Me 2007-05-20 Vasquez Rocks Marathon
May 20th, 2007
I don’t think I’ve ever *heard* a squirrel before but one joined in the animal alarm clock this morning. It was cold in the ravine where Troll, Oblivious and I slept but as soon as I got back on the outside of the hill it was hot, and this was at 7 am. I ambled along and reached the target water source pretty early. North Fork ranger station is where the trail finally turns north after heading generally west since Big Bear City 170+ miles ago. There’ll be no more of that silliness until northern California where there are even southerly stretches. It’s stuff like that that means walking the trail through this state is longer than flying direct from Mexico to Canada.
It was at North Fork that I realised I was within an (extremely hard) afternoon’s walk of Vasquez Rocks. Named after some 1850s bad guy and used in all sorts of (mostly western or sci-fi) movies and TV shows. So like only mad dogs and Englishmen do I set out in the midday sun. It was a punishing descent, then climb, then descent (and so on) and made harder by the data describing the last high point as a saddle with a jeep road, only to find a second one 30 mins later and hundreds of feet higher. But it did have its rewards. I saw a coyote take off down a steep hill at incredible speed, and I stood and watched two crows riding the drafts in and out of some gullies for 5 minutes. I don’t think they were circling food, just having a good time being birds. I hope I get time for some hang-gliding lessons when I get home. I was at nearly 25 miles for the day when I stopped to cook an inexplicably spicy dinner of New Orleans style rice and southwest flavoured chicken. Not great at any time and I was almost out of water. With the sun setting I passed under the Antelope Highway (Highway 14) via a large drainage tunnel and into a different landscape. Dry, sandy, gritty valleys gave way to sculpted rock formations, trees and shade! I’ve seen a few rocks in my time and these were pretty cool. Not as cool as the pitted red rock wall that we went into in Wadi Rum but well up there. I wound my way along the path, through a strange flat area with trees scattered around and then finally down to the large picnic area and a water fountain. I’d been on the verge of going over to some houses and begging for a drink until the guide book told me to continue.
Now I am sleeping in the shadow of the famous Vasquez Rocks that I came all this way for. 27 miles and only 3 short of the legendary Saufley house where they do amazing things for hikers. This has been a long entry for a long day, thank you for reaching the end.
More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Wrightwood to Agua Dulce