Sun. Sept. 25    Miles today: 24.8     Total so far: 2,393.7         Miles to go: 245.2        No. CA Section O

The wind was still blowing hard when we started getting up in the dark at 6:00am, on a clear,  43 degree morning.  In fact, last night, the wind blew pine needles all over us and our gear!  We gladly headed down the trail toward Deer Creek, because that took us OUT of the wind.  While we collected some water there, I was admiring the “umbrella plants”.  They were taller than I am, with HUGE leaves! 

For some time after that, we were following all the ins and outs of Deer Creek’s canyon, and this meant lots of “side creek” crossings and very little sun, since the canyon was so deep.  We FINALLY got to a sunpatch and Bill stopped to just stand in it, saying, “Ahh, sun!”  He seemed to be feeling better today.  More winding in and out of canyons finally got us to the roaring, often turquoise blue, McCloud River.  It looked like a fisherman’s dream come true, and sure enough, there were lots of fisherguys out in their hip waders among the whitewater pools and cascades.  The PCT crossed the river (on a bridge, thank goodness!) and then quickly climbed up well above the river.  For quite a ways, though, there were “fishertrails” going from the PCT down to the river! 

Meanwhile, we were embarked on the over 1,500 foot “climb of the day”.  We were still climbing at lunchtime.  I was cooking up a pot of fettucine and veges, and I asked Bill to cut up the “Slim Jim” jerky I’d bought at Burney Falls.  When I looked back, Bill was using his walking stick for a cutting board!  Great idea! 

Today, as usual, finding water was a constant concern.  Most of the time it was 12-14 miles betwen places to get water.  We try to go to springs or headwaters of creeks as much as possible, since we just drink the water without treating it or filtering it.  All day today, we were hiking in various creek canyons.  It was a very warm day, but that was no problem to us–we were in the shade all day!  Our only views were when the trees thinned out enough that we could see the other side of the canyon or down the canyon.  The last creek we crossed today was Squaw Creek, which has a curving, narrow “swimming hole” just below its bridge.  On a warm afternoon, it looked SO inviing!  But we needed more miles, so we walked on by.

Our campsite at the end of the day ended up being near where the PT crosses a “mishmash” road junction where several roads come together.  It was the only reasonably flat place we could find.   And surprise, after several chilly days and nights, there was no wind and it was so warm that the crickets were singing!  And we cheered at the thought, “Maybe the weather will hold OK till we make it back to Ashland and the finish line!”

Sat. Sept. 24     Miles today: 24.1         Total so far: 2,368.9     Miles to go: 270       No. CA Section O

Well, the wonderful wind, howling all night, did its job!  This morning was still cold (35 degrees) but bright and clear.  All of the places that were not under trees were covered with frost and there was even some frozen ground!  Bill and I were warm last night, though, and I was so comfortable that I overslept by 10 minutes, so we got a late start, well “woolied up”, with mittens, hats, etc. Mt. Shasta was looking quite lovely as we got underway.  It’s fun to see how little by little we are getting closer to such majesty, crowned with gleaming snow.

Not long after we had breakfast, a hunter truck went by, and it wasn’t long before we heard a gunshot.  The guy Mark, who gave us breakfast yesterday, told us that all his hunter friends find hikers annoying.  “Doggone those darn hikers!  Why don’t they stay out of the woods during deer season?”  Well, Mr. Hunter, I wish we COULD, but we have over 200 miles to go and can’t take 2 weeks off for your convenience! 

As we hiked along this morning, we saw evidence of a trail crew at work–we weren’t having to constantly push through bushes!  Somebody had “brushed” the trail, hooray!!  Eventually we caught up with the crew, only today they weren’t brushing and pruning–they were hauling rocks and doing “trail engineering” to fix a section of PCT that is constantly sliding away down the mountainside.  Way to go, California Conservation Corps!  You guys are awesome!  And what a challenge to create a stable trail on this VERY unstable mountainside.  We walked along a ridge where one side was fine, but on the other side, it looked as if the mountain just fell down. 

Besides having a better trail, which was great, I was encouraged at first by Bill’s seeming to feel better.  He was able to eat and said he felt “pretty good”.  Uphills are still awfully hard on him, though, and every time we had to do any climbing, he couldn’t go too far without having to stop and rest.  At 11:30 we were on a long uphill, and Bill said he just could not go on and had to stop for a rest.  My reaction was to feel very, very frustrated.  I had plenty of energy and was raring to do more miles.  So I unhappily sat down in a sunpatch by a tree (it was still a chilly day) and leaned against the treetrunk and waited for Bill, inwardly fuming.   Having nothing else to do, I was looking around at the trees, plants, etc., when to my surprise, near one of my feet I noticed a very small rock duck.  I stared at it, wondering, “What is that there for?”  Then I noticed a very faint path leading downhill from the other side of the tree I was leaning on.  I knew that we were near some springs where we’d planned to get water….hmmmm.  I told Bill “I’m going on an ‘explore’–that might be a path to the springs”, and headed out.  Wow!  Down the hill, out of sight of the trail, was a whole big camping area, right by the creek coming out of the springs!  There was plenty of nice clean spring water.  I hurried back up to the trail to tell Bill.

As it turned out, had we stayed on the trail till it “reached the springs”, we would have been out of luck.  The springs are in a big jungly tangle of vegetation, and we would have had a very hard time to get at them.  The next water was 14 miles away.  Had Bill not been tired and insisted on stopping, and if I had not sat down under that particular tree, we would never have noticed the tiny little rock duck and faint trail.  Ironically, the person who’d made the little duck had also scratched the word “WATER” on a rock by the trail, but he/she had propped the rock up facing in a direction that only a SOBO would see it.  We would never have seen it, being NOBO’s, and would have just sailed on by.    So AGAIN, I was ashamed of my impatience and VERY grateful to the Lord for taking care of our water needs AGAIN, with His usual perfect timing.  Bill and I ended up having a very nice, early lunch by the spring creek, and got plenty of water for the 14 miles ahead. 

After lunch, it was many more miles of climbing, till we were at 6,100 feet, the highest point in Section O.  Not too far from there, we met two very nice hunters–a dad and son–perched on a high ridge where they could see for miles.  We mutually wished each other well after a bit of talk, and a short itme later, we heard a gunshot.  Hope they got a deer!  Unfortunately, when we took our midafternoon break, Bill forgot his sunglasses, and awhile later I ended up having to wait for him while he went back to find them.  I spent the whole time he was gone praying and worrying because he was not wearing his red backpack, and there was a possibility that in his tan-colored hiking clothes, he might be mistaken for a deer……  Sigh.  I distracted myself by looking at the beautiful view of Mt. Shasta.  Finally Bill came back in triumph–he’d found his sunglasses–and we continued on a very long, climbing contour around Pigeon Hill.  The wonderful views were great compensation, though!  We could see Mt. Lassen on the horizon to the south, and endless rows of mountain ridges and valleys below us.

Finally we reached Grizzly Peak, with its fire lookout, and followed the slightly-scary-for-me PCT as it contoured around the southern and eastern sides.  Basically, the trail was blasted out and chipped out of the mountainside.  It was like a scratch on the side of a cliff, as far as I was concerned!  So I slowed way down and tried hard not to look at the dropoffs, while Bill sailed right on through.  Heights don’t bother him, and he doesn’t mind narrow, slippery/slidey trails.

By sundown we’d reached the other side of Grizzly Peak and found a nice place to camp out of the wind in a grove of trees.  And it was VERY windy–howling in the treetops.  We bundled up well again for another cold night.  And I had to apologize to the Lord for not trusting Him the way I should today.  He just keeps doing all this cool stuff for us even when we are so grumpy and ungrateful!