July 21st
Since the Post Office doesn’t open until 10am we were in no real hurry and were ale to sleep in until around 7:30am. Not wanting them to go to waste, Phoenix and I finished off the two leftover beers for breakfast. Then Gordon and Sue shuttled us to the store in Old Station for a real breakfast of coffee and muffins.
After taking care of our postal chores we had burgers in the cafe and finally set out on the trail a little before 1pm, just as the day was heating up. Gordon nd Sue dropped us off at highway 44 so we could start where we had left off last night. The initial climb to Hat Creek Rim is through chaparral brush with no real shade, very exposed and hot. Thankfully Gordon and Sue took our packs and were waiting at the last road crossing with ice cold Gatorade. A perfect place for a break. Phoenix and Peaches were right behind us and we would walk the rest of the day seeing them often.
The final ascent to the actual rim as gradual, but mostly exposed to the sun, the heat becoming oppressive. The only good thing about walking through shade less terrain is that there are no trees to blocks the views. Many hikers complain about the 30 miles of waterless shade less hiking on Hat Creek Rim. It is so arduous that the hikers often forget its stunning beauty, great wildflowers and incredible views.
We had a grand look into Hat Creek valley, much more lush than the rim country. Mt Lassen stands directly above the southern end of the valley, but as we walk north it quickly retreats into the distance. We have our first views of Shasta, appearing to the northeast and they dominate the horizon. We will see Shasta for the next several weeks from many angles.
We are entering the Cascade Range where we will get to see many facets of only a select few mountain; where in the Sierras we might only see one or two sides of many mountains.
The Hat Creek Rim was made more bearable for us because of water caches and trail angels. We were able to use a water cache at Road 22, about halfway across the rim. Our reliance was possible, as Gordon and Sue had just checked it two days earlier. We arrived close to dark and we getting water when we heard a vehicle approaching. We had been exchanging occasional emails with some one who lived nearby and who was following our progress through the journal. After updating them from Old Station about our plans Marsha and her family tracked us down, bringing cold Snapple, beer, grapes and peaches … great trail treat!
We indulged and then moved on a few hundred yards to camp with on a nearby ridge with Phoenix and Peaches, bringing them goodies.
As we were settling in to sleep under the stars, a snake, possibly a rubber boa, was slithering just above the Carrots pillow. As the snake move on, the Carrot worried that it would take up residence in her food bag, so I used a hiking pole to encourage the snake to slither on. As a band of mosquitoes settled in (who knows where in this waterless stretch they came from?) we slathered on deet and fell into a restless sleep with mossis buzzing in our ears and inspiring dreams of snakes hissing through the night……..
