Day 64 July 28, 2017

Daily mileage 14
Total mileage 1135
Hiked from 5:30 am to 10:30 am

Town day and goodbye to an old friend

Got going at the usual time and finished off a small climb then started down 11 miles of downhill to I5. There really was not much to look at on this hike today.

Early morning trail

The ever present Shasta

Castle Crags 

One really interesting thing today was I met a true Southbounder. I mean true in that there have been a lot of Sobo' s who skipped the Sierra and flipped up to Ashland to hike South. But John actually started his hike at the Canadian border in late May and snowshoed some 400 miles in Washington. He is a hiking bad ass.

Got down to the I5 and had a hitch to Dunsmuir very quickly. Waiting for me at the hotel was my replacement pack. Or what was supposed to be my replacement pack. I have hiked with a 58 litre Osprey pack for years and that was supposed to be the replacement. But they sent a 38 litre pack instead. That is a huge difference. Long story short, Osprey is sending the proper pack to Ashland and I will make do with the small pack until then.

So with all that, I mailed away my trusty Osprey Exos 58 today. That pack and I have done a lot together. But she was just worn out.

Goodbye old friend

Funny story here. As I was waiting to get my hotel room, I was sitting outside with three other hikers. We got to chatting and when I mentioned that my wife and I owned two retail stores, one of the guys looks at me and asks if I am Silver Fox. Turns out he has followed.this blog for a while. Chris, if you read this, it was nice meeting you and you son and your buddy.

In between all of that, I ate lots, mailed home some stuff (remember the smaller pack) and got a shop done for the next 100 mile section.

Day 63 July 27, 2017

Daily mileage 27
Total miles 1121
Hiked from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm

If it were not for a bear, today would have been boring.

Got going at first light this morning which is now 15 minutes later than it was a month ago. Arg things are changing on my hike!

I had a very long (like 11 miles) of gentle downhill to start the day. About 3 miles in I was humping along with my head in the clouds when up pops a bear from the rather steep sidehill. Where he intersected the hill was no more than 20 feet from me yet he clearly had not seen me. So I clanked my poles together to let him know he had company. He scampered up the high side of the trail, bit only about 15 feet. Then he planted one paw on a log (his back feet were on the ground) and lifted his other front paw in the air. Now he could ha've been saying "Howdy there hiker" or he could have been saying "Look at how sharp these claws are". I scooted past without slowing to take a pic.

The rest of the downhill was long and boring. Just as I was to start a 1600 foot uphill, I caught up with another hiker. We fell into pace and conversation and soon the hill was done.

Hiking in the green tunnel

Squaw River

Actually in chatting with him, it further confirmed my decision to not go further into the Sierra. He got his trail name of Life Saver because he went into a swollen stream to rescue another hiker who could have been swept away.

Now I am camped on a ridge about 14 trail miles from the I5. I will go into a small town called Dunsmuir to resupply and to pick up my new pack.

Ever present Shasta

Home for the night

Day 62 July 26, 2017

Daily mileage 29
Total mileage 1094
Hiked from 5:30 am to 6:30 pm

A mundane morning and a spectacular afternoon.

When I set out from camp this morning, I had big mileage on my mind. I want to get to Dunsmuire somewhat early on Friday so I can send my old pack back to Osprey before the P.O. closes.

The morning featured little in the way of great vistas. It was mainly walking in the forest. Every now and then Mt Shasta would peak out at me. She is getting very close.

In the early afternoon, the trail gained a subalpine ridge and two things happened. The views went from mundane to spectacular. And I got cell service.

Hello Mt Shasta 

Trail finally out of the trees

At points on the ridge, I could look north and take in the grandeur of Shasta and then turn and look South to see endless rolling hills. And yes, I did say look north and south from the ridge. And that means the trail is heading almost due West again. Look PCT, you have one job to do and that is to provide a conduit from where I am to Canada. And if you are heading West, then you are not doing your job!

And then there was the fact that I could talk to my wife from the very middle of nowhere out in the rough and tumble. I am starting to think that these cell phone things may stick around.

Wide open Vista's 

Very impressive trail building

The deer here are really tame 

The scenery remained wonderful for the most part until I ducked back into the forest after Grizzly Peak. The trail charged down the hill until it reached Deer Spring. I was low on water so I took the short side trail to the spring, and wouldn't you know it there was the perfect campsite. So here I am 29 miles from where I slept last night.

Home for the night

Day 61 July 25, 2017

Daily mileage 22
Total mileage 1065
Hiked from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm

Burney Falls was amazing but the rest of the day was boring.

We lost all power at the motel late yesterday afternoon. And no power  means no air conditioning. And it was hot. What was kind of cool (pun intended) was that most of us migrated out of our sweltering rooms to sit outside. And we actually socialized. One guy went and got a bunch of ice cream sandwiches and passed them around. You could almost imagine it was the 50's again.

The power came back on at about 10. Apparently it was caused by a fire in the underground service right by a gas station! That could have been exciting.

I got going a bit late this morning because I wanted to contact Osprey to see if they have shipped my replacement pack this time. Turns out they are not sure if the one that was supposed to be waiting for me in Burney was ever shipped. And after this morning's conversation, I am not convinced they have shipped this one to Dunsmuir as promised.

I got a quick hitch with a young man named Kyle. Then I was back on the trail. Less than a mile in, trail magic! The Wild Bird Cache had all kinds of hiker friendly stuff but I was fully loaded down so I did not take anything.

The Wild Bird Cache

After a few flat and uneventful miles, I came.to the highlight of the day, Burney Falls. I have seen lots of pictures of these falls in PCT blogs, but the pics do not do justice to how grand the falls are. No doubt my pics will fail the same test. What makes them somewhat unique is that much of the water going over the falls is actually being extruded out of the rock part way down the drop.

Just to prove I am out here seeing the things I talk about 

Stunning Burney Falls

After I left the Falls Loup and the 10,000 tourists on it, I realized that I shold have grabbed some water from the river. Then I rounded a corner and there was a flat of bottled water left for hikers by a lady named Kathy. Again, people out here are so amazing.

After crossing over a dam, it was time to take on the only significant climb of the day. The 2000 footer was spread out over about 7 miles so it was pretty mellow.

Dam whose name I cannot recall

So nice to have water pretty much everywhere

I decided  to camp at a water source about 22 miles from where I started this morning. I had grand illusions of going 4 more miles but I felt bagged and the campsite is too nice to pass up.

Home for the night

Day 60 July 24, 2017

Daily mileage 5
Total mileage 1043
Hiked from 5:30 am to 7:15 am

Town Day!

I had thought about sleeping in but just could not do it. I got going on the very easy hike to the road leading to Burney. In no time I was there and got a lift from Shorty (his name, not his stature) about 10 minutes later.

Then I did all of the usual town day things. Ate, contacted family, ate, resupplied for the next section, ate etc etc.

Day 59 July 23, 2017

Daily mileage 26
Total mileage 1038
Hiked from 5:15 am to 5:00 pm

Hat Creek Rim done.

I was up early to maximize the cool morning hiking and was surprised to see another tent in the parking area. Michaela from Prague had the same idea as I did last night, hiking a couple of miles to get the hill out of the way. We, along with a fellow names Arizona hiked together on and off all day.

The Hat Creek Rim is regarded as one of the hottest and driest sections on the whole PCT. It is a total of 30 miles with only one spring near the start. Many of us do not go to that spring because of the elevation difference to get to it and the fact that it is only about 8 miles out from Old Station.

Looking back at Mt Lassen in the early morning

Looking ahead at Mt Shasta

Arid hiking on the Rim

There is, however, a water cache located near the midpoint. PCT hikers are averse to rely on water caches as they do require maintenance by volunteers. Anyway, I headed out with my four litres ready to make that stretch the entire 30 miles if need be. It was little sips all morning until I got to Cache 22 (it is located on Forest Road 22) where I was thrilled to find a very full water tank. Yeah. The gentleman who maintains this cache does ask for a donation via Paypal and I am here to tell you that making a $20 donation to him was a very easy decision.

Although there was a slight overcast and light breeze all morning, it was still brutally hot. My pack thermometer was pegged between 90 and 100 all day. So the three of us relaxed in some shade at the cache for a bit.

Oh yeah, I saw a bobcat on the way up to the cache. I had never seen one before so that was cool. Sorry no picture as he was gone in a flash.

I did not really have a game plan for where to camp tonight.  I did think that I would pick a place out on the Rim somewhere but the miles went by pretty easily. When I got to the first stream after the Rim, it was an easy choice. I have this perfect little spot under an oak tree all to myself. Well I am sharing it with a couple million ants.

A very volcanic landscape

Luckily there was water at Cache 22 so I did not have to get water here

Again, miles of dry trail

Tomorrow I have about a five mile hike to the road to Burney.

Home for the night

Day 58 July 22, 2017

Daily mileage 31
Total mileage 1012
Hiked from 5:15 am to 4:30 pm plus an hour of dusk hiking

I have now hiked 1000 miles on the PCT!

That was a day of great highs and fixable lows. Last night I decided to play by the Park rules and put my food on the bear box. When I went to grab a snack this morning, I found that the bear box had indeed kept out the bears but had let in some rodents. Not a bit of trail mix left. And one of my two remaining chocolate bars had been nibbled on. Buggars.

The other discovery I made was that I left my ballcap on the table of the Drakesbad dining table. Oh well I was not attached to that cap, but it did mean a long day of hiking with no lid on to protect me from the rather strong sun.

I got the only two climbs of less than 1000 feet each done early. Then the trail became mellow. Like really mellow. I had 21 miles done before 2 in the afternoon. The trail went through miles and miles of burned forest. It must have been a huge fire. There was a section of about two miles in which the bugs were insane.  Then, poof, they were gone. Weird.

First log crossing I have had since the Sierra

Lower Twin Lake

Miles and miles of burned forest

Goodbye My Lassen

There was a horseback endurance event on part of the PCT later in the afternoon. I likely had 40 riders go past me. They were all super friendly.

When I got down to where the event was being staged from, I went over to one of the communication tents to ask about the event. He happened to mention that they were searching for a missing rider. He mentioned in passing that she had a nosebleed. Well it just so happened that I recalled seeing a female rider with tissue obviously stemming a nosebleed. I sort of became part of the search logistics at that point. I hope they found her ok.

The biggest and best news today is that I passed 1000 miles on my hike. Woohoo! Of lesser note is that I did my first 30 mile day.

I made it down to Old Station (pop 83) and had a pretty good burger and a few very welcome cold beers. I checked in with my wife and found out that the Burney Post Office had rejected my replacement backpack by sending it back to Osprey. Then I found out that my credit card has been compromised and had to be shut down. All of this is fixable, but it is far more difficult to do so from the trail.

As I was sitting on the deck of JJ's Restaurant digesting my burger and beers, I began pondering a desert of some sort.  There was a group of four young folks (not hikers) sitting at the table across from me who, when they learned I was thru hiking the PCT, gave me the ice cream sandwiches that they had ordered.  I mean, really, this trail magic is just nothing short of amazing.  And I am here to say, those tasty ice cream filled cookie sandwiches were good. Damn good.

I made a late decision to get started on the Hat Creek Rim this evening. This section of the trail is renowned to be hot and dry. It is over 20 miles between reliable water sources. Anyway, I got about 3 miles in and got rattled at by 2 rattlers in that stretch. So now I am going to set up at a viewpoint when the last of the tourists leave. I figure rattlesnakes will not make their way all the way across the cement.

Home for the night

Day 57 July 21, 2017

Daily mileage 18
Total mileage 981
Hiked from 5:15 am to 2:30 pm

A day of average hiking ending in luxury.

I had a much better hiking day today. Unlike yesterday, my legs felt up for the task at hand. And that task was to get me to the Drakesburg Guest Ranch in time for PCT dinner service, which happens as soon as the actual guests who paid boatloads of money to be here have dined.

The morning started out in a select cut logging area. The terrain was very gentle, as it was for most of the day. No climbs greater than 1000 feet. Jeez, now that I write all this down, it really was an easy day.

Part way through the morning I crossed a gravel road and lookie there. There is a cooler full of all the goodies us hikers crave. And just down the trail a bit is a sign inviting PCT hikers to a taco and beer feed at 4 pm. Too bad it was still mid-morning!

Some great hiking

Coolers at trailside are always good news

I got all excited at the prospect of an afternoon lake swim when I saw that the trail went directly past Little Willow Lake. Well that may have been a lake eons ago, but it is a meadow now. Bummer.

Mt Lassen getting very close

Little Willow "Lake"

Not directly on the trail but close enough to explore were Terminal Geyser (more like a steam vent if you were to ask me) and Boiling Springs Lake which was very impressive.

Terminal Geyser

Boiling Springs Lake

And then I was at Drakesnerg. I had run into a couple of PCT ladies earlier in the day who said the dinner was not worth it at $17 per person. What they did not mention was that fee also included a shower and the use of the pool. I accidentally used the guests shower instead of the outdoor PCT version. That in itself was worth $17! I am currently sitting poolside awaiting my dinner seating. And I am camped about 10 minutes away at a car campground with picnic tables. This really is Gucci.

My view this afternoon

The shower I used

The shower I was supposed to use

Dinner was a three course affair and really quite good. The only other PCT hikers there were a mother and daughter team from Chester, Ca. I had a nice chat with them and then it was bedtime.

Day 56 July 20, 2017

Daily mileage 27
Total mileage 963
Hiked from 5:30 am to 6:15 pm

Those miles did not come easily.

I had one of the better sleeps that I have had in Big Agnus (my tent) on trail. So I should have had a great day of hiking right? Well I had a day of hiking but it was a couple of area codes over from great.  Right from the start, my legs just felt heavy. I had a simple 1000 footer at the start of my day and I just dragged my butt up it. I mean yesterday I was skipping my way up a 4500 footer no problem. What a difference. Today it just felt like I had a piano tied to my ass.

But by 10 am I had 10 miles in which is sort of my goal every day that starts on the trail. Then I started up the second hill of the day which was a 1600 footer. Anyway, without boring you with the details, it sucked too.

Nice scenery along the way

I did enjoy some great views of Mt Lassen at various points of the day. It is pretty cool watching a big feature in the landscape get bigger each time you glimpse it throughout the day. Gives a guy a bit of a sense of accomplishment.

Mt Lassen getting bigger

The other biggie was passing the half way mark. OK, half way in a normal year. This year there will only be a handful of young hearty types who will look at that monument and really say they are half way to Canada. The rest of us have to do our individual calculations.

Still the occasional snow patch

Half way point in a normal year

I really did not have a mileage goal other than I wanted to make the hike into Drakesbad Resort as short as possible. The topo map showed flat areas before the highway into Chester so I figured I could make something work there. Turns out it is private land, not.to mention an active logging site. So I wandered across the highway and there was a cooler full of trail magic awaiting me. Now that is just what I needed today. Soda pops, beers, bagged full of berries and a big bag of watermelon. And, there were flat areas ready for my tent.

Trail magic!

One thing that really cheered me up today was the ability to call or text all of my family. Such a wonderful pick me up.

Home for the night