An Oasis and a Fault

April 25, 2024; 3 miles

In the morning I walked the short distance to the Oasis, the new hiker spot in Agua Dulce.  Years ago, there was Hiker Heaven, run by a husband-wife team, the Saufleys.  In 2021 they became an Airbnb, meaning that they still served a few hikers but not nearly the numbers as before.  I get the impression that they had become overwhelmed by the growth of hiker numbers in the age of cellphones and FarOut/Guthook.  Then the wife died of cancer.  It was all very tragic.

Meanwhile, Agua Dulce no longer had a hiker venue until recently when “Farmer” John and his wife opened their establishment.

At the time of my stay, there were maybe 10 or 15 tents, but Farmer John said that when the hiking season really gets rolling, there can be upwards of 50 tents per night.

There is a utility room with a wash machine and two driers, showers, and only one bathroom, although Farmer John is in the process of building another.  Prominent on the bathroom door is a sign “Do Not Feed the Dog.”

I am sure that the dog, Rufus, has been fed by hikers because when I ate two sandwiches and a square of carrot cake, he showed up, sat in front of me, and just stared with the most piteous eyes, as if he were starving to death.  I wish I had taken a picture – but I was strong, and I obeyed the sign and did not feed him.

Aside from the $10 requested donation, Farmer John and his wife defray expenses through sales of every kind of food and trail amenity a hiker could want.  Hikers say that they have a real AT-style resupply.  This means I was able to buy enough to make it to Wrightwood.

I mentioned to Farmer John that I could see that he had chickens, including a rooster.  Uh oh, bad observation.  The missus was not happy, and let me know that it was she who grew up on a farm, and she had had enough of farming.  I apologized profusely, figuring that it was she who was stuck taking care of the chickens that were the product of her husband’s adopted “farming” persona.

Anyway, staying one night and most of two days at the Oasis allowed me to eat at both dining establishments in town and to get some writing done.  It was really nice.  The Oasis does not have good cell coverage, but coverage is better in the town center.

April 26, 2024; 7 miles

I left the Oasis late in the afternoon.  I should mention that so many roads are named after canyons, the abbreviation Cyn is on lots of street signs.  I stupidly asked if you are supposed to pronounce it “sin,” but I was told that you just say “canyon.”

South of town the first thing SOBO hikers run into are the Vasquez Rocks.  You would think that woke forces would want to change the name of these rocks since Tiburcio Vasquez was a infamous bandido from 150 years ago who eluded and fought off the authorities here.  But my impression of woke types is that they love criminals and hate the police, so the name will probably remain unchanged.

In fact, as I entered the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, off to the slide of the road I spotted a ballot stuff box.

This has all the essential attributes of a ballot stuff box – out of the way and easily accessible.  Too bad it has to disgrace the PCT, but I guess we hikers are supposed to see upfront why many people in middle America don’t trust west-coast elections.

Anyway, the rocks are very nice – sedimentary features that have been thrust upward by tectonic activity and eroded at different rates.

The rock formations exist because an offshoot of the San Andreas fault known as the Elkhorn fault passes right through the natural area.

The PCT takes you to the bottom of the fault, where you see the rock formations above you.  Keep in mind that a lot of old TV shows and movies were set in the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, so maybe you have seen all of this before.

South of the Vasquez Rocks the PCT passes underneath the Antelope Valley Freeway through the tunnel, shown below.

When I passed through, a few hikers were singing songs right at the center of the tunnel with one of them strumming a guitar.  It is a great place if you like lots of reverberation.  As I left the tunnel, a hiker passed me entering the tunnel with a guitar strapped to the back of his pack.

 It was late, so I found a place to camp in the Three Sisters Rocks area before I reached the railroad and Soledad Canyon Road.