The alarm buzzed at 5am but I had a headache and both of us agreed another hour of sleep would do us good.
Hiking by 7:15 we had a few far away views of Mt Lassen through the forest. 
Clouds hovering around Mt Lassen, the start of the Cascade Mountain Range.
We are also beginning to see lava rock mixed in with the soil.
It makes the trail rocky and the feet sore!
This route has scattered small springs for water but because of the drought we are unsure whether they are running or not, we feel a bit like we did in the desert. Should we carry more water and be prepared to find a dry spring? We think so, but the packs are heavy.
We found a note scratched on someone's belt lying on the trail. It said one of the creeks we'd planned on stopping at was dry and we should get water .03 mi down a ravine nearby. Just then we saw a tall blond guy walking up the ravine. He said there was a small spring down there with good water. We decided we should get water where we were sure it was flowing. We both took 3 L bottles and started down leaving our packs at the top. It was a steep climb back up but the water was good and we were glad to get some for the miles ahead.
I'm struggling with energy today and had to stop often. I tried everything, mini snacks, more Gatorade, nothing seems to help and I wonder how I can continue through the next miles.
As we were eating dinner 2 thru hikers passed us; GuacaRock (from Mexico) & ChinaRock (from China of course). They are hiking big miles and seem strong and happy. They are some of the front runners and should be able to get to Canada well before the snow flies up there.
One of the solutions Peggy and I came up with to counter my fatigue is to make a stop in Chester tomorrow. We'll be crossing Highway 36 around noon so we'll hitch to Chester for food to supplement both our lunches. The other idea is to get a ride from Burney Falls back to Medford for rest and recuperation. Things to think about.
6/23/14 Monday. 14 miles
Last night I took a Benedryl to be certain I got a good rest plus set the alarm for 6:00 am for an hour more sleep. We were hiking by 7am but I was on autopilot and not very aware. We did pass the PCT monument celebrating the 1/2 way point for thru hikers.
Mostly the trail contoured around hillsides, through trees with occasional views of Mt Lassen.
Shortly before we reached Hwy 36 two thru hikers passed us and they looked at us curiously asking if we'd met before. Yes! We'd met them long before in Big Bear when we shared a ride up to the trail from town, they were Sherpa & The Boss.
Peggy & I reached the Hwy before they did only because we went through a gate that they missed and they had to backtrack 1/4 mile. We had begun hitchhiking to town but they crossed the road to continue north. Next thing we knew Sherpa was calling to us that they'd found a cooler of sodas and water. Trail magic! All of us got a soda, a nice cool relief in the heat of the day. Then a pickup truck pulling a boat drove into the wide spot and a man got out. He wanted to tell us he couldn't pick us up, his truck was too full. He showed us a book near the cooler with the name of a trail angel who would pick us up at the trail. He wanted us to call her and not have to hitchhike. What a nice man!
Sherpa & The Boss went north to try to get to Drakesbad Resort, they wanted to do a 38 mile day...aargh! So we waved goodbye to them and made a phone call. Karen answered and would arrive to pick us up in 15 minutes.
Karen dropped us off at the local burger & milkshake place where we ate a great sandwich & milkshake. She then directed us to the places we needed to go; Post Office, Library (Internet, computers & a book for me to take on the trail), sporting goods store and grocery store.
Karen works for the local dentist who finished the trail last year and supports PCT hikers by being available to do dental work for any hikers needing it. His office shuttles hikers at 1:30 & 5:30 if they call for rides. His wife bakes so each hiker gets cookies. They have a photo board where they take your picture and post it in the office. I love the Welcome PCT Hikers sign!
We shopped at the grocery picking up items that would supplement our lunches, nut mix, cheese, hearty crackers. We pushed our carts loaded with our backpacks & poles through the aisles then packed all our new items into our packs. One last purchase for both of us was a big deli sandwich that we planned on eating for dinner. When we put the packs on again we groaned, boy they were heavy! Crossing the street making our way to a good hitchhiking spot we passed Alpaca & Yukon who we'd met in Belden & we saw John who had waited for us with Peggy's friends for the birthday party in the woods. The trail camaraderie is so fun.
It was 5:30pm when we began trying for a ride out of town. After 25 minutes or so a woman pulled over, she was a firefighter just getting home but she also loves hiking the trails around Chester, she didn't mind taking us the 8 miles to the trailhead.
Our plan was to hike to the spring about 4 miles up trail and camp. The trail led through Collins Pine Company forest. It was full of beautifully spaced pines and firs sprinkled with a few cedar. Almost a showcase forest. After 1.5 miles or so it began to look like a normal forest, naturally seeded with the regular debris on the forest floor. We sat down to eat our sandwiches far enough before our campsite that it wouldn't attract bears. A young guy named Juicy came hiking behind us and I asked him if he wanted to share my sandwich, I knew I couldn't eat it all before we camped. He sat right down and ate it! Peggy & I had our mosquito head nets on, the bugs were all around us. Juicy chatted a bit while he swatted, ate, said goodbye and disappeared up the trail. It was only a few more miles to the spring where the mosquitos were still pretty bad. We hiked beyond it to get more breeze (hopefully), set up tents and went back for water.
I had called Robin from Chester to make him aware that I will need him to meet us in Burney Falls (5.5 days away) so I could come home for rest. He said he'd planned to surprise us in Old Station, our next resupply town, with trail magic in 2.5 days anyway! Oh boy!
No comments:
Post a Comment