Day 87: July 11; Zero in Burney
It was a glorious zero day. I’m glad to report it was boring and uneventful. After 10 hours of sleep the only thing left to do was resupply and eat, which I did plenty of. Burney is such a small town that you can walk for 5 minutes and see the whole thing. Aside from Jaden’s super generous offer to go to Castle Lake, there’s not much to do in town. Which was perfect for resting a very tired body. I will say it was great for people watching. We saw one woman get on her motorcycle and drive the 50 yards from her room to the motel office and back. After walking 1400 miles it’s hard to imagine a 50 yard walk being too much, but to each their own.
Day 88: July 12; 8 miles
It was another morning of sleeping in, which kind of led to a panic after finding out check out for the hotel is 10am, not the standard 11am. But we managed and after a huge breakfast we got picked up by Jaden and headed back to trail.
We decided that since we didn’t nero into Burney, we would nero out of Burney. And it was a perfect plan because only 8 miles up the trail was Burney Falls State Park, a perfect place to spend the afternoon.
Along the way we saw a huge osprey nest and caught a glimpse of an iconic bridge. Iconic for me at least. Stand By Me is my favorite movie and if you’ve ever seen it, you know exactly the bridge I’m referring to. I got to see it from about 100’ up. There is a way to walk right up to it to see it, but on a nero day it wasn’t worth the extra detour. I’ll just have to settle for a birds eye view.
We made it to the falls around 2:30pm. I was blown away by how stunning they were. Standing at over 100’ tall there was water rushing out from everywhere. With over 100 million gallons traveling over the falls every day, you can imagine how powerful it was. We spent a decent amount of time there taking it all in before heading up to the general store for ice cream. We saw a lot of hikers there, also fully intent on indulging in some creamy goodness.
Then it was off to camp. The park has a hiker/biker area which I’m very familiar with from biking down the pacific coast. There are a number of us here, including Speedracer, Blue, and Stache. We were talking for a while when it came up that Blue is actually a viral sensation! I literally just watched one of his videos the day before. Recently retired from IT, he never thought he’d be an “influencer” in his 60s, but here he is!
It’s pretty hot here. I don’t think it’ll make for a comfortable night, but I’m still still so tired I don’t think it’ll matter much. I hope the day and a half rest is helpful to make the next few hundred miles a little easier. I ordered a new backpack that I’ll hopefully get in Etna, only 200 miles away! My current pack at that point will have well over 2000 miles on it. With the way I abuse gear I’m surprised it lasted even that long. It’s no wonder it’s uncomfortable and killing me slowly… it has zero padding left!
Day 89: July 13; 28.6 miles
I woke up late and in a tizzy but ready to go before 6:30am. It was so hot sleeping that I woke up a few times completely drenched in sweat, as if I was breaking a fever. I was too tired to pay much attention to it and went back to sleep. Ain’t no sleep like a tent sleep.
The morning was nothing special. There was a long climb but it was graded really nicely. We had cloud cover basically the whole time, a true blessing when it seems like the rest of California is experiencing a heat wave. Sure it was a little humid, but I dare not complain about that.
We were warned by a SOBO about all the rattlesnakes she had seen the day before, but spoiler, we saw not one.
After lunch was when the real fun started. I read FarOut comments that warned of downed trees and overgrown trail. At first, I thought once again people were being dramatic. The blowdowns paled in comparison to what we had been through and the vegetation was friendly, not the bristle bush that chewed up your calves. Well, the blowdowns remained fine, but the overgrowth really got to me. We were walking through 7’ growth with thick branches that slapped your face, pulled your hair, and grabbed at your pack. After a few miles of that, I had it. I still managed to get my legs cut up and at one point I thought I was following the trail, only to realize I was actually following a well established deer trail. Well, bound and determined to get back to the trail (David’s voice guiding me), I literally got stuck in a bunch of overgrowth. The only way out was to fall and crawl out, gashing my leg in the process. Let’s just say my shouts of frustration let David know right where I was, anyone within a mile radius could’ve located me.
Annoyed and done with the day, we made it out of the worst of it and to camp just before 7pm. We’re sharing it with That Brunette and Two Mile. We all aired our grievances, Brunette followed the same deer trail as me and also got stuck. Two Mile said this was her worst day on trail, she contemplated quitting. But the day is over and tomorrow is a new day.
I spent a lot of the day thinking about Addie. Her bloodwork and urine test came back slightly abnormal, indicating she might have something going on with her kidneys. So of course I’m worried sick about her, but I know she’s in good hands and hopefully this will be resolved. Or at least treated. I hate being away from her, but I don’t think she’s gonna want to come back home after being so spoiled by my parents. Just say a little prayer or send good thoughts over for my best friend.
Day 90: July 13; 30.5 miles
It was another warm night and I didn’t sleep well, likely because not having answers about what’s going on with Addie is stressing me out. In an effort to have enough time to have a big mile day, my alarm alarmed me that it was time to get packing, as I was already awake. This is the first time in a while (Mt. Whitney, I guess) that I set an alarm. But today we meant business.
It was a new day.. the terrors of yesterday, though still fresh, were past and it was time to see what today had in store. There were blowdowns, of course, and more bushwhacking where the bushes whacked back, but it was short lived and way more forgiving than yesterday. We had lovely views of Mt. Shastsa and even had some brief rain, which was welcomed.
But soon the clouds yielded to the sun and it got hot. I now see what all the hype has been about – we’re definitely in a heat wave. Thankfully we were mostly shaded and had a huge 12 mile descent, with plenty of water for swimming and hat dunking.
At 5pm we cameled up water for a carry and dry camp. It was 4.5 miles to camp all climbing, just how you want to end the day. While there we ran into a guy who quite frankly looked a little out of it. So much so that we asked him if he was Ryan, someone rumored to be very sick on trail. Nope, this guy’s name, ironically, is Out of It, a trail name he embraced because he’s very well aware that’s how he comes across.
But we had to break away from social hour (he’s only one of two people we saw all day) to complete the day. The climb was my favorite yet. After already 24 miles, I felt strong and ready to take on the challenge. I was shocked when I found myself at the site after what felt like 10 minutes! Unfortunately, we were not the first to get there. Although a large site, the guy already there did not give off friendly energy and made it pretty clear he didn’t to share the area. Feeling good and also not wanting to spend the night with grumpy pants, we moved on. It was only 0.7 miles to the next site and we got there well before 7pm.
It’s not the greatest site – pretty slanted and swarming with mosquitoes, but it’s definitely more welcoming. Plus it’s our first day hitting over 30 miles! Sure it was a lot of descent, but it was also 4500’ of climbing, so definitely not easy by any means. My foot is still giving me problems, but if it can handle these kinds of days without severe pain, it’ll be fine moving forward.
This sets us up well to get into town tomorrow relatively early. With only 22.7 miles to the road, we should be in by 5pm! Not sure if we’ll end up in Dunsmuir or Shasta, either way I’m just excited to get into a town!
Day 91: July 15; 20 miles
It was another uncomfortably hot night. I can’t say I had a particularly restful sleep, but 4:30am came rolling around and it was time to get moving. With 22 miles to go and a town to get into, we were on the trail at 5:30am with the target of Shasta in the early afternoon.
The trail was forgiving and cruisy. The miles came quickly with good shade from the hot sun. There was an opportunity to take a bit of a “shortcut” to shave off 3.2 miles of PCT which appeared to be out of the way and useless when a road took a direct shot to the same exact location. With feet that could use a bit of a reprieve, we opted for the shortcut. We were rewarded with beautiful views of Shasta, Castle Craggs, and Black Butte as well as bountiful ripe blackberries. After completing the shortcut it was only 2 miles to the road where we hit the 1500 mile mark!
We weren’t sure what the hitch situation would look like to get into Shasta. We knew there was an “angel” who charges for rides, so we’d call him as a last resort. Thankfully (or maybe fatefully) we saw a car pull right up to the trailhead as we approached. She asked us if we saw Doc, the ride guy, then offered us a ride into town. What are the chances?? We hopped in and off we went.
Nancy splits her time between Shasta and Arizona. We were lucky to have caught her because she’s going back to AZ Friday. She said she and her husband have always wanted to do the PCT, but couldn’t find the time. Meanwhile she’s participated in ultramarathons, triathlons, and even an iron man. No wonder she’s so busy! She said those days are behind her and she’s excited to go to Antartica next year for her 60th. She’s a lovely person, I was so happy to have met her. She even offered us a ride back to trail tomorrow!
We got into Shasta early enough to get resupplied, grab lunch, and get severely judged. Seriously, I have never felt more like garbage than I did in this town. I by no means expect any special treatment, but wow it did not feel good to be in that town. We were literally scoffed at and given dirty looks. I immediately wished we went to Dunsmuir based on how we were treated in Shasta – and we didn’t even stink that badly!
David helped a Guy (literally, his name is Guy) get his jeep started in the grocery parking lot and was rewarded with a ride to the KOA, saving us a 1.2 mile walk. On that ride Guy explained that the town is getting fed up with the high homeless population, and while he knew we were hikers, he doubts other people think the same and lump us all together. It’s disheartening to think that’s how they treat anyone.
It was a rush to get set up and do laundry at the campground. I love KOAs, they are very nostalgic for me. I have many good memories from roadtrips with my family growing up. They were always fun and clean, particularly the bathhouses. This one was of no exception. We ran into a lot of hikers there and caught up a bit. But it had been a few very long days so it was time to hit the hay relatively early.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 1500 miles on the PCT. Canada feels so close, even if I’m still stuck in California.
Emilie Bikes and Hikes 