Well, all the hikers (including us) had to scramble at around 2am when a light sprinkle of rain blew through, totally unexpected. Bill simply draped our tarp over the net tent we were already in because of the mosquitoes, and  when we got up at 5 am,  all our stuff was dry. The only problem we had was the darkness–it was hard to see the trail when we tried to start hiking.  So we agreed “Looks like the days are getting shorter again–better bump our get-up time to 5:15.” 

By breakfast time we were at Stover Springs, where a number of hikers had camped. Many were planning to reach Drakesbad by afternoon, shower, swim and have dinner there. We had fun talking to Evan, Swipe and Tradeja while we were eating.  Evan said he was going to try to make it to Drakesbad for lunch.  I remembered what I’d thought about last night, but told myself, “Don’t be silly–it’s 15 more tough miles to Drakesbad (lots of steep hills and rough trail).  No way can I do that many miles on that kind of trail by 12 noon today.”  But then I thought,  “But I can at least try my best to hike fast, and see what happens.”

At first, much of the trail was in forest with little to see, but I really enjoyed the glimpses of Mt. Lassen above green meadows. A couple of ridges later, we’d reached the North Fork of the Feather River, where we caught up with several other hikers who were there relaxing. We stopped for a Snickers break, since it’s a very pretty, comfortable spot.  The other guys said they were going to loaf their way to Drakesbad and spend the night there.  We enjoyed the rest, but soon pushed on, and that’s when I said to myself, “Hmmm…if we could reach the park boundary by noon, Bill could “turn on the afterburners” and get to Drakesbad before the end of lunch at 1 pm.  He could get some food for himself and for me.”   

I told Bill about my idea.  He thought it was a bit crazy, but was willing to give it a try, so we both started hiking as fast as we could, and reached Lassen Park boundary by 11:45 am. Bill took off at top speed and was soon out of sight, while I hiked as fast as I could go (huff, puff!) up every hill and RAN on every downhill.  At Boiling Springs Lake, I did stop briefly to talk to a French family, who were already talking to another PCT hiker, Fuzzy Monkey.  The French family were absolutely amazed at the idea of what we were doing; they insisted on taking a picture with Fuzzy Monkey and I. 

Then I started to half-run on down the trail, past the weird blue-y green, steaming lake, and down through the woods towards Drakesbad.  At 1 pm, I was just across from it, on the other side of the meadow, and I trotted and ran as much as I could on the trail through the picnic area and then back up the road towards the resort.  I was absolutely exhausted.  Doing over 18 miles in one morning on rugged terrain was really tough!

I raced on, and just after I’d reached the first group of cabins, along came Ed, who runs the place, riding in his golf cart. “Welcome, wanderer!” he cheered, “Would you like some lunch?  Hop in!”  So I got a very welcome ride with him, right to the front door of the dining hall.  I found Bill happily chowing down already, and he said he’d only arrived 10 minutes before I did!  Turned out that it was EMPLOYEE lunch time, and there was plenty of food even after the guests had eaten.  I wasted no time in loading a plate and eating to my heart’s content.  Fuzzy Monkey soon arrived, so all three of us were having a great time.  The Drakesbad folks were awesomely nice to us.  The cost for our all-you-can-eat lunch was only $6.50 each.  Wow! 

 Bill and I totally pigged out and waddled back to the trail at 3 pm.  We took our time for the rest of the day.  Up to the top of Flatiron Ridge we went, then strolled along to Grassy Swale, which was as lovely and green as ever, but the mosquitoes were so bad that we had to put on headnets.  We stopped for a snack at Swan Lake, which was so full that it reached all the way to the trail.  Amazing!  We continued the climb to  Lower Twin Lake, where we planned to stop for water, but we were sad to see that the effect of the 2004 forest fire was still there. Not much has regrown.

At the lake, we caught up with the Israelis, who’d stopped to cook dinner before putting in a few more miles.  We got our water, then pushed on ourselves, with the plan of getting away from the lake, and hopefully away from the mosquitoes.  No such luck.  The buzzing little biters were everywhere.  So it was “Net tent tonight!”  I have to say again that I’m SO glad Bill figured out how to rig it with just a couple of trek poles, so we don’t have the bother of the tarp.  I crawled into the sleeping bag after taking a Motrin.  My back hip was hurting again today, but it’s probably my own fault–I was RUNNING down hills instead of just walking.  But oh man, it was worth it to get that awesome lunch!  

It’s 15 miles to Old Station, and I started thinking, “Maybe we can make it to the Heitmans by lunch….”, then I slapped myself and said, “Don’t be an idiot!  You don’t need to do 15 miles before noon again!  Take it easy!”  So I’m going to lay my head down and remember to just enjoy the trail tomorrow!  And thankyou, Lord, that we are “home” in Lassen Park!  This is the place where Bill and I actually learned to backpack, many years ago!

Walk with Aragorn to Isengard: Find Pippin’s brooch, enter Rohan

Tags: Boiling Springs Lake, Drakesbad, Feather River, Lower Twin Lake, Mt. Lassen, Stover Springs