The Adventures of...: Days 98-99

Day 98, 14 miles, endpoint PCT mile 1429

After some final chores and errands, such as shipping a box to Ashland, Oregon (our next big town stop), we got an easy hitch out of Burney and were back on the trail. Before we left we dumped our bounce bucket in favor of individual boxes for the rest of the trip. The bucket has served us well, but we just don't need it anymore. Back on the trail, it was a little after 1pm and the temperatures were scorching. The breeze was hot and the trail was dusty.

About one mile into our hike we took an early break when we came upon a water cache with coolers of soda. The best part: Phil and Julia from Eugene were there, too. We took a shade break, I had a Squirt (they still make those!), and we hung out with P & J for a bit.

From there it was about seven miles to Burney Falls State Park. We left the PCT for a quick trip through the park, which was swarming with tourists on a Saturday in July. The water that flows over Burney Falls actually starts underground in ancient hidden water tunnels. Eventually the water hits impenetrable rock, is forced above ground, and flows downstream until it tumbles over the falls in multiple ribbons of water. It was very pretty, but the crowds of people were a bit much, so we didn't stay long. Josh did get a root beer float from the general store before we left, though.

By then it was getting late, but we made it another 5.5 miles to the next water source just before dark. At dusk we found a small meadow off the trail and settled in for bed with the crickets chirping around us.

Bye bye bounce bucket

Progress

Carla @ Burney Falls

Day 99, 25 miles, endpoint PCT mile 1454

Today's hike was pretty uneventful and the trail unremarkable. We hiked through viewless forests and felt a little bored. We had a couple of nice views of Mt. Shasta, but they came and went too quickly. The mountain looks about twice the size it was when we last saw it two days ago; it appears ever the hulking, 14,000 massive volcano that it is. We are now hiking almost due west, straight towards it.

Halfway through the day we missed a water source (or it was dry) and we had to go an extra 5.5 miles without water. Luckily, it was cooler than forecasted and we had cloud cover for much of the day, so we weren't too hot. By the time we made it to the next water, though, we were very, very thirsty. We took a break at this spring and drank as much as we could. While there, Phil and Julia came in, also very thirsty. We weren't the only ones who had missed the prior water.

We ate dinner next to a creek and enjoyed the company of six other hikers: Phil and Julia, Bugs from Sweden, Lumbar from upstate New York, Optimist from Ohio, and Blue from Washington D.C. They all planned to camp there, but we prefer a little bit of solitude where we camp, so we hiked into the evening after dinner another two miles.

We have about three more days until our next resupply stop in Castella, CA. I'm hoping we get some better views between here and there.