Trail Angels and Devils

Another season for the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) hikers began as usual at the Mexican-California border a few miles south of the town of Campo, California. Little did the early hikers know what they had in store for some of them. Somewhere up the trail, a killer or two was waiting to strike with the intent to kill, for unknown reasons. Who would have thought that such animosity could prevail along a famous trail designed for innocent outdoor recreation? Who was it they had to fear? Was it the Trail Devils, a gang from the town of Mojave that was camping next to the trail for the summer for the purpose of harassing the hikers and young bikers? Or was it a Trail Angel, a person dedicated to helping the logistics of the hikers? Or, perhaps, it was the hired ranch hand who patrolled the trail to guarantee nobody abused the easement rights of the TJ Ranch property in Antelope Valley? Or was it someone else? Would the hikers traced up the trail make it to Canada, including the man possessed to be the first to go all the way up and back to the Mexican border, or would they meet death by the time they got to the Tehachapi Mountains? Who was gong to solve these mystery deaths, the sheriff deputies out of Mojave, or was it going to be someone familiar with the trail?