Day 31: ⛺@ mile 436 - Acton - Hiker Heaven!!!

Day: 08.05.2018 Miles hiked today: 18 miles Total Mileage: Mile 454

Juhuui today we will swim in a pool in the morning at the KOA in Acton and in the afternoon hike further to Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce! What a Fab day. I was looking forward to Hiker Heaven after seeing it for the first time in a PCT documentary half a year ago. I thought if I only manage to hike that far that would already be awesome. I MUST make it to Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce. It always seemed to be still that far away and now today I'm going too be there too! That's crazy! However, I still have to make it there this afternoon. Currently I'm lying near the pool in the KOA in Acton and can't imagine getting back in my hiking shoes in a couple of hours. It's sooo nice here. Only thing missing is a bar serving cold drinks :) we are sunbathing in our underwear and bras as we didnt bring a bikini with us (Only adds more weight to your baseweight!). After our first cowboy camp night (without a tent, just sleeping bag outside) we got up at 4:45am and started hiking at 5:27am. To hike into the sun rise was beautiful. We hiked the first 8.5 Miles to the KOA in Acton (where I am now) including breakfast break within 3.5 hours. Now we plan to stay here for a couple of hours and hike the 10 miles to Agua Dulce in the late afternoon/early evening. Even without a tent this was the first night I was sweating in my sleeping bag. It must have been no colder than 14 degrees celsuis all night but because we cowboy camped I feared to open my sleeping bag (So that scorpions, snakes, spiders etc. (I just wondered why all these lovely animals start with an S?!) could crawl in) and I had my sleeping bag tightly closed all night. It was not my best night sleep I had so far but also not the worst. So now I will return later to this blog and enjoy the pool in the meantime!

Two days later I managed to return to that blog to finish it off. So after enjoying the pool we left the place shortly before 3pm heading to hiker heaven in Agua Dulce. It was very hot again and shade was not around on the uphill hike. The last couple of miles into Agua Dulce however were beautiful again. We hiked through the Vasquez Rocks County Park, with loads of scenic rock formations. Dozens of movies and television shows have been filmed in this area as their scenic backdrop such as some Star Trek movies. Finally we arrived in Agua Dulce and hit the supermarket for some Gin and Tonic and some snacks for tonight, as a treat :) Sitting outside the supermarket to cool down we were offered a lift to the 1.1 miles far away Hiker Heaven. We didn't know how to get there as we were to tired to walk this mile (all on the street) and hoped to get a ride later on. But that is awesome! Hiker Heaven was packed with thru hikers from all around the world. We were about 65 hikers there that night! Hiker Heaven is one of the most popular places to stay on the PCT. Hiker Heaven belongs to the Saufley's who offer their house to hikers passing by. It is simply amazing and I have never seen this before. There is a IT tent with a computer, clean clothes to wear while your clothes are BEING washed! (loaner clothes), showers, a guest house with kitchen, bathroom and lounge, enough space to pitch your tent etc. etc. etc. The Saufley's really work hard every day to accommodate us hikers! We decided to stay here for at least one or may even two more days :)