This day was all about the views. Immediately out of camp, the pct shoots up to the top of a ridge where the trees have thinned enough so that every 5 steps there is a perfect view of Mt. Shasta.
It was a wonderful day of backpacking.
Day 92 - Burney Falls. 1438.0 (22.1)
A jam packed day, everything from organizing my resupply to fit it all in my backpack (which always takes some time) to hiking nearly 22 miles after starting at 10:30 am.
Butterfingers and I were up and out of camp relatively early, compared to my recent camp departures. Our motivation was a cup of coffee and ice cream for breakfast at the Burney Falls State Park General Store. Arriving around 7:30 am, we were too early for them to serve their soft serve ice cream. Once again my attempt at getting ice cream has been thwarted. Fortunately I was in no rush, and wanted to take some time to see the Falls, so after I shoved all of my resupply food into my backpack, Butterfingers and I walked the quarter mile paved trail down to the bottom of the Falls.
Once back at the General Store, we got at least 2 servings of soft serve ice cream and chatted with a few other hikers and people visiting the State Park for the day. One of the hikers name was Surplus, a German women from Seattle who always... and she emphasized ALWAYS had to much food. She said she tried getting rid of more in town, but giving away half or more of a resupply box in every town can be mentally challenging. Other than that, she was having issues with the monotony that can be felt while out on the trail.
I feel a lot of hikers were having issues with the monotony of Northern California. We were all use to hiking in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains, which on a bad day would have an infinite amount of incredible views. For myself, Northern California was hot, dry, Bear and Dear infested, but overall I was beginning to find my rhythm and enjoy the new scenery.
Having a date to meet my family at Crater Lake also helps motivate me to keep moving, even on the days I don't seem to enjoy. Today was not one of those days. Having some amazing views of Mt. Shasta did not hurt.
Butterfingers and I left the State Park together around 10:30 am and set a goal for a campsite around 22 miles away. I figured this would take roughly 9 hours of walking, plus an hour and a half of breaks (at least), putting me in camp around 9:00 pm. I have not been a fan of hiking very late due to it getting dark, but with it being mid-summer the days are very long and hiking till 9:00 pm can easily be done without a headlamp.
About 5 miles from camp, I passed Simon who had setup his tent on an exposed area of the hillside with an EPIC view of Mt. Shasta. He told me he and a friend back home were competing to see who had the best campsite this summer. I think his site could be one of the more spectacular campsites along the PCT. Definitely at the top of the list for Northern California.
Nearing camp, the PCT travels through an area with so many Noble Furs that the area smelled like Christmas.. or rather Christmas Trees. The Sun set about the same time I arrived in camp providing me enough light to setup my tent with Butterfingers, Surplus and M&M. There were enough mosquitoes around to keep me in the mesh of my tent while eating dinner. It has actually been this way for most of Northern California.
Day 91 - Catching Up To Butterfingers. 1415.9 (23.9)
Today reminded me of the hot, dry desert of Southern California. While it wouldn't take me too terribly long to arrive at my next water source, it was hot enough that by the time I arrived at the small stream, I had drank all of my water.
It was not the most interesting of days on the trail. I walk over a lot of rocky trail and I passed by a couple of water reservoirs which contained fish hatcheries, but the coolest stop along the trail was Burney Falls Guest Ranch. Run by a couple of nice women who had recently purchased the place and were working to get it back on the map for weekend vacations and the like. This time of year, the only people showing up were PCT Hikers, and the ladies were happy to help us. There was ice cream!!! sandwiches, soda, cookies, and all the other snacks a hiker could wish for while being in the middle of nowhere, or rather the PCT.
I was in a serious debate over where to camp this evening. I had a resupply box 5 miles ahead at Burney Falls State Park (SP) and Butterfingers was there, who I hadn't seen since Day 66 when she, Early Bird and The Worm went into the Yosemite Valley from Tuolumne Meadows.
After debating over staying at the Ranch or hiking an additional 5 miles, all while eating my second and third ice cream cone, I decided to continue hiking to meet up with Butterfingers. While I had enjoyed walking solo for a little over a week, I was looking forward to seeing her familiar face.
Along the last 5 miles of trail, I walked across countless roads, some larger (leading into the town of Burney) and others... just simple dirt roads. Only a couple miles before tonight's campsite, I was walking along listening to some music when, what do you know, trail magic! All of the candy was gone, but there were still a couple cans of soda. It was nearing sunset, so I took a soda to-go. It did recharge me for the last bit of the day, which allowed me to push it and arrive in camp with just enough daylight to setup camp and hang out with Butterfingers.
Butterfingers knew I was coming to camp with her tonight, so without me knowing it, she picked up my resupply box from Burney Falls SP (a little over 1 mile ahead on the trail) and then carried it back to camp with her! I was rather delighted and impressed. She had carried it in her arms for the 1 mile walk back to camp because her pack was already full from her own resupply. Thanks Butterfingers!
I was pretty tired and was lights out fairly quickly after catching up with Butterfingers and eating dinner. Organizing my resupply box would have to wait until the morning. We plan on going to Burney Falls (the actual water fall) and hanging out there for the morning.
Day 90 - Old Station & Hat Creek Rim. 1391.1 (23.9)
At some point last night, Simon arrived in camp and setup without me knowing... I was already asleep.
With only 5 miles of walking to JJ's Cafe in Old Station, CA, you bet I was up early and moving at a fast pace. I was dreaming of a stack of pancakes or an omelett with a milkshake. While there I met up with Nav, Pitstop and Shannon. They were a group of hikers I had met in Drakesbad Guest Ranch and had camped at Twin Lakes. They told me of their horrible night with bears eating some hikers food then coming to their tents looking for more. In the middle of the night, they had to pack their things up and hike away from the area.
Relaxing at JJ's could only last so long. I had many more miles to hike today to make it to a water cache at Road 22 (Cache 22). Without this water cache, the water carry from Lost Creek to the next reliable source was nearly 25 miles, and at least 1 dry camp (which I usually need an extra 1.5 liters for). Fortunately, hikers ahead of me had reported that Cache 22 was fully stocked. That would make this one of the few water cache I choose to rely on throughout the entire trail.
To get to Road 22, I would walk the Hat Creek Rim Trail which is very exposed and can be very hot. I can attest to it being uncomfortably hot, but the views of both Mt Lassen and Mt. Shasta, along with a gentle breeze throughout the entire day made me rather content along this section of trail.
I camped this evening with Simon at the Cache 22. He showed me pictures and told me of his bear encounter in Mt. Lassen NP. The bear he showed me had both light and dark fur. Not only did it look creepy, Simon said it was not scared of him and actually started moving toward Simon on the trail.
I must say, I was rather happy to not have any issues with bears in this area. Had I know how much trouble people were having with them, I would had most likely gotten zero sleep as every crack of a twig or flutter of leaves would have put me on edge.
Day 89 - A Long Flat Trail. 1367.2 (19.6)
I was up, bright and early. With plans to get as close to The Old Station (a restaurant and gas station near an important intersection) I pushed up the only hill of the day which consisted of 500 feet of elevation gain... That's it.
Around 9 miles for the day, I stopped for a small snack and refilled my water at one of two very large lakes. Together they make up the Twin Lakes of this area. While refilling, I had an eerie sense that something was watching me. I didn't know it at the time, but a few hikers left Drakesbad last night and had camped at these lakes and had major issues with a black bear all night long. If you remember from yesterdays post, this was the area I was wanting to camp, had I left yesterday evening.
Without seeing anything in the area, I moved along quickly, checking my six every few minutes. Eventually I calmed down and tried to settle into a rhythm. I was on the second, of few noticeable flat sections on the PCT. Without any elevation gain, you'd think I'd be able to hike 25 to 30 miles. But I was never really able to find a rhythm, in fact the slight downhill the trail had seemed to make my legs and feet ache.
Nearing the 20 mile mark, the trail walked along a large river for a short distance and had a few very nice campsites. Though early in the day, roughly 4:00 pm, I stopped early and relaxed around camp, eating dinner and soaking my legs/feet multiple times in the cold river water.
