The past few nights have been rather noisy. Deer seem to litter the hillsides and the few flat spots hikers find for camp are also locations that the deer seem to like to do a full body explosive sprint workout at 2 am. For whatever reason I am the only one hearing this and am left awake with a moderate adrenaline rush thinking a ravage bear is coming for my tent.
I do not believe I showed up to a single water source today with water still in my backpack. Hot! Just before arriving at the Ash Campground, a rattlesnake lay across the trail. I, with my headphones in, did not see or hear it before it saw me. Instead of coiling up it moved off-trail, up the hill. I'm not good with identifying specific species of snake, but I knew it was a Rattler and really that's all I cared about.
In the Ash Campground (morning pit-stop and water resupply), a weekend traveler had set up a few chairs and provided hikers with some soda in a nice shaded area. By this time (10:00 am), the temperature was approaching 90+ degrees. More than the sheer heat, the humidity is what really sticks out in my mind. With temperatures comparable to that of the Desert Section, The humidity is what really zapped my energy.
The trail in this area follow the river valleys, making for long uphills and even longer downhills. That is the way of Northern California and my legs were feeling it.
Camp, which I once again did not take a picture of, was with more people than I'd seen since Sierra City (Day __). Everyone was ready for a zero day in Castella or Mount Shasta (the town), where we all plan to be tomorrow afternoon.
