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.