July 23rd
At 3:45am a rustling in the woods awoke us. Not deer, not bear, but it was Fox Sparrow and Grant who were packing up. We’re not sure if it was the nearby highway traffic noise or the mid day heat that they were trying to escape but off they were… and back to bed we went. For the second morning in a row we have had the pleasure of peaches and red seedless grapes for breakfast, this time thanks to Nate’s mom.
After a delicious repast we took the detour to view the falls. Spectacular – water bubbling up out of the ground a few yards before pouring over a rock fault in a torrent to form one of the largest streams in California. And more underground springs surfacing on the face of the falls. Unusual. Walking down to the base of the falls the air temp drops 20 degrees, cooled by the spring water.
Another hot day – high 90s, some shade along the route helped, but in many areas clearcuts made the sun an oppressive presence. Chapparal and secondary growth dominate these lower mountains. Timber harvest country, a dense maze of logging roads Manzanita, Deer Brush, Poison Oak, Currant and Blackberry bushes, and Ferns galore.
We stop at Rock Creek to soak our legs, briefly running into Peaches. The water is so cold that it cools the canyon enough to make swimming in it seem to be to extreme. But cool enough that it invites, nay insists, that we stay awhile. So we do. An hour after our 20 minute break is over we finally leave.
Peavey Creek hides in a depression below a logging road, surrounded by tall shrubs. Its location is given away only by the sweet sound of running water and a rock cairn left by other hikers. Trail protocol calls for bathing in the pool below the road and getting water upstream of the road. We wait our turns while FoxSparrow and Grant get their fill of both sides. Again the water has a chilling effect we drop at least 15 degrees of heat. We tank up enough to tackle the next dry section.
The crest here leaves very little in the way of scenery, just one view of Mt. Shasta rising over a ridge as we get closer, backlit by the setting sun. Between us and Shasta are rolling ridges of green trees grown for harvest. Under our feet are volcanic soils breaking down into dust, which is breaking down our socks and shoes.
The Carrot fell down in the trail, for only the third time this trip. Nothing serious, just time to shake the dust off the Carrot…..
We are tired from recent late nights. This and the heat and the pull of the rare, but refreshing, water has kept us to 20 miles; a day which seemed harder, if not longer, than most. We come across a spring not mentioned in the guidebook, but identified by the refreshing sound of gurgling water as well as a note on left on the trail by a previous hiker. We call it a day and make camp……..
