For anyone interested in pictures, the public link for my Northern California album on Facebook is:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.874247803359.2343841.12820170&l=2beb67a363&type=1
So, back to where I left off. I returned to the trail at Echo Lake after taking exactly a week off to get rid of a killer shin splint. Although I've been cautious about pushing my speed too hard, it seems that the time off did the trick and the shin splint hasn't bothered me yet. However, another week off the trail (in addition to five days off in Yosemite) put me behind "the herd" and I was eager to make up for lost time. Eager though I was, "making up for lost time" would have to wait until after Sierra City. Perhaps it was just a case of Post Traumatic Snow Disorder, but the five days between Echo Lake and Sierra City were easily my least-favorite. As much time as I've spent biking near the Tahoe Basin and trail-running along its ridges, I was really looking forward to the section of the PCT that overlaps with the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT). Unfortunately the TRT in that area was nothing but one set of obstacles after another this year. There were downed trees everywhere to climb over, hordes of mosquitoes, mud/water/swampland where the trail should be, misleading footprints, debris all over the trail, and last-but-not-least SNOW. A rare case of foresight had convinced me to print off Halfmile's topo-maps for this section, so I had insurance against getting completely lost. I thought putting GPS mapping software on my "smart" phone would also add insurance, but I killed the battery on my first day of playing with it. Fortunately I haven't forgotten everything that I learned in the Scouts, and I managed to navigate the snowy sections without losing too much time. The serious snow finally gave way after Donner Pass, giving me a clear shot into Sierra City.
Sierra City is a fairly small town that traces its roots to the gold rush era, and it is also home to the hiker-famous Red Moose Inn. The Red Moose Inn is one of the most hiker-friendly establishments on the trail; I'd categorize it more as a "trail angel" than as a "business". Free lodging (pitch-your-own-tent), free laundry, free wi-fi, and All-You-Can-Eat ribs for less than $12! I talked with one of the owners, and it turns out that she and her husband actually purchased the place because they wanted more storage space for their mining equipment. While her history involved a career in either molecular or micro biology, she and her husband are now legitimate miners. I never realized that people still mine personal claims (patches of property) - but apparently it's a big activity. She even pulled out a contacts case filled with a few of her recent specimens to show me: specks, flakes, and even a few tiny nuggets of pure Californian gold! She reckoned that she and her husband probably yield about $600 worth of gold from a solid day's work. After this introduction to present-day mining, I picked the brain of a retired NFS employee at the general store about the area's mining history. The gold in Placer County is found in pure specks intermingled with all the other rocky debris and sediment - as opposed to being locked inside ore that must be crushed and processed. Although miners at first panned the river beds, it quickly came to everyone's attention that a lot of gold was loosely deposited on the mountaintops. This in turn led to the boom of hydraulic mining in which companies would dam rivers, draw off water, and blast it at the tops of mountains to wash down the gold-containing sediments. Unfortunatley blasting away the tops of mountains tends to clog rivers with silt, and population centers around Sacramento were not happy with this. So the lucrative practice was quickly banned. I also learned about the technical details of other mining/processing techniques such as cyanide leaching and mercury amalgamation. I refer the interested reader to the wonders of Wikipedia for further information.
After a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and coffee, I departed the Red Moose Inn for Belden. Although the section from Sierra City to Belden wasn't terribly interesting, the snow FINALLY thinned out. After cutting a number of snow-ladden switchbacks on my first day, I had clear -albeit somewhat overgrown - trail for the rest of the section. That alone made the trip awesome. To make things even better, I was able to call the post office and have my packages picked up by a local trail angel since I was going to arrive on a Saturday (P.O. is closed all weekend in Belden). Rather than spend two days waiting on the P.O., I was able to get picked up by the trail angel Mrs. Braatan, shower and do laundry, and hit the trail again by the evening. It was tempting to stay at the extra building on her property that had been converted into a hiker hostel, but I wanted to catch-up with the herd.
From Belden, I climbed into Lassen Volcanic National Park and passed my first big milestone in quite some time: the PCT Halfway Mile Marker! Rather than celebrate like most hikers by hitching into Chester for icecream, I pushed the quickest 28 miles of my trip to make it to Drakesbad Guest Ranch in time for dinner. I had heard about the incredible hiker hospitality and amazing food at Drakesbad from southbound hikers and knew that I had to stop. Drakesbad is a laid-back resort in the middle of the national park that always has its accomodations booked-out months in advance. They don't need extra money from the hikers and the park service doesn't require that they do anything to help us, yet they have taken it upon themselves to give thru-hikers a treat. Upon arriving a Drakesbad, the Bavarian owner Ed thrusts a mesh bag with towel and soap at you and points you to the showers. After showering, the staff take your dirty clothes in the mesh bag and toss them in the laundry free-of-charge while you can relax in clean "town clothes" that they provide. Between the tables and chairs in the shade, the hammock, and the hot-springs pool, relaxing is pretty easy. Then, to top everything off, the resort gives PCT hikers a killer discount on food. $5 for a breakfast buffet, $7 for a lunch buffet, and $10 for a multi-course dinner that includes salad, fresh-baked bread, and dessert! I pitty the hiker that bypasses the short side-trail to Drakesbad.
I had originally intended to just stay for dinner and head out early the next morning. However, I am a sucker for all-you-can eat breakfasts with fresh coffee - so I decided to stay a few extra hours. After a long breakfast the next morning, I got caught up talking with the other hikers at the hot springs pool and before I knew it, it was only an hour before lunch. Among other stories, I listened to the Aussie girl named Jimbrick describe how she had hit something along the lines of 60 [no typo] kangaroos with her vehicle over the years! 60!!! She went on to explain that she would usually club the crippled animals in the head with a tire-iron so that they could die a quick and somewhat less-painful death. The tire-iron apparently became her tool of choice after she had a "failed" attempt in which it took her 5-10 minutes to dispatch a poor roo with a shovel. To say that Australia will be an interesting place when I go there next year is an understatement. So I said to hell with getting an early start and didn't get out of Drakesbad until after 2 PM. It was a good break though, and it made the awaiting army of mosquitos somewhat more bearable.
From Drakesbad the trail continued to improve and the only known hurdle that remained was Hat Creek Rim. Hat Creek Rim is a 30 mile exposed and waterless strech between the small resort of Old Station and the next source of water. Rather than push this section during the mid-day heat while carrying a large amount of water, I decided to take a few hours off at Old Station to hydrate and restock on calories. Around 5 PM or so, loaded with a few liters of water plus a can of Red Bull a piece, Happy Whale (a political science graduate from Humboldt State) and I left with the intention of doing a night-hike. However, months of P.T.F.O. (Google/Urban Dictionary if you must) at 9 PM and awaking at 6 AM has an effect on the biological clock that is hard to override. Come 10 PM we were both sleepy, I was stubbing my toes on rocks, and Happy Whale had an adrenaline-spiking encounter with a rattlesnake. So we laid out our sleeping bags to camp under the stars and set our alarms for 4 AM. Surprisingly, we got up "on-time" and continued our hike to Burney. After signing my name in the register at "Cache 22" (a water cache 22 miles into the dry stretch), I pulled ahead and pushed as fast as I could to make it to Burney before the post office closed. With less than an hour to spare, I made it in time to pick up new shoes (my old ones both had tears down the sides such that you could see socks) and a new ground-cloth for my tent/cowboy camping (I am finally rocking a stylish 3' x 7.5' piece of Tyvek)! There was nothing particulary attractive about Burney, so I pushed on and got back to the trail by early evening.
Before leaving Burney, I looked in the McDonalds mirror and instantly realized why I might've had a hard time hitching into town. Despite being only a few days out from Drakesbad, I was as dirty as ever from all the dust. I must've washed my hands 4-5 times while I was there and I still don't think I managed to get them clean! Between the lack of sleep (hiking Hat Creek Rim) and my contacts being expired (I switched them before I left), my eyes were pretty bloodshot. Last but not least, my hair was sticking out in every odd direction and my beard had surpassed the "slight fuzz" stage. I definitely have the bum/thru-hiker look going for me now. I also caught up with one of my friends from Tech, and it was refreshing to have someone ask questions deeper than the standard "So what do you do about bears? How much does your pack weigh? How do you get food? ...". One of the questions she asked was, "What do you miss most about the outside world?" After some deep thought, I realized that the one thing I personally long for in the wilderness is communication. To clarify, I mean that I miss having constant and instantaneous communication with everyone. I am one of those people who (almost) always responds to his emails/voicemails ASAP, and I took it for granted being able to talk with people in real time. Out here, where I can only contact the rest of the world while I'm in town, there's generally a 4-6 day delay on all communications. To compound the issue, both I and whomever I am talking to have usally forgotten where we left off the last time we spoke. On the positive side, conversations have grown to be of higher quality; i.e., less superficial than the general "So where did you go running today?" sort of talks.
After Burney, the miles flew by as I was treated with clear trail and stunning views of Mt. Shasta. I continued to pass hikers and it became clear that I had finally caught up with the herd. At Castella, I road-walked a few miles to pick up a food package (my foresight is getting better, I mailed my box to the local store instead of the P.O. since I would be arriving on a weekend) and took a side-trail to get back to the PCT before nightfall. It was tempted to go into Shasta with a few of the other hikers so that I could take the night off and grab a real breakfast, but I was still eager to make miles. I had heard good things about Etna, and I wanted to push on. From Castella, the trail climbed steeply through Castle Crags State Park and onwards through numerous wilderness areas. I'll keep my description simple and just say that the section between Castella and Etna has probably been one of my highlights for the trip. The trail was clear, the water sources were ample, and the scenery was spectacular. This would definitely be one of the sections that I'd recommend for anyone looking to do just a section/weekend trip on the PCT.
I loved the section between Castella and Etna, but I could tell that the miles were starting to wear on me. Although I had taken a few days with "only" 15 miles of hiking, I hadn't taken a good near-0 since Tahoe. My hiker appetite returned with a vengance, and I suspect that I've already lost the weight that I managed to put back on during my time off (so I'll have to start carrying more food, and/or paying more for lavish meals in town). Although I was still able to push big-mile days, my actual speed was starting to drop too. So I have been looking forward to this zero for a few days now. Fortunately Etna has an awesome hiker hostel here, and I've already taken care of the essential shower, laundry, and food shopping. Word on the street is that I've got beatifully clear trail on through to Ashland, and that I won't hit any significant snow until after Crater Lake. For now, it's off to the local brew pub for some burgers and beverages...
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