.

Gradually through the night I was able to cover my feet, then my legs  
with a bivy sack. With that I could sleep. Eventually it cooled  
enough I could drape a corner of my sleeping bag over my waist.

We woke up at 4:30AM. I said good-bye to Trailhacker who was  
continuing onward and I hiked back to the car. I reached the car at  
5:30AM where the temperature was a pleasant 74. I had breakfast in  
Banning and the temperature was still a pleasant 74 and seemed to  
stay that way all the way home to Santa Barbara which I reached at  
9:30. Hopefully he got in a few solid hours of pleasant morning  
hiking before the blast furnace began.

Trailhacker is experienced and has a perverse enjoyment of extreme  
heat. He'll be walking along two creeks today and tomorrow. His  
method to deal with heat is to periodically get his clothing wet, so  
Section C is a section that he should be able to manage. By Sunday  
evening he'll be back up in the trees where the temperatures are  
nicer. I hope he will be okay, but he's done far worse than this in  
the past.

His goal is Wrightwood by next weekend. I hope he gets better weather  
soon.

~Piper