Day 64 (July 12th)
Mile 1412.4 – mile 1433.7
Today: 21.3 miles (34.3km)
Total PCT: 978.4 miles (1574.6km)
Today was a day filled with really kind people, wonderful water and BUGS! We woke up at the Word of Life Church and got ready to head back to trail. There is a little cafe in the front entrance of the church, so we went over to get some iced coffee. Apparently hikers get free coffee! We were thrilled! While waiting for our drinks, a churchgoer offered to take a picture of our little crew (including our dear friend Lost and Found), and another brought in some apples, bananas and cookies– all free for hikers. The church is a good place. We left a donation to thank them for their hospitality and headed out into the street to hitch back to trail.
While we were still discussing where to hitchhike from, I haphazardly threw up my thumb… And the very first car that passed pulled over to offer us a ride. I’m continuously surprised and grateful for the unednign kindness of the people who live along this trail!
Our hike this morning started with 8 quick miles to Burney Falls State Park. Salty and I walked and chatted the entire way, which made the miles fly by. Once we made it to the park we did a little 1/2 mile side loop to get a beautiful view of the falls and to hike along the river for a while. We were getting hungry by now, but we wanted to get a few more miles under our belt before lunch. Salty and I hiked another 6 miles or so to a lovely little creek, where we were joined by Corpse, Thunder, and German Cowboy (a 20 year old German who just graduated high school and decided to hike the PCT as part of his gap year). We waded into the ice cold water gasping but very refreshed. California is under a bit of a heatwave right now– the sign leaving Burney said that it was 105 degrees Fahrenheit!
After lunch, the trail started to climb through a dark, buggy forest. I quickly started to feel frantic to chase the mosquitoes off my legs. The buzzing and bites were driving me nuts. I hiked as fast as I could to escape the swarm and made it to camp with light to spare– good time given our late start this morning! While hiking, the boys ran into Kip and Clint, two trail maintainers hired by the forest service. They, along with their horse Maggie and two mules were tasked with clearing blowdowns off the trail in this area.
They invited us to join their campfire and shared their BBQ dinner with the boys. Unfortunately for me, they were not the type to have anything vegan handy– but they were very kind about offering! They were lovely people and real cowboys! Both sported cowboy hats, boots, and huge belt buckles. When one of them spit on the ground, it really gave the sense that they had stepped right out of a Western movie.
It’s been a lovely day, despite all the mosquito bites!
Day 65 (July 13th)
Mile 1433.7 – mile 1461.7
Today: 28.1 miles (45.2km)
Total PCT: 1006.5 miles (1619.8km)
1000 miles! And my second longest day ever of hiking! It was a big day. To be honest, I was exhausted the whole time. I woke up at my usual time of 5:30am and very nearly rolled over to go back to sleep. I’ve been up a little late the past few days and my lack of sleep seems to be catching up to me. But, I was only 68 miles from the town of Mt Shasta, where I will meet up with my love, Jake, for a few days. I want to be there by Saturday afternoon, so I knew I had to get moving. The miles came slowly before lunch, but eventually I found my tramily. They were accompanied by trail angel Mark and Joyce. Joyce is a PCT hiker who injured herself a few weeks ago and has been staying with Mark while she recovers– and they brought us trail magic in the form of cold pop! The miles didn’t feel like they were coming any faster after lunch. The trail was incredibly overgrown– branches scratched at me and rebuffed my efforts to push my way down trail. Just after lunch we encountered several walls of snow and intense blowdowns blocking our path. I was in a bit of an exhausted lala-land as I pushed myself past the blowdowns and through the snow. I set short attainable goals in my mind (3 miles until water, 4 miles until the end of the climb, 1 miles until I’ll take a 5 min break). I pushed on. Eventually the trail opened back up with beautiful views of the mountain ahead.
The trail was thin here with a steep drop to the left and a high cliff to the right. Ahead of me, I spotted a mule deer buck with large antlers. I slowed down. Because of the steep terrain on either side of the trail, the deer essentially had nowhere to go. I walked slowly behind him and had some fun yelling and clapping to keep him moving at a good pace. Eventually he managed to get off trail and I pushed on to camp. Upon my arrival, the buck returned– nonchalantly munching on vegetation all around the tent site. I yelled at him to scare him off a couple of times, but mostly he just stuck nearby. I made a point of bringing my shoes and trekking poles into my tent before bed, so that he wouldn’t chew them up for their salt.
Day 66 (July 14th)
Mile 1461.7 – mile 1485.8
Today: 24.1 miles (38.8km)
Total PCT: 1030.6 miles (1658.6km)
The best part about a 13 mile downhill to start the day is that you start off in a great mood, feeling fast. The worst part of a 13 mile downhill to start the day is that it means you get to hike uphill again during the hottest time.
Today was another astoundingly hot day. Even in the shade, the heat felt like an oven. Every once in a while you would walk into a hot pocket of air that felt like standing next to a blazing fire. More rarely you would walk through a cool bubble and wish you could stay there forever. At lunch, Salty, Thunder and I tried to cool off in the McCloud River. It was icy. It was the kind of cold where it hurts to put your feet in it, but it also hurts to take them back out again since all the blood then rushes back in. I ended up just washing my legs and splashing my face in the icy water. After lunch we encountered our first NorCal rattlesnake when Salty very nearly stepped on it while hopping across rocks in a river. He did a last moment leap to avoid landing on the snake.
A little farther along we encountered SideTrack who had injured his hip and was largely unable to walk– he was sitting on a rock beside a washed out dirt road looking for a way to get off trail. He didn’t have a Garmin and none of us had service, so we tried to contact a trail angel to come get him with our Garmins. No luck. We ultimately came up with an elaborate plan where Sidetrack would hobble back to a functional service road some miles back, while we hiked up the mountain until we had enough service to contact someone to come get him. Just when we were about to split up, we heard a car coming up the rough dirt road– fishermen who kindly agreed to take SideTrack into town! Thank goodness!
I soon rejoined Salty and Thunder and we chatted and laughed our way to camp. Here we found Corpse… And trail angel Mark with some trail magic in the form of drinks, freezies, oranges– our hero. The freezies really hit the spot on such a boiling hot day.
After a lovely dinner and another cold dip in the river, I am now curled up in my tent dreaming of my reunion with Jake tomorrow!
Day 67 (July 15th)
Mile 1485.8 – mile 1502.3
Today: 16.5 miles (26.6 km)
Total PCT: 1047.1 miles (1685.1 km)
What a day! My boo came to visit me and I am too busy enjoying his company to write a full write up. We hiked 16 miles. About one mile from the road, Jake appeared ahead of us. Corpse said “Beetle, there’s a guy! Is that him?” and I sprinted down the trail. Thunder thought to capture this picture as I ran to meet Jake. I truly can’t express how grateful I am for this man. I feel so lucky to be with someone who supports my dreams to unconditionally. I love you, Jake.
We headed down the mountain to enjoy some trail magic, and then into the town of Mount Shasta for lunch, groceries, showers, laundry and watching the terrible movie “Blazing Saddles” (which was recommended to us by the Cowboys a few nights ago). A lovely day!
Day 68 (July 16th)
Mile 1502.3 – mile 1502.3
Today: 0 miles (0 km)
Total PCT: 1047.1 miles (1685.1 km)
Chore day! We enjoyed having access to a car as somehow we needed Jake to drive us to every grocery store and gear store in Mt. Shasta.
After lunch and a long morning of Chores in >40°C weather, we headed to the local swimming hole. It was the warmest water and the nicest beach we have had yet! We had a great time splashing around, but it was far too hot to stay out for too long.
Our friends Lost & Found and Magic Hobbit came to town and joined us at our AirBnB for a lovely dinner and a game of pool.
Zero days go so fast and should be more appropriately called chore days! Tomorrow we are back on trail– but I am looking forward to having Jake follow along as my personal trail angel.
