This next segment will be in the low hills next to the Bouquet Reservoir and the strangely named “Green Valley”.    Weather over the next few days will be 90+, so night hiking is on the agenda.   

Alice dropped me at Agua Dulce around 7pm. 

No hikers around.   This was going to be a solo walk.   Figured I’d get 8 miles or so in and try to camp before 12.

The “trail” through the remainder of Agua Dulce continued to be road walking.   Pretty boring.    Only notable was watching some guy take off in a helicopter from his backyard.   

Finally got off the hardball on to a dirt road which eventually turned into a trail.   Found a big junkyard.   It seems lots of folks with land in the desert like to park old cars and, in this case, also an airliner fuselage.  

 

That was the end of the light.    I put on the headphones and head lamp.   The night hike was fun.   Lots of little critters on the trail.   Their eyes were glowing in the light.    Turns out most of them are little kangaroo mice + an occasional possum.   The highlight of the night was a damn skunk wandering down the trail.   That one stopped me for a while until he cleared out. 

Passed some tents at 2 different campsites.   Wind was coming up.   I took a few compass readings to figure out the direction.   Those campsites were exposed so I kept on.   Eventually,  I got below a ridge in some Manzanita trees and setup just before 12.    Did about 8 trail miles.   I’ll start tomorrow at 462.