An exciting day on the ADT...
Day 245
11-7-2006
Started: Sacramento River, CA
Finished: Locke, CA
Today's Miles: 19.3
Total Miles: 3974.1
After two glorious nights at Chris and Emily's, we spent our morning sorting through winter gear that we've been using since our first snow storm in Colorado all the way through our very cold weeks in Nevada, and decided to box a pile of it up to send back to our homebase team in Virginia Beach. Chris helped us find a box big enough to fit all of our gear and we were quite happy to ditch a few extra pounds from our packs with the intention and hope that our time in California will not afford us any wintry conditions. Emily was off to jury duty early this morning so Chris dropped us back off on trail where they had picked us up yesterday. We really enjoyed the time we got to spend with Chris and Emily and are super grateful for their hospitality. We knew when we started walking this morning that today was going to be an exciting day on the American Discovery Trail, although we can't think of a day that hasn't been exciting. But, today was a little different. Today we were going to meet two other hikers who also left from Delaware many months ago, on foot, and were now in the same area as we were. How cool! We contacted each other this morning before we got hiking and made plans to set up camp together at the end of the day in the same location. What are the chances of two couples walking all the way across America over the last year ending up in the same place in the middle of California on the same day?! We had a little pep in our step as we walked along the levees beside the Sacramento River. It was a gorgeous warm and sunny day and the scent of the river reminded us of our days living at the beach. There was plenty of activity around on river and many boaters were out looking to catch dinner for the night. We enjoyed a short afternoon break on the front steps of a convenience store in the small river town of Clarksburg and then continued our treck along the river, constantly keeping our eyes peeled for two other people carrying backpacks just like ours. When we passed by a small work area we were asked where we were headed by one of the workers and after telling him a little about our journey, he quickly told us that there were two other hikers in the area with similar stories. We explained to him how we hadn't met personally, but have spoken on the phone a few times. After looking at his watch he assured us that we weren't far apart and that they had passed through the area not too long ago. So we continued our treck along the levee until just a short time later we noticed two figures off in the distance that looked to be carrying large backpacks. They noticed us from a distance as well and we both made our way towards each other as our arms were waving hello and all of our faces gleaming with great big smiles. Jakob and Tamar are a young married couple who recently graduated from college in Canada and decided to take their first long distance backpacking trip on the American Discovery Trail and have walked, like us, over 4,000 from Delaware to California. When you meet two other people who have traveled as far on foot, you obviously have an unspoken, automatic connection without even taking the time to get to know each other. After a brief and happy meeting we all decided to keep walking and spent the next several hours sharing stories with each other about our travels. We all enjoyed a good laugh when a police officer stopped to check in on us and who had already met Jacob and Tamar earlier in the day. He asked them who their new friends were, and after explaining to him that we too have walked from the Atlantic Ocean, he thought for sure we were pulling his leg. It took some serious convincing on all our parts and we're still not even sure if he really believed us. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed hearing about Jacob and Tamar's adventures and really enjoyed sharing the trail with two other long distance hikers. We decided earlier in the day that it would be great to camp together tonight, so when we arrived in the very small town of Locke, we thought we'd start looking for a place to pitch our tents.
Locke was founded in 1915 after a fire broke out in the Chinese section of nearby Walnut Grove. The Chinese who lived in that area decided that it was time to establish a town of their own. A committee of Chinese merchants, led by Lee Bing, was formed. They approached land owner George Locke and inquired if they could build on his land. An agreement was reached and the town was laid out by Chinese architects. Levee construction originally brought the Chinese to this area, but by the time Locke was built most of the work was in farm labor. Locke had many businesses that catered to the farm workers and residents of this region. In the 1940's restaurants, bakeries, herb shops, fish markets, gambling halls, boarding houses, brothels, grocery stores, a school, clothing stores, and the Star Theatre lined the bustling streets of Locke. At its peak 600 residents, and as many as 1500 people occupied the town of Locke.
On August 2, 1970, Locke was added to the registry of national historical places, by the Sacramento County Historical Society, because of its unique status as the only town in the United States built exclusively by the Chinese for the Chinese. Currently, there are between 80 to 90 people who live in Locke and the Chinese population is down to about ten. As we made our way through the center of town, a young guy named Justin yelled down to us from his second floor apartment balcony. He was wondering where we were all hiking from and when we told him the Atlantic Ocean, he told us not to go anywhere because he couldn't believe what he was hearing and he was on his way down. Justin was super excited to meet all of us and showed us to a great place to call home for the night. Justin took us through the neighborhood and led us down to the river to an area that was just big enough for us to pitch two tents. Before heading back to his house for the night, Justin even offered to cook us dinner and bring it back down to the river for us to enjoy, but we told him that he had already done enough by finding us such a great place to camp. It was getting rather late in the day, so while there was just a little sunlight still left in the sky, Sheri and Tamar decided to go retrieve water while Randy and Jacob stayed and set up camp. When Sheri and Tamar returned, they not only had fresh water but also had been given homemade banana bread from a very kind couple in town. The four of us sat outside and talked over dinner and each took a share of our delicious bread for dessert. We certainly have not had many chances to camp with other hikers on this journey, so we are very excited to be sharing a campsite with Jacob and Tamar tonight. We are looking forward to hearing more about their travels tomorrow and sharing the trail with two other energetic and ambitious souls.
Your Friends on the ADT,
Randy and Sheri
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