August 5, 2011

Start: 1410
End: 1424

This morning we got going about 7:30 on our way to Burney Falls State Park where I was meeting up with my parents at noon.

We had about 14 miles to do for the day and, as usual when I set a deadline for myself, I was a bit anxious about making sure of getting there at the time I said. I was rushing and stressing myself instead of enjoying the hike. Along the way as I was speed-hiking, I remembered a line from the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. Greg is talking to the village leader about building a school in the Pakistani village and Greg is in a hurry to get going on it so they can have it up by the time the snow hits. The village leader responds by saying, "Our village has gotten along just fine for 600 years without a school, what's one more winter." In my version, I haven't seen my parents in 3 months, and want to see them, but another half hour isn't all that big of a deal in contrast to the 3 months that have already passed. So I slowed down, relaxed, and enjoyed the rest of the hike.

As we entered the park, about 1/2 mile from the bridge to the actual waterfall and park headquarters, we ran into another hiker. He had apparently been searching for the store for 30 minutes, to no avail, so he could pick up his resupply package. He was frustrated with his GPS not getting him where he wanted to go, and as we got closer, insisted that we were on a trail parallel to the PCT and therefore not in the right place. Technically he was right, but I could see on my paper map that we were supposed to follow a trail along the creek for a while until we came to and crossed a footbridge. My eyes told me that we were getting close since we were following the creek, and pretty soon, sure enough, we came to a trail junction with a large brown park sign that said BURNEY FALLS. Apparently it turns out that even a GPS can't save you from yourself, and sometimes a little common sense and being aware of your surroundings can go a long way. This is a lesson that I have learned many times already on the trail, and will probably have the opportunity to learn again in the next 1200 miles.

Once at the park, I found my parents and we had a feast of fresh food, followed by a trip to the town of Burney, more food, and a room at one of Burney's finest motels. It was a lot of fun to see my parents and catch up on what else is going on with the family, as well as tell them some stories about the hike. What a great day!

Sent from the PCT

August 4, 2011

Start: 1382
End: 1410

Today we hiked along Hat Creek Rim. According to various sources it is one of the driest and most dreaded sections of the trail because of the constant sun exposure for about 20 miles, and lack of water for 29.6 miles.

During the first part of the hike, as we headed up from Subway Cave to the rim, we caught our first glimpse of Mt Shasta. We would have spectacular views of Lassen and Shasta all day.

The hike itself was pretty mellow. It was dry and warm, but it didn't seem any worse than what we had already been through in Southern California. It was fairly monotonous, and by the end of the hike along the rim I was ready to drop back down to the lava fields. One of the bright spots of the stretch was a water cache! It is so great to come across a cache on the long waterless stretches and enjoy drinking water that you didn't have to carry yourself.

We ended up just a mile or two shy of the next water at the end of the day, but still got in a solid day. Tomorrow it's on to Burney Falls State Park and seeing my parents for the first time since they dropped me off at the border three months ago!

Sent from the PCT

August 3, 2011

Start: 1353
End: 1382

I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw my first bear of the trip! It was just a small bleached hair black bear, but pretty cool to see. It ignored us completely as it was breaking apart a downed log that must have been full to tasty grubs and bugs.

Today we hiked from Drakesbad to a place called Subway Cave. The hike during the day was pretty flat and we passed by some enticing lakes, but there were also a lot of mosquitos. Most of the time when hiking the mosquitos aren't too bad, but when you stop, they find you quickly. Today they were feasting on us as we walked, so I had to don my rain pants for some relief. The hot, rainforest feel of the rain pants on bare, sweaty legs, although miserable, was preferable to the biting mozzies.

After we got past the lakes, the mosquitos mostly disappeared and we were able to hike the rest of the day unmolested.

The end of our hiking day came when we got to the Subway Cave trail junction. The cave itself was located 0.4 miles from the PCT, and also happened to be the last reliable water we would see for 29.6 miles. We camped near the trail junction and walked down to the parking lot, where we got water, and went into the cave.

The cave was actually a lava tube, kind of like the Ape Caves near Mt St Helens. This one wasn't as long, but it was wide and had a couple chambers off the main channel formed by the different ways the lava flowed. Although it is really close to the trail and took only an hour total to walk there, walk through the cave, fill our water, and make it back to our campsite, it is something that most PCT hikers probably just blow by without stopping to check out. It seems they are all in some great hurry to get done, and get back to work? Who knows. HYOH

Sent from the PCT

August 2, 2011

Start: 1339
End: 1353

Hiked a relatively easy number if miles today to get into Drakesbad around 2:30pm. That place was amazing. We were greeted by the owner, Ed, with a big hug, and then given hiker kits which included a towel, washcloth, soap, laundry bag, and loaner clothes! We enjoyed the food, hot spring fed pool, and general hospitality of the place. Amazing!

The quote below, taken from the front of the PCT register at Drakesbad says it all:

Wander a whole summer if you can. Thousands of God's blessings will search and soak you as if you were a sponge, and the big days will go by uncounted.

If you are business-tangled and so burdened by duty that only weeks can be got out of the heavy laden year, give a month at least.

Time will not be taken from the sum of life. Instead of shortening, it will indefinitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal.
-John Muir

August 1, 2011

Start: 1311
End: 1339

Today I woke up. I woke up on the wrong side of the tent. I just felt sleepy all day, wanting only to take a nap, but knowing that many miles needed to be hiked before sleeping. I was probably not much fun to be around. The thing that is amazing to me is that my legs and body felt fine, like I could hike all day, which I did. It was just a mental fog all day.

Of important note, we crossed the halfway point of the trail! I'm not really sure how I feel about that to be honest. On one hand it's great to have made it 1,325 miles. At the same time, I am three months into a hike that I thought would take 4.5 months, and am only halfway; not so good. I should still make it by the end of September, but it is going to be much closer than I would have liked, and I need to average 25 miles a day for the remaining miles.

On the bright side, tomorrow we get to Drakesbad Guest Ranch. Can't way to get clean and go swimming in warm water! What a concept!

July 31, 2011

Start: 1290
End: 1311

So nice to sleep on a bed last night! Even better was this morning when Brenda brought over chilled watermelon slices and fresh muffins still warm from the oven! After that wonderful surprise, Brenda took Happy Meal, 12 Ounce, and me to the trail.

We started hiking around 6:30am, which was a good thing since it was supposed to get into the mid-90's and we had a 4500' climb over the first 13 miles. It wasn't a bad climb overall and we took a couple snack breaks to split the climb into smaller sections. The only inconvenience about it was the poison oak lining the trail, often times hidden by other brush. Near the top of the climb, after we got above where the poison oak could live, we scrubbed our legs off in a creek.

After the climb, we had a pretty cruisy rest of the day over generally flat terrain. Since we got to sleep late last night after chatting with Happy Meal and Yankee, we decided to have a short day so we could get to sleep by hiker midnight (9pm) and up at 5am, and back on our regular schedule.

We are currently camped at the high point in Butte County. Big mileage day tomorrow where we will have a chance to "scan the Cascade crest that rims the upper Butt Creek canyon," (guidebook) and then on to Drakesbad Guest Ranch the next morning for swimming, showers, laundry, and food!

July 30, 2011

Start: 1271.5
End: 1290

Wow. The sunset last night was amazing! And then there was the heat-lightning lighting up the clouds in the sky to the east, followed by an astounding number of stars, including the milky way, and meteors burning up in the atmosphere.

The sunrise this morning wasn't quite as good as the sky show last night, but still a sight to behold. We again woke up at 5am and were on the trail by 6:15. We had a small climb up to Lookout Rock before flattening out for a while and then descending many thousands of feet down to Highway 70 and Belden.

Once in Belden we made a stop at the Belden Town Resort for a cold drink and an ice cream sandwich before calling the Braatens for a ride to their place. Brenda came, picked us up, and gave us a ride to her place. The Braatens have an extra apartment/house on their property which they let hikers use for showering, cooking, and sleeping. Just down the road at an RV park is a small Café and store, Carribou Crossroads. we spent the afternoon doing laundry, eating, and hanging out at the Café.

Tonight we will stay in town and get a ride back to the trail in the morning. Onto Drakesbad Resort in Lassen NF next! The resort offers showers and laundry to hikers, and are rumored to have hot springs as well!

July 29, 2011

Start: 1240.2
End: 1271.5

Today was the first day hiking day completely snow-free since June 11! What an amazing feeling it is to have real trail under your feet all day. In commemoration of the occasion we one-upped what we did yesterday by doing an ultra-marathon distance today. We completed 50k (31miles)! It's the longest distance I've in one day to date, and I look forward to setting a few more PRs before the end of the trail.

Lately the weather has been warm and we've been wanting to get in bigger miles, so we decided to get up earlier to beat the heat as well as get in more miles. We were on the trail just after 6am and enjoyed a warm morning descending a few thousand feet down to the Middle Fork Feather River and, according to the guidebook, the official end of the Sierras.

It was a fast morning with all the downhill, and we had gotten in 11 miles by 10am. The only problem with dropping elevation is that you usually end up having to climb back up at least as much as you just descended. After a break near the river we started the long, hot climb out of the valley.

It took quite a bit longer to get through the next 9 miles, and I sweat more on the climb than I have since the desert. And it's worse now because it's more humid so the sweat doesn't evaporate as quickly. In addition to the heat, we were dodging poison oak along the sides of the trail whole way up the climb.

Once up the climb we just had little rolling hills of a few hundred feet up and down to finish off the remaining miles. My feet were definitely ready to be done when we found a place to camp. Tomorrow we only have 18 miles to get into Belden! Should be an easy day!

July 28, 2011

Start: 1214
End: 1240.2

Do you ever wake up not intending to walk a marathon, and then do? Well that's what happened today... sort of.

It all started with modest aspirations of getting 25 miles a day for the next three days so we can make it to Belden, and to the trail angels there, the Braatens. We got started a little late at 7am and moseyed along the first part of the day, getting through the last of the big snow patches for the next 500 miles, and 10 miles by noon, off to a little bit of a slow start, not ideal for trying to get 25 for the day. Mentally it's nice to have half or more of your goal mileage done by lunch.

After lunch we continued on and started moving a little quicker, despite the elevation gain. We were able to get 21 miles by 5pm, at which time we stopped to eat a leisurely dinner, knowing there were only 4 more miles for the day. The last miles were easy and mostly downhill, so I threw out the idea that we continue on a little further to get in a marathon for the day. Not only would it mean a little less for tomorrow, but we were both feeling good and willing to keep going a little longer.

We got into camp right at 8pm, ready for a good nights rest before attempting the same again tomorrow! It's good practice for the day when I decide to run an ultra marathon (any distance longer than a marathon).

July 27, 2011

Start: 1197
End: 1214

I hung around the Red Moose this morning to get a solid, calorie-packed breakfast before heading back up the road to the trail around 9am.

On the way back up to the trail I ran into two other hikers from Portland that I haven't seen since before the hike started, Goodness and Zm! We chatted for a brief moment and then headed our separate ways.

The first part of the hike today was a long, gentle climb from 4600' to 7400'. Near the top, 12 Ounce and I stopped for lunch, enjoying the view across the valley as well as down to Sierra City where we had started the day. After lunch we had a little bit more climbing to do, so we continued up and around Sierra Buttes and into the lakes basin area.

We stopped for dinner around 6pm and enjoyed a Mountain House freeze dried dessert after dinner, courtesy of my mom. We did a few more miles after dinner and watched the sun set while walking along a ridge just before finding a place to camp. Another amazing day on the trail.

I should give a shout out to Fatty and Kyle tonight. I know you guys gave the romance novel "Brazen" to me as a joke, but 12 Ounce and I have been enjoying the poorly written book one chapter at a time the past few nights, so thank you. I'll be sure to give it back to you when I'm done so you can return it to your Bobbi Smith book collection.