Day 8 - Hat Creek Rim

View The first thing I noticed this morning, when it was light enough to see anything, were clouds on the horizon. Humph. Could be good, could be bad. Turns out it was extremely, fantabulously, fortuitously wonderful and we had clouds all day. All day! That meant temps in the 70's with a breeze and no sun beating down on me. What luck was that? So what could have been brutal turned out to be a beautiful, if physically taxing day, due to walking on wobbly rocks all day. 

First thing this morning

At first the trail was in oak grasslands

Then it wandered into a lava rock area

Later climbing up to the rim itself

In some places I guess they think we can't figure out where the trail goes when it crosses a road

After 13 miles we came to the possible water cache at road 22...aka cache 22😃 

Looks like there was enough water. Too bad I carried 6+ liters of water today. My feet and ankles suffered from walking on such uneven and unstable ground with such a load of water but it was the responsible thing to do. I'd have been in a world of hurt if I had depended on water being there and it had been dry. Fortunately it is supposed to be cool tomorrow as well so getting down onto the other side of this escarpment should be pretty good. The downside of where we've camped tonight is that we had to stop before our intended spot due to high winds at the top. As it is it's pretty breezy now...too bad you couldn't have seen me putting up my tarp. It was pretty comical.

Today's miles? 14.65. Shy of the planned 16 but I'll just have to add them into tomorrow. That's how things roll sometimes. 

 

Day 7 - Near Rock Creek Junction

It's actually amazing that I'm even out here today since I got exactly one hour of sleep last night. When the alarm went off at 5:30am I felt sick from lack of sleep. I got up and joined my hiking buddies for breakfast and told them I wasn't gonna hike with them but instead would stay in town another night, and catch up on the things I had wanted to do during this overnight but didn't. Not to mention getting some sleep. As it turned out no rooms were gonna be available tonight so, if I wasn't gonna be able to sleep,  I might as well just get with the program. Anyway I t's better to do this kind of difficult hiking with company so what the hell... The taxi guy was coming to pick them up at 9:45 so I had to do some fancy dancing to get myself ready to go on time. 

So there we were, standing and marveling at the falls while the day got hotter. 

We finally donned our packs and headed south. I've been scared of this section for, forever. But I think we have a good plan to get it done in two shorter and one super long day, tomorrow. 

Today required 12.5 miles of walking in the heat of the day. The chrome domes help with the heat

And are pretty nerdy looking I think. But well worth the nerd factor if it's 10 plus degrees cooler under the domes. Here's another 

Towards 2pm we rolled up to a spot on the trail, only to find two big umbrellas, a picnic table, huge orange container filled with water and an ice chest with sodas. What a treat!

These folks do this every year and out of the goodness of their hearts. There is a locked box attached to one end of a bench with a note saying donations gladly accept so I dropped some money into the box. Nice of them to do this. 

Tomorrow will be a difficult day as we have 16 miles of hiking to get done by the end of tomorrow, leaving only 13 miles to do day three. But here's the deal. There is no water for the next 29 miles, with the exception of a stinky cow pond. I'll be leaving here with 6.5 liters and hope that will be enough to get through two days. Let's see, that's just over 14 pounds of water. On top of everything else. It's supposed to be 85 degrees tomorrow so the plan is to hike early, rest out the middle of the day then resume walking till dark. There MIGHT BE a stash of water at what is called cashe 22. At least there was 50 gallons sometime today. Who knows if it'll be there tomorrow? Oh, and did I mention there is very little shade on the Hat Creek Rim? My alarm is set for 4am😱 Should be fun. 

Day 6 - Burney Motel, Burney, CA

Phew. Another long hot day...14 miles or there abouts. Heading into Burney Falls State Park was moving from 5,000 feet to under 3,000. The temps, as well as the flora and fauna, have changed in dramatic ways. Long gone are the cool, pine forests and temps...

HELLO Oak trees, manzanita, thorny everything and baking path ways. 

I pulled out the umbrella this afternoon to make some shade for myself...

Clearly I'm in shock😬

But we did get to BF and I have proof

See? That's my pack on the right. 

It was a bit of a struggle getting to town since none of us had cell reception, and the pay phone was out of commission, but we finally connected with the local taxi guy and he came to get us and haul us off to town. 

Clothes and persons washed we walked to a place with a limited menu but super good food. Blackened chicken salad for me and Trisha, steak for Paul.

It's a food selfie!

Tomorrow. I really, really don't want to walk the Hat Creek Rim. Lots of water must be hauled, heat managed and I'll likely have to sleep on the ground. Since there probably aren't gonna be a plethora of nicely sized and perfectly placed trees. Too bad I don't have a sleeping pad with me.  Damn. Plus, my dogs aren't doing all that well. I've got one foot taped underneath

And on top...

I'm gonna lose that toenail...dang thing throbs. That is one sorry foot. 

Blah, blah, blah. I'll either go or I won't. Stay tuned. 

Day 4 - Moosehead Creek

14.33 miles today. Fortunately it was cooler so the hiking wasn't so difficult on the climbs. I still sweat buckets but I always do...by the time I get into a shower in another two days my hair will be salt encrusted. Lovely. 

Late night was comical. The name Deer Springs is accurate. Many, many deer tried to walk into the small clearing we were camped in and stopped dead in their tracks with a very confused look on their deer faces. Clearly this was their spring and we were camped on their path to get to their spring. Same thing this morning in the half light while I was packing up my gear. I'm sure they were relieved when we left town. The good news? No visit from Smokey. 

After a good climb out of the canyon this morning I began a traverse of the base of Grizzley Mountain. It was still early, around 7am, and the sun was bright though not yet hot. Flowers! Everywhere! I didn't take many images save one. 

But the scent was powerful and the bees were having a heyday. I finally had reception and sent off the first three days of posts. I got a text from A that that my SPOT didn't send the first night so I hope no one was too concerned. That sometimes happens I guess. Probably user error.  Here is a pano of the views from the top. 

Walk, walk, walk. Over hill and dale and I finally saw some thru hikers. NOBO's had been in short supply since early yesterday morning. I almost always stop to chat, briefly, to see how they're doing. I saw four youngish folks today then a couple of older folks who skipped the Sierra due to deep snow and dangerous river crossings. Sounds smart to me. Then I saw someone I know, and I knew was going to be out there right about now and it was so exciting. 

Donna Saufley (aka L-rod) is a famous trail angel that has Hiker Heaven in Agua Dulce. She opens up her property for two months in spring to hikers coming through on the PCT. This year she is going to take three months for herself and finish up her own PCT hike. I couldn't be happier for her. No one deserves it more. 

Ok I think that's just about it for tonight. Except I'll add one more image. 

Knobcone Pine. Big. 

Day 3 - Deer Spring Campground

Woke up to terrible nightmares this morning. Nazi loving Trump supporters, animal torture and dying of thirst. What a way to start the day. Think I'm anxious about something? Yup, I reckon. 

I think the thing that is ever present in my mind is finding a place to hang. Most of the territory I've been in has been steep with plenty of trees, but they are over the edge (or uphill) of a sharp slope...not something I really want to swing out of in the middle of the night! Plus, when I ask people coming north they tell me about flat spots, not hanging spots. So I keep looking at the map, trying to see if it looks like it could be a good spot. Not clear for sure. 

At noon when I pulled up to the listed campsite near Deer Creek and saw that there were plenty of spots to hang I decided to stay there rather than continue on another two miles with an unknown situation up there. The guide said it was a small campsite and if there was already someone there I'd be SOL. 

I was just setting up when up comes a couple who is going SOBO, or southbound.  Fire Woman and Nomohawk came to sit for a minute and mentioned to me they had just seen a bear, not 200 feet from the campsite. Yikes! I looked around and didn't see any way to hang my food so when they invited me to join them two miles further on at the spring I decided to join them. At least there will be three of us if we get a visit from a bear. 

So here I am, resting after an 11 mile day of all, and I mean all, uphill. I am beat up from the heat and grind of today but tomorrow should be better as the uphill is first thing and after that the trail levels out for most of the day.  

I must say it has been fun meeting these folks. They are kind and funny and offered me a trail margarita. Quite good after the long day I had. It looks like I'll be seeing more of them as we appear to be on the same pace and our goals are the same, at least for now. It's nice to have good company. 

Tomorrow is a 14 mile day. Yikes. 

Here are some random images from the day. 

Somebody didn't  make all the way to camp last night.  

McCloud River, 7am

Butterfly

Mariposa Lilly?

Day 2 - Fitzhugh Creek

A short day at 12 miles. 

I did start the day at 6am with the goal of doing my 12 miles as early as possible then see if I wanted to hike another 2 miles to the bigger campground. That one has facilities😜

While it was pretty cool early I had to climb for the first four miles and I was feeling the effects of long miles yesterday.  In other words I was tired when I started. Not the best way to start the day but I figured I'd just move along at a steady pace, take breaks and enjoy the music on my MP3 player. My friend Janet put a bunch of good, energetic music on a memory card for me and that really helps. I can sing along and stop thinking about my discomfort. To top it off the trail was way overgrown and I had to push myself through in some places, hoping not to be exposed to too much poison oak in the process. 

Where's the trail?

It's pretty though. 

I met a bunch of interesting people today. The first guy, who was long and lanky, is from Switzerland  and it sounds like he's doing 30-35 mile days. Then came Argentina who is an old hand at the PCT. He has attempted the PCT so many times that I lost count when he was telling me about it. Actually he told me that 15 years ago he started the trail "to die out there."  Apparently he has a degenerative back condition and his docs told him in two years time he would be in a wheelchair and after that on a morphine drip. As he says it "I had other plans." So each year he is able do more miles...first 500, 600, then 900 miles a summer. Over the years he has gotten stronger and has been able to do more miles with less pain. Pretty amazing if you ask me. 

After that I saw a guy with an impossibly small pack, jogging the trail. What? Two more guys moving fast then I took my lunch break after 8 miles. As I was pulling into the clearing a guy was doing the same, from the south. Then a young couple joined us and I got to listen to all the trail Intel, or gossip if that's how you want to look at it. Apparently there a couple of folks hiking the trail with two goats. I can't wait to meet them!

As I pulled into Fitzhugh Gulch Creek there were supposed to be two campsites. The first one coming in was treeless and the second one, that did have perfectly placed trees, had a tent smack dab in the middle of it. It was only about 1:30pm and this person had gotten to camp even before me! She was kind and said I could share her spot but that wasn't gonna work so I looked for another spot near by. I have a lovely hang, four feet from the trail!  Oh well, what can you do when hiking in narrow canyons with steep slopes?

Amy, or Second Life as she is called, is section hiking and is doing fewer miles than some.  She works for a Tahoe based state agency so she can't take too many days off at a time. She says she is on the 25 year plan for finishing the PCT. 

I did get myself settled, treated water, rinsed my socks, washed off the poison oak contact I probably got during the day, ate a scrumptious dinner of turkey spaghetti

(which was quite good), then stretched myself out in my hammock. I hope it won't be as hot tonight as it was last night. I couldn't even put my quilt over me till close to 1am. Clearly my 10 degree quilt is way over kill for the conditions I find myself in😬

Right on the trail!

Day two down and four more to go for this section. I've got some short days planed, and some long days ahead, mostly due to terrain. Fingers crossed!

Day 1 - Just south of Squaw Canyon Creek.

17 mile day. 

Eric dropped me off at the trailhead at 6:08 which was a good thing since it was gonna get hot, hot, hot. Fortunately the trail, while climbing most of the morning, was generally shaded so I didn't have the hot sun to contend with on top of the hot air. Of course as I climbed it got cooler and there was a sometimes breeze. Nice for keeping the skeeters and face gnats away.

It always seems to be about water and timing. My first water spot was Fall Creek, 5 miles into the climb and it was there I had to make a decision.  Would I water all the way up, meaning 3-4 liters, and dry camp for the night at around the 12 mile mark, or would I just get two and take a long break at noonish and walk to the next water source at 16 miles in. As I was feeling strong I decided to carry less and see how it went. I rolled into the 11.5 mile camp spot, dog tired, hot and hungry. I put up my hammock in a perfect spot and after eating I laid down to rest up through the hot part of the day. What a fabulous idea! I was able to stretch, rest and by the time 3pm came I was ready to go again. I suppose I could have just stayed put but I'd have to go light on drinking water which isn't a good thing to do in this heat. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

(Earlier in the day I'd met a thru hiker named Nemo and we chatted for a long time. He gave me intel on the trail ahead. Not all of which I got correct, which will be come clear as I yack away here. I saw him about 10:30 and I'd already gone 8 miles, pretty good for me as it also included breaks.)

Another plus for moving along was that, even though I was adding a bunch more miles to my day, all those miles were downhill. Unfortunately I forgot that as one loses altitude, it gets hotter. My lunch  stop was at 4,500 and my target spot of Squaw Valley Creek was at 2,800. Big difference. But, I was committed so away I went. 

Early morning shot...a bit dark. 

I had hoped to find some likely looking trees near the creek but no matter how hard I tried there were none to be found. Nemo had mentioned that there were campsites "past the bridge", which I took to mean cross over the bridge and they'll be some campsites. Nope. Not a one. What I guess he meant is before crossing the bridge there was a trail that headed out to a trailhead. I guess that's where I was supposed to go. Instead I began climbing up, in the sun. A bit disheartening to say the least but there was nothing for it but to keep on, hoping to find some likely trees. Finally after about another mile I snagged some trees and hung my bed. I hung my food in the hope that critters won't get it, and parked myself in this cozy bed. I actually can't leave this spot as just on the other side of the nylon hammock are hordes of hungry, buzzing blood suckers. They are loud. I hope I don't have to pee anytime soon.