safely to Ashland

Day 104 ~ miles 1712.5 - 1727

Somehow, we all slept through the night.  I thought I'd be tossing and turning with fear and anxiety.  We awoke early, feeling safe and without any signs of fire in the immediate vicinity.  As we climbed the ridge, we could see a large plume of smoke in the distance.  A trail angel had left a cooler of sodas at the top of our morning climb, so we stopped with Thor and Fern Toe to enjoy one.  Speedily, we hiked toward the highway, and ended up at Callahan's lodge.  We enjoyed our free beer with Thor and Fern Toe, courtesy of Callahan's, and headed out to the highway to find a ride into Ashland.  One of the first cars to pass by stopped and picked all 4 of us up and dropped us off at the Super 8, where we'd already reserved a room that all 4 of us would share.

Our hotel was a few miles outside of downtown, so we did our usual chores and planned to have a pretty laid back evening in the room. Across the street was a familiar scene:  10 or more hikers crammed into a hotel room hanging out. We all went over to see some hikers that we hadn't seen for awhile, and stayed for a couple of hours goofing off and catching up.

Our day ended with amazingly delicious pizza in bed, and a couple of hours of flipping through TV channels, and really finding nothing to watch.  Looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow!

a wild welcome to Oregon

Day 103 ~ miles 1684.6 - 1712.5

Today was a day that we would obey the alarm. The goal was to stage ourselves as close as possible to Ashland for our hike in tomorrow. We were off at 6am, and were enjoying the cool temperatures. Sideways commented on some pink clouds in the distance and I remembered an old saying that I had heard. "Pink sky at night sailors delight, pink sky in morning sailors take warning". We laughed about it because it looked pretty nice to us.

We made great time hiking and we found ourselves covering the 15 miles to the CA/OR border before noon. It was surreal approaching the sign because to this point I hadn't considered the PCT ever being anything but California. The state was so long and challenging, we are in disbelief that we actually hiked the  trail through it. We recorded ourselves performing a rap song written to Will Smith's Fresh Prince of BelAir, describing our experiences through the lovely state of CA. Thor and Fern Toe were our hype crew in the background of the video. Everyone was in good spirits, and I felt especially energized by the crossing. Not long after entering OR we reached the seemingly less significant 1700 mile mark. The miles are starting to go more quickly again.

We stopped to eat lunch and while we were cooking we saw some very dark clouds starting to build. Thunder started rolling, and  we waited for Oregon to welcome us with drenching rain. We managed to dodge the bullet while we ate, and figured we needed to start moving. We were climbing up to a ridge that we would be exposed on for miles to come, and we could see ground strikes being produced by a storm cell we were walking into. We actually stopped at the treeline to allow  the storm to move on while others hiked by, seeming to not mind the hazardous conditions. Once we felt "safer" we proceeded onto the ridge.

We met some other hikers at a spring where all the talk was about the smoke we could now see rising just a couple of miles south of us. We all felt a little uneasy about it, but we knew we should be walking away from it. More thunder was booming, and some fast moving clouds brought in heavy rain. We quickly said our goodbyes, and literally took off running down the trail. There was no cover and the rain was coming in sideways. Lightning was striking too close for comfort, causing us to flinch and duck as we ran. Each bolt was followed by an immediate sharp crack and a boom that sounded like the report of a cannon directly over our heads. We kept moving until we were well away from the intense cell.
As we rounded a bend we could see three more fires starting on the next ridge over. This brought feelings of anxiety because we didn't know exactly where the trail was going, and there were fires in front and back of us. Our new plan was to push even farther to town to put as much distance as possible between us and the flames. Within minutes could hear the sounds of planes and helicopters coming to work the fires. The fire closest to us seemed to be the largest and was recieving a lot of attention from the helicopters. We watched them take turns dumping fire retardant chemicals as we hiked along. Everyone was stuck between disbelief and amazement. More fires began to come into view and we ended up counting seven total.
We appeared to be hiking in a safe direction until the trail made a hook back behind the ridge that was burning. We reached a road and saw a search and rescue K9 handler who I approached to get the scoop. He said the PCT should be fine heading North, but that we should keep moving because there were several spot fires that hadn't kicked up yet. We were off again with the comfort of somewhat "official" word.

We stopped for dinner, and planned on hiking as far as we could after we ate. A bit of rain fell while we sat, and lightning could be seen to the north of us. Our goal of hiking several more mile was halted by a strobing electrical storm on top of the peak we were climbing. It was dark, and we were physically and mentally drained. We didn't want to end up in another mess, so we called it a night on the side of the trail. Looking forward to being in the safety of town tomorrow.

steep and sultry

Day 102 ~ miles 1664.5 - 1684.6

Lots of people ask us why we want to hike all day, every day for months.  Today I really had to ask myself the same.  It was one of the most difficult and hot days on the trail, and every mile seemed like a chore. 

We woke up early to a parade of hikers passing our tent that had stayed the night in Seiad Valley.  We didn't hesitate for as long as usual before letting the air out of our luxurious inflatable sleeping pads.  The mosquitos served as motivation to pack up and start walking quickly. 

The ascent was relentless.  By 7am we were drenched with sweat and already taking a break.  Fortunately, we weren't in it alone.  Other equally miserable hikers joined us at all of our breaks; luckily we were all able to laugh and joke about our peril.  Two brothers, Bomber and Siesta, had secretly carried out sodas and placed them in a cold spring...incredibly satisfying, and amazing that they would haul all that weight up the mountain!

An extra long lunchbreak was in order, and close to 10 other hikers had the same idea, so we all ate together near a spring. As we ate, the day grew hotter, and we faced yet another climb from the spring.  It was a steep one. and it was so ridiculously  hot that we had to stop and recuperate in the shade after hiking only about a mile.

It was a shorter mileage day than we anticipated.  Hoping for a good night of rest, tomorrow's a new day!  Oh yeah...we now have less than 1000 miles to go, AND we'll cross the Oregon border tomorrow!

hiker box jackpot

Day 101 ~ miles -1643.7 -1664.5

An 18 mile descent stood between us and Seiad Valley.  Since it was all downhill, we thought we would cruise right into town.  For this reason, we ignored the early alarm and slept pretty late.  Not many miles into our day, we crossed a footbridge over a swimming hole we just couldn't pass up.  It wasn't even hot out yet, and we were in the shade, but the pool was too perfect and we were too dirty.  The water was cold, like take your breath away cold, which was probably a good thing because we couldn't stay in long. 

Frequent breaks slowed us, and poison oak slowed us further.  Despite the blazing heat, I stopped to put on leggings to protect my legs from the pesky plant.

The PCT goes right through the town of Seiad Valley, as part of a 7 mile road walk.  A road walk is usually unpleasant; the shock on your feet and knees is always noticable.  This road walk was particulary miserable due to the extreme heat!  Two cars stopped and offered us rides which we declined; the road is the trail, so we stuck to it.  Our water could be likened to the temperature of a hot tub. 

Not a lot to the tiny (population 320 per the sign) town of Seiad Valley; just a store, post office, and RV park.  We arrived to see about 20 hikers sprawled out on the lawn of the RV park in the shade. The grassy lawn was so inviting, we walked next door to the store for ice cream and cold drinks and plopped on the shady grass.  We lounged around for a couple of hours, chatting with lots of hikers.  Most important to be done during our stop in town was buying more food to sustain us until our next stop, Ashland.  Several hikers had received boxes of food in the mail (also known as a mail drop), and some of them had extra that they planned to put in the hiker box.

We haven't seen a hiker box in awhile, and we've been missing them!  It's a box in a location frequented by hikers (general store, hostel, etc), where hikers can discard their unwanted/extra goods; the concept that "one man's trash is another man's treasure".  We were able to pick up almost all the food we needed from the hiker box! 

To beat the heat, we didn't head back to the trail until almost 8:00.  A huge climb awaited us out of town.  We walked until we could barely see, and luckily found a semi-flat spot.  We'll conquor the rest of the climb in the morning.

White Marble Mountain

Day 100 ~ miles 1620.3 - 1643.7

Whoa, 100 days on the Pacific Crest Trail!  We slept for around 10 hours last night, it was so good!  The terrain was difficult, but we were up early, felt well rested, and were able to make  good time as we hiked through the White Marble Mountain Wilderness.  Still just livin' the life!

goodbye, sleepy little town

Day 99 ~ miles 1607.6 - 1620.3

It seems that we never get out of town as early as we intend to.  We awoke in the park early, at 6:30, and slowly packed up our belongings.  We had loosely arranged an 8am ride back to the trail that we didn't want to miss.  The town was so quiet, we wandered the empty streets in an attempt to get something to eat.  Even the coffee shop and grocery store were closed!

As trail time usually goes, our ride ended up departing town around 9:30, and we were back to the trail by 10.  A huge group of hikers was getting back on the trail, around 10 of us!  Our sluggishness was extreme, and it didn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.  We trudged over the exposed trail, with temperatures much warmer than they have been the past several days.  Lunch break couldn't come fast enough, and neither could camp.  After several days of too little sleep, we decided to keep it to a short day and make a good night of sleep priority.  Several deer have wandered right by our campsite by a small pond, including a big buck.  We're in the tent before dark, and I can't recall the last time that happened...very exciting!  Hopefully we'll be well rested tomorrow.

sleeping in the city park

Day 98 ~ miles 1597.1 - 1607.6

The morning miles to the highway flew by, and before we knew it, we had arrived.  The traffic on the highway into Etna was nearly non-existant.  Luckily, one of the first cars to pass by scooped us up, and away to Etna we went.  Our only business in Etna was a good meal and to resupply for the next section of trail.  After grocery shopping, we stopped into the Etna Brewing Company for delicious brews and food.  Hikers trickled into the brewpub until we eventually had nearly taken over the patio.  Our original plan was to head back out of town this evening, but as the clock ticked and the fun continued, we realized that our plan was probably unrealistic.  The hiker party moved to the city park, which generously allows hikers to pitch their tents for $5.  About a dozen hikers congregated at picnic tables in the park, and carried on until dark.  Sleeping in a city park is a new experience, and it feels a bit uncomfortable and strange.  Back to the trail tomorrow, for real!

perfect weather

Day 97 ~ miles 1571.1 - 1597.1

For the 3rd night in a row, we are bundled up in our sleeping bags, and I couldn't complain a bit.  We both slept through our 5:30 alarm, or at least pretended to.  As the sun rose above the mountains and shone on our tent, we began to slowly wake up.  A cool breeze blew through the mesh walls of the tent, and we were perfectly cozy and content in our puffy down sleeping bags.  It was the perfect weather for sleeping outdoors.  What I later realized once I was up and hiking in the perfect sleeping weather, was that it was also the perfect hiking weather (this could cause a dilemma at times).

Wide open views impressed us all day long.  Hiking up and down all day, we definitely earned the scenery.  Most days, I find myself fixating on the maps at every break; checking on where's the next water or landmark, how many miles have we hiked today, what the elevation profile looks like. I didn't look at the maps all day for some reason, and was totally disoriented all day, not knowing how far we'd gone. It was kind of nice being oblivious to what was coming up ahead on the trail, maybe I should do it more often.  We continue to get peeks of Mt. Shasta, and it almost seems as if we may never escape her. 

After two longer days than we're accustomed to, and also because of our late morning, we decided to take it a bit easier today.  We picked up water and hiked on into the sunset to find the next available spot suited for camping.  Three or more miles later, our eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, and we finally found a flat spot.  We did our camp chores in the dark, something I really dislike.  Another night of perfect sleeping weather!

feels like fall

Day 96 ~ miles 1541.9 -1571.1

Whoa, what is going on?  It's July, and as I write, I'm bundled up in my sleeping bag, nearly all of my clothes on, just a couple of degrees away from shivering!  A cold wind is blowing.  These mountains are crazy.  After being disturbed throughout the night by the gusty winds whipping our tent around, we awoke to blustery weather requiring our coats.

We camped by a lake.  The lake with the cool weather and plentiful conifers was reminiscent of the Appalachian Trail through Maine.

All day, the fall-like weather kept us going for our longest mileage day in history!   We hiked in our jackets for awhile, as the clouds drifted in front of the sun and a cool breeze blew.  I suppose that the mostly flat terrain helped a little in our mileage achievement.

thru-hikers are gross

Day 95 ~ miles 1516.5 - 1541.

Thru-hikers are gross.  Yes, it's true...it's difficult to maintain a standard of hygiene when you live in the woods and your resources are so limited. 

Normally, we shower once every 5-7 days, sometimes less frequently.  In the meantime, we use baby wipes and/or rinse off in streams if the time/mood/conditions are right.  Baby wipe baths and rinsing in streams are not adequate long-term substitutes for actual bathing!  Most of the time, we really stink.

We wear the same clothes day after day after day (with the exception of socks and underwear, we do carry a change of each of those).  Laundry is usually done as often as bathing, or less frequently.   Our shirts get so crusted with salty sweat; sometimes they could likely stand up on their own.  Many of the laundry facilities along the trail are old, require maintainance, etc.  Often times, our clothes come out of the washer dirtier than they went in!

Imagine the condition of your bedding if you never washed it.  Couple that with your rarely bathed, sweaty body, sleeping on that same bedding every night.  Our sleeping bags stink!  Oh, and our backpacks are gross too.

We poop in a hole in the woods, which actually is probably more pleasant than most public restrooms.  I really don't mind it a bit.  But then, we carry out our used TP in a ziploc bag.  I know that many of you are repulsed by this, but realistically, the TP would take forever to break down out here in this dry climate, and an animal would likely dig it up anyway. Of course, there's nowhere to wash our hands, so hand sanitizer it is! 

We use hand sanitizer often, but really all it does is smear around the dirt already on our hands (hopefully it's killing some germs, too).  Underneath our fingernails are always brown with grime. Oh, and you should seeand smell our feet!     

We blow snot rockets, and use the same bandana every day to deal with our snotty secretions.

I am not complaining by any stretch of the imagination; we have fully embraced the thru-hiker filth, and we are so much more appreciative of the little things because of it.  So next time you step in that shower or sit on that toilet, take a moment to appreciate what you have!  We are doing this by choice, but there are plenty of people that are not afforded these luxuries, without a choice.

 

salapoles

Day 94 ~ miles 1506.5 - 1516.5

Per usual, it took half the day to drag ourselves out of town.  After a few last minute chores, we were driven to the trailhead by the manager of the hotel where we'd stayed.  On the way into to town, a swimming hole under a bridge had tempted us, but we had been on a mission.  Before hitting the trail, we hung out by the swimming hole, but today was cloudy and too cool to consider getting in.  Eventually, back to the trail it was.  Our usual low mileage out of town would be the case today.  Camping alone by a pond populated with lots of really cool half-salamander, half-tadpole creatures.

keep Shasta weird

Day 93 ~ zero in Mt. Shasta

Typical day off, full of chores and food, thunderstorms, and  live music, in the very eccentric town of Mt. Shasta. And new shoes for me, also.  I've completely outgrown my old shoes (which are a size bigger than I normally wear).  With increased miles and serious heat, my feet are swelling out of control!  Post-storm, the music and plentiful dancing attendees at a free summer concert series in the City Park kept us very entertained.  Eventually, we moved up front and joined the dancers, as we moved to the music at the base of the magical mountain, shrouded in clouds. Mt. Shasta has been so friendly, with a great vibe, but also with a wonderful weirdness about it.

learning about Lemuria

Day 92 ~ miles 1489.6 - 1506.5

Town day!  We've been really excited about our stop in the town of Mt. Shasta; we've heard it's a neat place.  We were afforded with views of the mountain that is its namesake for much of the day.  The trail has cut to the West, so we were able to view Shasta from a different vantage point.  Some say you can see a sleeping lady on top,  in the contours of the mountain; today was the first we saw of her.  A rattler a couple of feet off the trail startled us early this morning; a little adrenaline definitely helps you wake up!

The miles went quickly and by early afternoon we were at the road.  We walked a little over 2 miles, eating loads of roadside blackberries along the way, to a small market in the town of Castella.  Our plan was to camp in Castella, at the Castle Crags State Park campground, and head to Mt. Shasta in the morning.  First, we needed some sustenance: ice cream and soda. 

A picnic table sat across the parking lot from the market, and we strolled over to find out which hikers were sitting at it.  Quickly, we realized that the people at the table were not thru-hikers, but young drifters.  They claimed to be living off the land,  which included hiker boxes, and had big knives on their sides.  Last night, they'd killed and eaten a rattlesnake; they had put the snakeskin on a tree branch, which they shook in our faces, along with the separated rattle.  It was an interesting crew, and whether they intended to be or not, they were quite entertaining.

The Castle Crags campground was our next stop, half a mile.down the road. Us and Thor and Ferntoe had the hiker site all to ourselves.  We attended a ran ger presentation on Mt. Shasta, the volcanic mountain,that covered climbing the mountain and the culture and folklor surrounding the pinnacle (if you're bored, Google "Lemurians").

We'll be off to the town of Mt. Shasta tomorrow!

oaked out

Day 91 ~ 1468.7 - 1489.6

Poison Oak, Poison Oak, Poison Oak.  It consumed our minds today as we traipsed through corridors of it.  At times, the plant was draped across the trail.  It slowed us tremendously.    My eyes and mind tired, and it seemed that they couldn't keep up with my hiking pace.  I couldn't differentiate the plants before I brushed past them.  Eventually, every plant looked the same.  Total. Mental. Exhaustion.

Our day ended shorter than we had planned.  The plan was to cook dinner at the last water source that we would pass today, and move on. We arrived to the water source; a footbridge between tall and steep canyon walls led us over a creek.  Between those canyon walls was an irresistable, deep and clear swimming hole.  It could serve as refreshment and hopefully wash off any Poison Oak toxins that may be on our skin. While I performed my cooking duties, Moonshine went down for a swim.  In the meantime, Thor and Ferntoe arrived.  After dinner, we hung around chatting and decided that we couldn't pass up such a beautiful place to camp.  I hadn't yet gotten in the water, so as dusk was approaching, I laid down in the rushing rapids.  I kicked and hollered like a child.  I felt so free and invigorated. We camped under the stars aside the rushing stream.  A perfect ending to a not so perfect day.

another bear sighting

Day 90 ~ miles 1445.1 - 1468.7

We didn't hear the alarm go off today, and the sound of rain drops on the tent took away the guilt of not getting up. Upon looking out of the tent door, I was greeted by Thor and Fern Toe cooking breakfast and two flashes of lightning from an approaching storm. With new found energy to break camp more quickly, we gathered our things and started walking as the rain began to fall harder.

Not long into our walk we got our best view of Mt. Shasta yet. Sideways stepped off trail to take some pictures with nice purple flowers in the foreground. While I was gazing at the massive volcanic mountain, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. "Bear! Bear!" I yelled trying to get Sideways' attention while following the bear's movement with my pointed finger. Too late. The bear ran into the bushes, not to be seen again.

The day transitioned from a cool rainy morning into a hot humid afternoon. There were a lot of exposed areas causing us to get more wet from sweat than the rain this morning. Finally we reached a good water source where we camelled up (drinking as much as you can at a water source to lessen the amount you have to carry) and washed some of the dust off of ourselves. Campsites have been more scarce on this section, but we were lucky to find a pretty good one tonight. Just us two here to enjoy the thrush singing and the sound of the stream.

-Moonshine

another bear sighting

Day 90 ~ miles 1445.1 - 1468.7

We didn't hear the alarm go off today, and the sound of rain drops on the tent took away the guilt of not getting up. Upon looking out of the tent door, I was greeted by Thor and Fern Toe cooking breakfast and two flashes of lightning from an approaching storm. With new found energy to break camp more quickly, we gathered our things and started walking as the rain began to fall harder.

Not long into our walk we got our best view of Mt. Shasta yet. Sideways stepped off trail to take some pictures with nice purple flowers in the foreground. While I was gazing at the massive volcanic mountain, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. "Bear! Bear!" I yelled trying to get Sideways' attention while following the bear's movement with my pointed finger. Too late. The bear ran into the bushes, not to be seen again.

The day transitioned from a cool rainy morning into a hot humid afternoon. There were a lot of exposed areas causing us to get more wet from sweat than the rain this morning. Finally we reached a good water source where we camelled up (drinking as much as you can at a water source to lessen the amount you have to carry) and washed some of the dust off of ourselves. Campsites have been more scarce on this section, but we were lucky to find a pretty good one tonight. Just us two here to enjoy the thrush singing and the sound of the stream.

-Moonshine

a search for the "pool"

Day 89 ~ miles 1423.5 - 1445.1

We'd stayed up last night a little later than usual, hanging out with other hikers at the state park, but we still managed to rise early.  It was a super hot day, and swimming was definitely in order.  The guidebook pointed out a "pool" as part of a stream that we would hit around lunchtime, perfect.  When we arrived to the unsuspecting spot with Thor and Ferntoe right behind us, we wandered around in search of this "pool" that we thought would have been pretty obvious.  A diagram pointed us in the right direction, but all we found was basically a mud puddle.  Disappointment soon set in as we all realized that the pool didn't exist.  A shady spot was quickly found, where we all ate together and joked about the "pool".

We hiked on into the afternoon, as storm and rain clouds threatened, and made our way to a campsite listed on our maps.  It turned out that there really wasn't much of a campsite, just a forest service road.  Campsites were really slim due to logging slash covering the forest floor, so we reluctantly setup right by the road with a great view of Mt. Shasta, where Thor and Ferntoe joined, as well as another hiker.  We watched as the sun set and cast a strange shadow from the mysterious mountain: a perfect prism of
darkness, coming from the very top of the mountain.  None of us had ever seen anything like it; we are very intrigued by Mt. Shasta and all of the lore that surrounds it, we hope to learn more about it soon.

race against the clock

Day 88 ~ miles 1407.4 - 1423.5

Since we hiked until after dark last night, we slept pretty late this morning.  The extreme heat totally sapped our energy, and I felt as if I could sleep forever.  What a fine site the stream that we crossed this morning was: the first on-trail water source for the last 33 miles.  We did it, we survived the infamous Hat Creek Rim.

Our next stop was Burney, a small town about 7 miles off the trail, to buy food for the next section of trail.  Fortunately we didn't have to stand on the heated, unshaded asphalt for too long before a kind gentleman picked us up.  Of course, our first priority was to eat; we've learned the hard way that it's not wise to go to the grocery store hungry, especially as a thru-hiker!  We dined at an all you can eat pizza/salad bar, paired with a huge fountain soda with unlimited refills, it definitely hit the spot!  Then to the grocery store, followed by loitering outside while we organized our food.  Thru-hikers do a lot of loitering; consider having no car, no home, no place to stay.  We've got to have somewhere to hang out, preferably in the shade.  The people of Burney were incredibly friendly, and our town experience was short but enjoyable.

Back to the trail, we hiked a mile or so until we stumbled upon a "water cache", which was more like a hiker's wildest dream!  A picnic table with shade, solar shower, cabinet stocked with canned food and toiletries, stove to cook on, and cooler stocked with sodas were just some of the amenities available.  We had to get to the Burney Falls State Park store before it closed to pickup a package.  Time was running short, so we couldn't stay to enjoy the cache.  We hiked quickly to the state park. and figured that the trail to the store there would be clearly marked.  We hiked and hiked , until we stopped to check our maps; we should've already arrived at the store, we thought.  We had missed the trail by more than a mile, and only had 20 minutes to retrieve our package.  We took off, nearly running down the trail and made it to the store with only minutes to spare.  After that near-fiasco, we sat outside of the store with several other hikers to relax.  The ranger kindly asked us to leave after dark, so we hiked a short distance into the woods where we're camped with Thor and Ferntoe.

tears at the cache

Day 87 ~ miles 1381.5 -1407.4

It was a known fact that today would be miserable.  When the alarm sounded at 4:30, the misery was already apparent.  We ignored the alarm for a few moments, though we both knew it was in our best interest to get ourselves up and moving.  We were on trail by 5:45, a record, I do believe.

When we awoke, it was actually chilly.  It was pretty dark; our noses dripped and hands were numb as we hiked away from Subway Cave.  The air heated up quickly as the sun rose and we climbed up to the Hat Creek Rim.

Our first break was taken up on the rim at some rest/observation area that seemed close to abandonment; it was there that we caught our first glimpse of Mt. Shasta.  Through the haze, Shasta appeared as just a snow-capped peak, levitating above the meeker surrounding mountains.  The base of the mountain was invisible through the sultry haze in the air.

Our water capacity has dwindled in recent miles, as our bladders have been destroyed by misuse and UV rays.  I left out of Subway Cave with 3 liters of water, and Moonshine 4.  Probably not as much as we should've carried, but our capacity was maxed out and we didn't have a choice.  We were doing a great job of rationing our water, but as the heat of the day increased, we wanted to drink more and more.  Around 11 or 12, the heat was becoming unbearable and we were both feeling pretty rough as a result.  In perfect timing, we arrived to Forest Service Road 22, where Cache 22 was fully stocked with water!  Tred, who maintains the cache, welcomed us into the shade of the "twigloo" and gave us each an ice cold Peace Tea.  I literally cried.  For the past bit of hiking, all I'd been thinking about was our lack of water.  What a relief.  Tred informed us that the day's high temperature would be 104, the hottest day of the year.

And guess who else was so perfectly positioned at Road 22?  Coppertone!!  We enjoyed root beer floats in the shade with several other hikers.  To avoid the hottest part of the day, we hung out there for hours.  We hiked out around 6 and walked until dark.  Just about 3 miles until we'll get to a water source tomorrow.  The Hat Creek Rim provided us with some beautiful,  wide open views, but we're glad to have it behind us.

gettin' tubed

Day 86 ~ miles 1356.6 - 1381.5

Another HOT, HOT day on the good ole' PCT.  Finally, we're beginning to feel like ourselves and things are getting back to normal, if you catch my drift. 

The hiking was easy, despite the heat, and we were able to crank out some quick miles. For most of the day we wandered through an old burn area.  Burned up trees don't provide any shade, so that was fun.  Water was a bit scarce; we considered it as a practice run for our big waterless stretch tomorrow.  We had a big hiking day to position ourselves well for a 33 mile stretch without on-trail water: thr Hat Creek Rim.  It's the current hype on the trail. 

Our day ended at Subway Cave, where water was a little more than a quarter mile off-trail.  Of lesser importance was the Subway Cave, a lava tube through which we walked a loop trail underground.  We entered the cave at dusk, and our weak headlamps did not provide the light that we desired inside.  Although neither of us spoke of it until later, we both wanted to turn around shortly after entering.  It was such a creepy feeling! The pitch black, dead silence, damp coldness, and narrowing corridors made for quite a memorable experience, but we're so glad we went all the way through.

Big, hot and dry day tomorrow that we're not too excited about.  Alarm's set for 4:30, yay!

volcanic surprise

Day 85 ~ miles 1338.4 - 1356.6

The day started with a pity party in the tent.  My stomach hurt, I was absolutely exhausted, even after a long night of uninterrupted sleep, and the tears were flowing.  Moonshine coaxed me out of the tent as I tried to calm my emotions.  The last thing I wanted to do was hike, but I knew I didn't have much of a choice.  We're racing against Mother Nature, and if we're going to make it to Canada before the snow does, we need to move.

We've had views of the volcanic Mount Lassen for several days.  We knew we'd enter Lassen Volcanic National Park, but we'd never heard anything about it.  We crossed over the park boundary and decided to take a short side trip down the Terminal Geyser trail to check it out and eat lunch.   Never have either of us seen a geyser, and it was legit!  We could smell the sulfur well before we could see the constant flow of steam escaping from below the surface of the earth.  Signs everywhere warned of the potentially dangerous volcanic conditions.  After lunch, we decided to travel another side trail, which skirted a mint-green colored acid lake surrounded by bubbling mud pots.  What a surprise!  Never did we expect to be wandering around this kind of volcanic activity today, or at all on the trail.

Still weak from our illness, we were somehow able to push through the extreme heat and have a sort of decent day of hiking.  Camping with several other hikers by a nice stream, hoping to continue to gain energy tomorrow.