Wed. Sept. 21   Miles today: 18.1   Total so far: 2,309.8    Miles to go: 329.8     No. CA Section N

Bill and I had a very restful night sleeping on the folding camp cots in the incredible treehouse at the Heitman’s.  At very first light, the rooster next door started crowing, and I decided to get up and do some writing to make up for the computer frustration yesterday.  So I tiptoed into the Heitman’s house and sat down at the dining room table to write and eat some yogurt.  By 7:00, Georgi had coffee going, and  we had a very fun conversation about “fiber arts.”  I had been admiring her spinning and weaving, and was wondering if she ever dyed her own yarn.  Oh yes!  She showed me some more of her work–beautiful colors!  I also have spent a lot of time dyeing (FABRICS, in my case–silk and nylon for dance costumes), so we had fun talking over some of our “dyeing adventures.” 

Breakfast was fabulous, and I ate LOTS of French toast, bacon and fruit.  I LOVE thru-hiking!  I can eat as much as I want!  Then I worked on some lastminute details, till we were packed and ready to go (after a round of picture-taking!).  Georgi and Dennis welcomed, warmed and fed us, and we are very, very grateful!  Georgi dropped us off near the PCT at about 10:30.  It was a pleasant, warm, breezy morning, and we had a final round of hugs and best wishes before Bill and I set off.

We were hiking happily along the PCT, through the forest, so glad to be back on the trail, and with only a bit over 300 miles to go–until we heard several gunshots off to our right.  Oh rats, that’s right! It was hunting season!  We had totally forgotten about it while we were at the Heitmans.   So we stopped and prayed for God’s protection for US and good success for the HUNTERS.

Near the famous Subway Cave, there was a cute sign by the PCT which said, “Water at Cave.”  Since it was almost 12 noon, we turned off and walked to the Cave picnic area to cook lunch and then replenish our water supply for the long, dry haul ahead.  The picnic area is great–it’s a very pretty, peaceful, pine-treed park, and Bill lay down to rest for awhile on the soft pineneedle duff.  He said his stomach feels OK, but the rest of him does NOT–he says he just feels completely tired out/exhausted, all the time, not just at the end of the day.  But tired or not, eventually he had to get up, and we went back to the trail.

Not too long after that came several hundred feet of elevation gain climbing up to the Hat Creek Rim.  Most of the trail up was an abandoned old road, very rough and rocky.  Bill had to stop and rest partway up–climbing seems to be really hard on him.  But finally we were high enough to have great views–wow!  Shasta to the north and Lassen to the south…but the Lassen view made us say, “Oh, no!”  There was forest fire smoke rising into the sky out to the west of Mt. Lassen!  We were glad that the smoke was BEHIND us, but sad to think of more blackened forest. Sigh.

The farther we went along the Rim, the better the views became.  Mt. Lassen stood majesticaly to the south, and Mt. Shasta, crowned with cloud as usual, stood to the north.  We were mostly walking through a forest fire zone, but it was recovering very well, and the young pine trees were already a bit taller than I am.  We also had to walk around a huge canyon that cuts way back into the edge of the Rim.  The afternoon continued very pleasant and breezy–excellent hiking weather!  We had a nice supper, then pushed on to the former fire lookout site, where we set up camp–no tarp tonight!  We wanted to enjoy the gorgeous sunset.  We were serenaded to sleep by crickets singing and an owl hooting.  It was a good place to be! 

Tues. Sept. 20        Miles today: 10.8      Total so far: 2,291.7    Miles to go: 347.9      Old Station

Wow, it really WAS cold last night–below freezing, actually!  My water bottle turned to ice slush!  Well, the best way to face a cold morning is to HIKE, so we did, only stopping to admire some amazing burn piles, and to sign the PCT register at the north boundary of Lassen Park.  I have never felt worthy to sign it before on ordinary backpacking trips!  Then we kept moving on till there was enough sun that we dared stop in the cold for breakfast.  Bill was able to eat his whole breakfast, but said he feels profoundly tired. 

Then the PCT spends several miles travelling through a tree plantation.  I have always enjoyed this part of the trail–it’s so peaceful, and the deep pine needle carpet under the trees is VERY cushy when you stop for a rest break, which we did.  I devoured another Snickers, while Bill just collapsed.  But we were cheered at the thought of how close we were getting to Old Station!  It was hard to leave that soft pineneedle duff in order to tackle a steep climb up ‘n over a lava flow, but we did it, followed the meandering trail through the forest, and there it was–the turnoff to Hat Creek Resort!  We went straight to the store, and even Bill brightened up at the thought of a “people food” lunch.  We had sandwiches and juice, and decided to follow it up with strawberry ice cream sundaes, when the store owner, who is a totally fun guy, cracked us up by putting a paper towel over his arm, began acting all dignified, and offered us (for FREE! to go with our sundaes) a muffin and a donut…”I, your maitre d’, recommend these excellent pastries…”  We got a good laugh, and enjoyed our sundaes plus pastries.  I was amazed that Bill was able to eat all that food.

Next we went to the post office for our resupply box, and the post office lady offered to call trail angels Georgi and Dennis Heitman.  Before we knew it, there was Georgi–a petite (but very strong) lady with white hair that glows like a halo around her face.  She said she was going to town (Burney) that afternoon, so I could go with her if I wanted.  Yes, Ma’am!  Off we went to the Heitman’s lovely log home in the woods, with an awesome treehouse (straight from Narnia, I think) out back where Bill and I could stay.  I took a FAST shower and put on a clean shirt and pants, then Bill went to shower and sleep while Georgi, Dennis and I went to town.  Dennis had a physical therapy appointment to help him recover from some bad side effects of a prescription medication.  We went there first, and to my amazement, Georgi handed me her car keys and said, “Do your shopping and be back in an hour.  I need to stay with Dennis.”  Wow!  I drove VERY carefully (pleased to find that after all these months I still knew how!) and got back in time.

Then we did a few more errands and headed home, where we found Bill sleeping on the “deck” of a pretend “boat” by the house.  I started on laundry and thought i’d use Georgi’s computer to write my journal stuff, but it kept crashing, so I finally had to give up.  Georgi made a fabulous dinner and kept reminding us that one of her rules for PCT hikers is “no leftovers!”  Bill’s appetite seemed to be back to normal–he ate just as he usually would–and we had a great conversation.  Turns out that Dennis and Georgi know Jim Duffy, the guy we met in Sierra City.  He and Dennis used to work together aboard the “Hoga.”  Dennis showed us pictures of the Hoga fighting fiercely at Pearl Harbor.  Wow!  He and Georgi made us feel very welcome, and tonight we are very, very comfortable up in the treehouse.