[pct-l] hiking Section E southbound

[Susan Virnig]

Dear Hikers,

Many of you kindly responded to my request in March for help, ideas, and
information.  Just wanted to share my experience, so that others can
benefit.

Tehachapi Pass to Agua Dulce — flew in on April 5, started hiking on April 6

1.  Flew from Spokane into BURBANK; you can catch a bus in front of the
airport (#794 Hollywood Way/Thornton) which takes you to the Antelope
Valley railroad stop on the NORTH side of the airport.  People will try to
direct you to the south railroad station, which is NOT the right one.  Take
the train to Lancaster.  From the train station in Lancaster you can take a
bus, which stops right in front of the station, to Tehachapi.

2.  Trail Angels in Tehachapi are the BEST!!!  There is a network of
several dozen people who help hikers, and the Chamber of Commerce will
direct you to them if you call or write them.  (There are also phone lists
in plastic at both Willow Springs Road and Tehachapi Pass with names and
numbers.)  Jeff & Kerry picked me up at the bus station in Tehachapi,
stopped at a Big 5 so I could buy fuel and dropped me off — I was the first
hiker to sign their book this year, and followed on the 268 hikers they
picked up last year! — at Brenda’s home for an overnight stay and a ride
back to Tehachapi Pass.  Brenda also helped huge numbers of hikers last
year.

3.  Water and caches were in good shape in early April and I frequently
texted pctwater.com to share that information.

4.  The superbloom flowers were incredible!  Temps ranged from below
freezing at night to a day or two of 80 degrees.  This is absolutely a
great time to hike Section E.

5.  The trail was pretty deserted.  Met some thru hikers who had walked
every step of the way (thru the huge snowfields) from the border, and some
who skipped the worst of the snow and plan to come back to hike those
portions, plus a few section hikers like myself.

6.  Hiker Town, Casa de Luna and Hiker Heaven are all delightful places to
spend a night or take a zero day.

Happy trails,
Sunshine/Susan from Spokane