Mile 419-444 Mill Creek Summit Rangers Station to Acton KOA (Campgrounds of America)

Woke up and had breakfast in the clean surroundings of the Ranger's station. Looked at the maps. More poodlebrush and miles of hard dirt roads and scrub. Felt like we needed to get off the conveyor belt that is the trail and do something adventurous. 

We decided to get to the KOA campground on the PCT by highway and backroads instead of the trail, via the town of Acton. It would only be 14 miles and hopefully more interesting. 

When we got to the bottom of the hill there was a guy working on the road. Tracy asked him about directions and he said he has a friend that stops everyday at 8am and that if we wanted to wait, he'd give us a ride in the right direction. Hmmm. 

So we boiled some water, and had a cup of coffee while we waited. Tracy gave Antonio some chocolate. Then his friend pulled up and we got into his truck. Antonio's friend was from El Salvador and didn't speak much English. With my natural talent for languages I was able to slip into impeccable Spanish. 

"You speak the Spanish, mister. Me from Scotland and her is from here, so not interesting. I am the beauty one. Is the United States to your pleasure comparing as your original land?"

After my clumsy attempt at a conversation and a few miles down the road we came to a fork in the road where he went one way and went the other. 

From there we walked into Acton. It was really fun to pass by ranches, horses, a dead snake, talk to a woman who Tracy describes as out of Petticoat Junction feeding her goat and a couple of young joggers. We stopped by Grandma's Antiques and met Amanda who runs the store. The items in the store are not really antiques but stuff from abandoned storage units. 

When we got into Acton we hit the pharmacy since we had run out of floss. Then we had lunch, and then another lunch. We talked to a few locals for directions again and set off for the KOA.

Campground was perfect. Showered,  did laundry set up our tent in the shade then hit the pool. Hikers began to arrive and join us all afternoon. One of the highlights was sitting in the hot tub next to the pool and Tracy surprising me with a chocolate and caramel covered ice cream!

Great day.