Day 123& 124 Miles 1413-1460

Start: 1413 end: 1434 Total: 20

It was a hot night in the recreation building at the church. They have a carpeted basketball court next to a dining room/kitchen area that they let hikers stay in. The church has showers and loaner clothes to wear while doing laundry!

I awoke around 8 am to some church folks setting up tables and chairs for a potluck later that day. I tried covering my eyes to sleep in but was soon awake. I got up and walked over to the church coffee shop where I got a free coffee then went back to the sleeping area to stretch. My left hip was so tight from the hiking the day before. I’m usually pretty limber but I haven’t been stretching at all out here, just walking. I stretched for a while, then got another coffee and made some delicious egg/bagel sandwiches with Mantis. 

After, I got another free coffee, a latte this time since the barista had arrived. Then I went to the grocery store to get my resupply and organized my things. Tuah, Kiki, trouble, Toro, Dapper and Bushwack had all left the night before to go to Burney Falls and we were gonna go there to spend the day as well. From where I got off the trail at Burney was 8 miles on trail to Burney Falls but I wanted a relaxed morning and a bit of rest and Mantis was still recovering so we just hitched on the road so we could spend the days at the falls. 

We got a ride from a man at the church and went down to the falls. They are a popular tourist destination but are some really large unique falls with water coming out of all different nooks and crannies. We sat in a shaded spot on the rocks and had a beer and relaxed a bit. After a while some other hikers showed up but no signs of our other friends who went the night before. We went for a swim and another hiker bet us a beer we couldn’t touch the falls. Having two years of high school swim under my belt I was eager to accept the challenge. 

I swam out, at first directly but then soon gulping water and hitting a couple sticks that were floating. I then went to the side and pushed towards the powerfall falls. It was so strong and the current was quite scary, I almost gave up but I was so close so I pushed through. I touched the water and quickly retreated, or tried to but my body was so exhausted, evening leaving the falls to get back to shore was tiring. 

After we dried off we found Trouble, KIKI and them just before they were to leave to find a rope swing that was nearby. Trouble, Mantis and I took a short cut while the others went a different way. After a mile or so of walking we arrived at this really cool rope swing on a lake and spent the rest of the evening playing there. 

We all hiked out around 7, the others were shooting to do 12 miles. Mantis and I were gonna see how we were feeling and do anywhere from 4-12. We took a short cut back to the trail and then followed along a dirt road that paralleled the trail for a while. Mantis and I fell back from the others and a truck was coming up behind us. We moved over and they slowed down and asked us if we wanted a ride. We were only planning o n being on the road another .5 mile or so before connecting with the trail but we figured we’d at least use the truck to catch up to our friends. 

We soon passed the others and they all got in as well, except Dapper. Dapper is committed to the continual footpath so he opted out of taking the car ride. Some folks aren’t necessary purists, meaning they stick on the red line the entire time, but want to do what it takes to keep a continual footpath all the way from Mexico to Canada, a noble act that I did on my first thru hike. This thru hike I gave that up early on in exchange for prioritizing side quests and experiences. 

Anyway, Mantis, Bushwack, Toro, Tuah, Trouble, Kiki and I were all in the back of this red necks truck. He said he knew those roads like the back of his hand and could take us as far as he could up the trail. Apparently he could go much further than just .5 mile and they were just out on a drive. We all agreed. There were two guys and a girl in the truck. Bob the driver and Adam was hanging out the passenger side most the time chatting to us. He asked us to pass them up some beers and invited all of us to have some from the cooler. 

There we rode for a couple hours up these pretty narrow, sketchy and abondoned dirt roads. But no tree or obstacle was too big for “truck shit bob” as we came to call him. He had a big pickup with 4 wheel drive and could go over or around any obstacle. Many times we thought we’d come to the end of the line or would have to get out and help move a tree but truck shit bob would just drive right over it or crush the brush around it to get by. 

A couple hours and 12 trail miles later Bob dropped us off and gave us a few more beers for the road and we all slept there for the night. Sleeping comfortably on the road knowing there was no way anyone else could make it through that. I tried cowboy camping in solidarity with Tuah and Trouble who did not have tents but the bugs were so bad I set mine up in the middle of the night. I probably didn’t get to sleep until 1 in the morning. Trouble hasn’t had a tent this whole time, Tuah just sent his home. They wear their rain gear and just suffer throughout the night. 

Day 124

Start: 1434.2 End: 1459.7 total 25.5

Mantis and I were the first ones up and out on trail that morning. We started hiking at 5:15. I was so tired, having maybe slept 4 hours the night before. We planned on going 15 miles before taking a long siesta as it was going to be really hot. 

We did 7 miles through some pretty thick brush to our first water source. seeing some awesome views of Shasta and clouds in the morning. We got some more water and did 7 more to our siesta spot, picking some raspberries along the way. Kiki eventually passed us. 

We got to the stream for our siesta around 12 and Kiki and Mountain Dancer were there. We talked for a few minutes before all of us passed out. While I slept Kiki awoke and left and Bushwack and Toro came in and went to sleep. 

Mantis and I stayed there sleeping, eating, resting and stretching until 5 pm when we left to try to do 10 more to the next water source. The rest of the gang was shooting for a 31 mile day but that was still way too much for Mantis, 25 miles would be pushing it. He was wrecked the day after we did 26. 

The direction of the wind changed while we took our siesta and brought all the smoke from the nearby wild fire into where we were. It was so hazy and smokey. It felt post apocalyptic as we climbed up. The valleys were covered in a thick haze. You could feel it as you breathed. I didn’t realize how bad it could get but definitely not something you want to be outside exercising in. 

We pushed through, had some ups and downs and walked along a ridge for a bit. We stopped at a dirt road for dinner with the company of a very curious and not afraid deer, then pushed on 4 more miles. It was cool walking during sunset and then dusk and Mantis found a bunch of critters in the dark. We didn’t arrive at camp until about 9:30/10 and still had to go off trail to find water. It was .2 down a dirt road then pretty well hidden in the forest. 

We then set up and I went soundly to sleep, snoring immediately according to Mantis.