East of Cabazon, CA on the PCT
Watching trains of double stacked cargo containers roll by, each one filling the horizon from right to left. All the way. Windmills on the hills and 4.5 miles to go before a campsite.
It’s not even 9 am and I have been sitting here for a while enjoying the slowly rising sun.
That wasn’t the plan but I’m not in a hurry.
The night before last my stealth spot was perfect. I was covered by dense bushes on three sides, the ground was soft and well insulated with leaves slowly turning into soil. Even the passing trains couldn’t see me.
After the sun set I put on my base layer and watched a hiker climb the PCT to the north. They were dressed all in black, which I thought was odd, except for the fact that I was also wearing a black puffy jacket, so I didn’t think much of it.
The rail crews rolled away and I stood up out of my hidden location to get a better cell signal and stretch a little. Only the “hiker” dressed all in black was now walking down the trail. It was too late, he’d already seen me. (too hide) He ducked behind a tree high up on the hill and watched me, he wasn’t sure that I’d seen him.
So I looked at my phone while keeping my eye on him discretely. He was acting suspicious which was making me nervous. After a minute or two he hiked on, south down the trail, towards my position. After he was out of view, and I had no way to know if he was still watching, I shouldered my pack and walked back towards the trail.
As soon as the hill formed by the railroad tracks blocked any possible view point I doubled back, crossing the small stream to stay close to the shrub covered tracks. I made a quick, impromptu stealth spot, not even 50 yards from my previous location but completely invisible from it.
Through a small gap in the trees I could watch the approach to the spot where I’d been seen. I waited and watched and waited some more but no one ever showed up.
I cowboy camped there next to the stream instead of my perfect stealth camping spot and watched shooting stars all night and listened to the sound of trains rolling by not twenty feet away.