The day started off gloomy, but the sun was showing itself in the distance and by noon I was was hiking under blue sky's. This day was one of my favorite in Northern Cali for no other reason than the scenery and views of the distant landscape. It ended with an incredible campsite on a ridge poking out of the hillside providing Butterfingers and me with a viberant sunset.
Day 98 - Swimming in Lower Dead Fall Lake. 1543.4 (20.4)
Irish Matt, Butterfingers and I all went for a dip in Lower Dead Fall Lake. Irish used his inflateable sleeping pad as a float device. It worked suprisingly well.
Day 97 - Castle Craig Wilderness. 1523.0 (24.3)
Day 96 - Zero Day in Castella. Lots of eating food, relaxing in camp, calling home and taking at least 4 showers. Though a very simple town to take a zero, Castella is one of my favorite places in Northern California to take a zero. I think the free showers had something to do with it.
Through trial and error, I learned how to cook a pizza over a fire pit. With 3 pizza's to get it right, the first was under-cooked, the second was unevenly cooked and the last was PERFECT! Split between a large group in camp, the 3 pizzas were quickly devoured so everyone moved onto their trail dinners and beer or wine.
Day 97
Butterfingers and my strategy for the next section was to push longer days, so we would arrive in Etna and be able to take a nero. We both had enough food to hike an additional day in case we wanted to slow down.
From Castella, the PCT climbs gradually for nearly 20 miles past the Castle Craig's, which seemed to tower over me as the trail passes below them on the hillside. With Mt. Shasta and Castle Craig's as the backdrop for all the views, it felt like a new region of the trail... not the long up and down trail through trees that I was getting use to at this point.
Near the end of the day, I stumbled upon a couple baby snakes. I have no idea what type they were, but it was becoming cooler at this point and I did not see a snake den or mother around. I expect they did not survive the night.
The views continued all the way to camp and I saw my first unobstructed sunset for what seemed to be ages. Also, 1500 miles!!!
Day 95 - Castella. 1498.7 (15.6)
Most of the hikers in camp got up early to arrive in either Castella or Mount Shasta (the city) around mid-day. For me this would mean getting up around 4:30 am to be on trail at 6:00. Of course that didn't happen. I was happy to be on the trail by 7:15 am.
The trees were tall but dense, but the lack of foliage on the ground made it feel roomy, holding off the sense of being smothered by a green tunnel. When the trees would break, as they would often do, magical views of Mt. Shasta made me want to stop and break. I did a few times, but my mind was set on getting to Castella with plenty of time to resupply, relax, and eat a pint of ice cream.
In previous days, Simon and I had talked about cutting off-trail for one of the large switchbacks which would cut off about 4 miles of the PCT. Having contemplated it for a couple days, when I arrived at the point to go off trail... I did. At first, it seemed like a lot of other hikers had had the same idea.
For the first 100 yards, the path was well defined and easy to bushwhack through the overgrown areas. After the first 100 yards, the path slowly started to disappear as the hill started to get steeper and the chaparral became more and more overgrown. I popped out of the brush to a logging road. I could hear the chainsaws nearby but couldn't see any people.
The path I had chosen was faint all the way to the logging road. But beyond it turned into a pathless hillside covered in grass-seeds (those nasty things that stick to your socks and shoes), Poison Oak, and a very lose layer of pine needles making it impossible to be in control at many points while descending. From the logging road back to the PCT, I figure it was .4 miles, it took me one and a half hours, I fell 2 times, dodged all the Poison Oak and got eaten alive by a dense cloud of mosquitoes that I couldn't run away from though I desperately wanted to.
When I finally laid eyes on the PCT, I had a moment of elation. Never had I been so happy to see a trail. Hiking until I found a good resting point, I stopped to eat lunch and mentally recover from my recent ordeal which brought my mind back to walking on the snowfields in the Sierra's. If I were to do it all over I would do it again for the incredible feeling that comes from extreme discomfort followed by a beautiful 16 inch path clear of all obstacles.
Not knowing if I passed Butterfingers, who had left camp well before me, I hiked on and quickly found a hitch into Castella. Very shortly after arriving in Castella, Butterfingers text me to see where I was. She was behind me and walking to town after being unsuccessful finding a hitch. Evidently she had waited for me at the last water source, not knowing that i took a path that skipped that part of the trail. Some day I will return to complete that 4 mile switchback.
Castella consisted of a Gas Station and Convenient Store which held my resupply package. The store had a deli which made very good burritos and had plenty of ice cream (very important!).
Once at the campground, a 0.5 mile walk from the store, Butterfingers and I setup and camp and watch the many other hikers pour in. The showers at the campground had hot water, good water pressure and best of all, they were FREE! With no pressure to take care of chores this afternoon and evening, I relaxed knowing tomorrow was going to be a zero day, and I couldn't think of a better place to take one at this point in Northern California.
Day 94 - The Hottest Day. 1483.1 (21.7)
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.
