Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - May 14th
Day 35: Tuesday 14th May Pine Canyon Road – Aqueduct Road
The first 7 miles of today’s route, along the border of the ranch, had the following
notice:
“This is Private Property. The PCT passes through with the kind permission of the Tejon
Ranch and was built with the co-operation between the Tejon and the USFS.”
In fact this is far from the truth. The PCT now heads away from its natural line along
the shaded hills bordering the desert, out into the Mojave Desert. The USFS, after years
of negotiation with the owners of the enormous Tejon Ranch, had failed to get
permission for a route along the hills. Court battles had not been successful because the
ranch owners had much more money to spend on litigation than the USFS, and if you
have money it is possible to use the US legal system to cause almost indefinite delay.
This compromise route agreed by the Tejon Ranch was far from satisfactory; apart from
heading straight out into the scorching desert, this initial section of the route ignored
the natural lines of the terrain and hugged the ranch border fence, up and down over
every little ridge. It was bad enough at this time of day, but it would be excruciating if
hiked at the end of a long hot day, and camping on the ranch is not allowed.
I detoured along the highway to the Country Store where I had left a supply bag. After
fully rehydrating, I picked up 3 litres of water, 2 litres of orange juice and a litre of beer
to add to the litre of Gatorade I was already carrying.
By diverting to the Country Store I missed the house of a legend of the trail: Jack Fair.
Jack was an obstreperous old man, living on his own, who offered hospitality and water
to thru-hikers. An uncouth and ill-mannered man, his visitors had to listen to tales of
his earlier life in language that would have given apoplexy to the producers of peak time
television programmes. Unfortunately he was suffering from incurable cancer and had
shot himself this winter to save himself from further suffering. I gather the new
occupant of his house was still offering the hospitality.
The trail followed jeep tracks along the Los Angeles Aqueduct, before crossing the
California Aqueduct. The California Aqueduct, a concrete lined river, is part of the
largest system of aqueducts in the world, designed to bring water from the northern
regions of California to the cities set in the deserts of Southern California. The PCT
followed the much smaller Los Angeles Aqueduct constructed in 1913 to carry water
from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Los Angeles. Litigation is
still going on today, as the well-watered agricultural region around Owens Valley has
now been turned into a dustbowl now that its water supply has been diverted to LA. It
might be thought that following an aqueduct solves the walker’s water problem but
initially the water flows down an 8ft diameter half-buried pipe and further north the
aqueduct is a concrete duct, unfortunately with a recently repaired concrete roof. Cool
“Sierra” water can be heard rushing down the channel, but it cannot be accessed.
The most conspicuous flora in the desert is the Joshua Tree. These giant members of
the lily family were likened by the Mormon pioneers to the figure of Joshua pointing
out the route to Salt Lake City, hence the name.
It is typical of the desert communities that the only spot with shade for many miles was
used as a rubbish dump by the locals, with cars, fridges, chairs and broken bottles
predominating and a profusion of shell cases from shooting practise in the area. There
were many dirt roads branching off the main jeep track, leading to desert homes. Not
the type seen in Hollywood movies, but mostly old caravans surrounded by junk that
would have done justice to “Steptoe and Son”. When a car or fridge breaks down it is
just left lying around and a clapped out replacement purchased. It is a pity that the
wilderness is despoiled in this way.
I camped fairly early beside the aqueduct. Parker, “Jaybird” and Nate passed through in
the late evening.
Day 35: 16.9 miles 6.35 hours Camp: Aqueduct Road
The first 7 miles of today’s route, along the border of the ranch, had the following
notice:
“This is Private Property. The PCT passes through with the kind permission of the Tejon
Ranch and was built with the co-operation between the Tejon and the USFS.”
In fact this is far from the truth. The PCT now heads away from its natural line along
the shaded hills bordering the desert, out into the Mojave Desert. The USFS, after years
of negotiation with the owners of the enormous Tejon Ranch, had failed to get
permission for a route along the hills. Court battles had not been successful because the
ranch owners had much more money to spend on litigation than the USFS, and if you
have money it is possible to use the US legal system to cause almost indefinite delay.
This compromise route agreed by the Tejon Ranch was far from satisfactory; apart from
heading straight out into the scorching desert, this initial section of the route ignored
the natural lines of the terrain and hugged the ranch border fence, up and down over
every little ridge. It was bad enough at this time of day, but it would be excruciating if
hiked at the end of a long hot day, and camping on the ranch is not allowed.
I detoured along the highway to the Country Store where I had left a supply bag. After
fully rehydrating, I picked up 3 litres of water, 2 litres of orange juice and a litre of beer
to add to the litre of Gatorade I was already carrying.
By diverting to the Country Store I missed the house of a legend of the trail: Jack Fair.
Jack was an obstreperous old man, living on his own, who offered hospitality and water
to thru-hikers. An uncouth and ill-mannered man, his visitors had to listen to tales of
his earlier life in language that would have given apoplexy to the producers of peak time
television programmes. Unfortunately he was suffering from incurable cancer and had
shot himself this winter to save himself from further suffering. I gather the new
occupant of his house was still offering the hospitality.
The trail followed jeep tracks along the Los Angeles Aqueduct, before crossing the
California Aqueduct. The California Aqueduct, a concrete lined river, is part of the
largest system of aqueducts in the world, designed to bring water from the northern
regions of California to the cities set in the deserts of Southern California. The PCT
followed the much smaller Los Angeles Aqueduct constructed in 1913 to carry water
from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Los Angeles. Litigation is
still going on today, as the well-watered agricultural region around Owens Valley has
now been turned into a dustbowl now that its water supply has been diverted to LA. It
might be thought that following an aqueduct solves the walker’s water problem but
initially the water flows down an 8ft diameter half-buried pipe and further north the
aqueduct is a concrete duct, unfortunately with a recently repaired concrete roof. Cool
“Sierra” water can be heard rushing down the channel, but it cannot be accessed.
The most conspicuous flora in the desert is the Joshua Tree. These giant members of
the lily family were likened by the Mormon pioneers to the figure of Joshua pointing
out the route to Salt Lake City, hence the name.
It is typical of the desert communities that the only spot with shade for many miles was
used as a rubbish dump by the locals, with cars, fridges, chairs and broken bottles
predominating and a profusion of shell cases from shooting practise in the area. There
were many dirt roads branching off the main jeep track, leading to desert homes. Not
the type seen in Hollywood movies, but mostly old caravans surrounded by junk that
would have done justice to “Steptoe and Son”. When a car or fridge breaks down it is
just left lying around and a clapped out replacement purchased. It is a pity that the
wilderness is despoiled in this way.
I camped fairly early beside the aqueduct. Parker, “Jaybird” and Nate passed through in
the late evening.
Day 35: 16.9 miles 6.35 hours Camp: Aqueduct Road
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Tehachapi Mountains
from the Tejon Ranch
from the Tejon Ranch
California Aqueduct
Joshua Tree
Tehachapi Mountains
from Aqueduct Road
from Aqueduct Road
Camp in the
Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert