August 8 – August 13

Total Distance: 72.7 miles

Podcast of the Week: Serial (seasons 4-6)

The week after leaving Chester was a breath of fresh air. The terrain was easier, with the trail being overall flat with only a few shallow climbs. But more importantly, the trail passed by several very interesting and unique points of interest that gave every day a compelling goal. From the geothermal features of Lassen National Park, to the amazing views and sunsets from the top of Hat Creek Rim, to the jaw-dropping majesty of Burney Falls, the trail really presented us hikers with a grand tour of the power of water and lava in shaping the earth.

Day 22

Boundary Spring (mile 1346.3) – camp just outside of Lassen NP (mile 1366)

The camp spot outside of Lassen NP southern border was quite crowded, since most everyone was being forced to do the same 19 miles through the national park today. As such, there was a fairly large bubble of people moving through Lassen at roughly the same pace, which allowed for a bit of company along the way. On top of the group of 5 I was traveling with yesterday, there was Cleanfoot from Sweden and his companion Spaceman. There was also a guy from Oklahoma and his hiking partner from Arizona.

The terrain through Lassen was pretty easy, with only a few small uphill sections and an 8-mile section near the northern border of the park that was almost completely flat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fully enjoy the simple hiking terrain because I was having a lot of issues with both blisters and chafing, which made each step annoying. These are problems that probably stemmed from me skipping my wet-wipe “shower” last night, so they are easily fixable. But it was a bit of a downer on an otherwise fun day.

On the upside, the trail passed by a few really cool geothermal features in the park. First, only a mile from the park border, was Terminal Geyser. My hiking app says that Terminal Geyser doesn’t actually erupt so it isn’t really a geyser, but just a steaming fumarole. Still, it was pretty cool to see stinky, boiling water surrounded by sulfur and mineral deposits. It really takes me back to trips to Yellowstone.

Another geothermal feature, quite close to Terminal Geyser, was Boiling Lake, a small lake that is apparently at about 130 F and also stank of sulfur. Cool!

Next was Hot Springs Creek, which apparently contains hot springs, but I couldn’t find them (and apparently they are too hot to swim in). Nearby was Drakesbad Ranch, which uses the water from the hot springs to fuel a hot springs spa, but the ranch is currently closed due to the fire and the pool empty. So no hot springs for hikers this year.

The trail also passed by a couple non-geothermal lakes, notably Lower Twin Lake, which was a pretty large lake for this section of trail, and a perfect place to relax for lunch and soak my aching feet.

Speaking of aching feet, since about 3 days prior to Chester my feet have been hurting more than usual, getting unbearable after only about 9-10 miles, which is not good when I am trying to hike 18-20 miles most days. I thought the 2 night break in Chester would help to relieve the pain, but the pain returned with gusto yesterday after only 5 miles of hiking. I’m taking out my shoe inserts to help give my feet more room to breathe, but this might cause my heels to develop tendonitis again. I think the permanent solution will be to get slightly larger shoes when I replace my current pair, as my feet seem to have swelled a tiny bit, a normal reaction to thru-hiking.

Day 23

camp just outside of Lassen NP (mile 1366) – camp on the Hat Creek Rim (mile 1383.8)

This morning was a slow start as I was fixing up my blistered feet as best I could with blister wool and leukotape. I think I might need to experiment with keeping my shoe inserts in my shoes but loosening the laces, since I was getting way less blisters when I was using the inserts, the problem then was too much pressure on the top of my feet. Oh the woes of foot pain and never having an easy solution!

But a slow start was okay today since, for the first time in 3 days, I didn’t have a specific goal I was forced to reach today. I did want to reach Hat Creek Rim, a mesa formed by an ancient lava flow that overlooks Hat Creek valley and has excellent views of Mt. Shasta and other surrounding peaks. But I had plenty of time to get there, no rush today.

The first 11 miles today were more flat terrain with minor undulations up and down, really easy miles. Even I, with my typical 2 mph pace, was racing through at a brisk 2.7 mph. Such speed! This meant that I got to Old Station, a small town outside of Lassen NP, around 1:30 pm even with the late start, just in time for lunch!

The restaurant at Old Station is closed on Tuesdays, but the adjacent gas station has a pretty great selection of premade sandwiches, along with the typical fare of microwaveable burritos, ice cream, snacks, and cold drinks. I got a burrito and soda for lunch, and also bought a few snacks and a sandwich for dinner, to allow for a little bit fresher food today.

After hanging around at Old Station for about an hour and a half with some other hikers, I moved on to one of the highlights of today: a lava tube called Subway Cave. Subway Cave is a short drive from Old Station, but it is also accessible via a half mile side trail, and boy is this side trail a worthwhile detour. The cave is about 1000 feet long and has interpretive signs explaining the features such as collapsed roofs, “lavacicles”, vents in the floor, and the areas where two separate labs flows shaped the tunnel. Not to mention that the cave was about 46 F, at least 40 degrees cooler than the outside air. Overall, amazing side trip, plus I got to fill up my water at the trailhead parking lot.

After Subway Cave, the trail climbs a short distance up to the top of Hat Creek Rim, where a viewpoint with picnic tables was strategically located to provide spectacular views of both Lassen Peak to the south and Mt. Shasta to the north. Both peaks are major volcanoes in the Cascade range, so seeing both from one vantage point was pretty awesome. After eating my sandwich for an earlyish dinner at the viewpoint, I hiked another 4 miles along Hat Creek Rim as the sun was setting, providing mind-blowingly colorful vistas of Shasta with orange and purple streaks of fading sunlight behind it. This is unquestionably my favorite view of this trip thus far!

On another high note, the trail finally exited the Dixie Fire burn area for good this time, meaning that there will be a long stretch of live forest and safe camping sites going forward. While the burn areas have provided some interesting perspective on the destruction of modern forest fires, I will say I am certainly happy to leave the charcoal trees behind!

Day 24

camp on the Hat Creek Rim (mile 1383.8) – camp in Hat Creek Valley near Baum Lake (mile 1403.1)

The views of Mt. Shasta in the sunset last night were spectacular, but the views in the morning were nothing to sneeze at either. Shasta would be a centerpiece of today’s journey, as it is visible from most places along the Hat Creek Rim. Since I still have about 15 miles more of the Rim to go, the views of Shasta, and also Lassen behind me, would be commonplace. But common doesn’t mean boring, as the Rim consistently provided fantastic vantage points with few trees in the way, all for very little effort hiking-wise. The trail was close to flat for the entire day, after all.

One aspect of this section that is well known is how hot and dry it is, somewhat reminiscent of the desert section. Like the desert section, the distance between water sources is quite long – there is a dry stretch of 22 miles between Lost Creek and the next natural water source. Thankfully, a local trail angel by the name of Jim stocks a tank of water called Cache 22 at a remote forest road crossing, cutting the water carry down to 14 miles. I donated some money to Jim so he can continue replenishing this amazing cache for the safety and benefit of hikers.

Jim also maintains the steep trail down to Lost Creek, and since it is the only water source since Old Station, hikers pretty much need to go down to the bottom of Lost Creek gorge to get water. The water in Lost Creek was ice cold and super refreshing, but I had to climb down and up nearly 400 feet to get it! It really made me think about how early explorers accessed water in these hot dry areas. They surely must have done the same type of climb down to valley floors to reach creeks and rivers, but without the aid of maintained trails. Really puts modern hiking into perspective and how easy we hikers have it with our debris-free paths and access trails.

Also like the desert section of the PCT, the trail was exposed and hot with limited shade. However, since this is not actually the desert, there were still occasional pine trees and junipers to hide from the sun. So overall this section was hot, but way better than the desert due to shade and the well maintained water cache.

Very quiet day today as well. I saw no northbounders, but I did see 4 southbound hikers. It looks like some of the faster southbounders who started in Washington are starting to make their way to this part of Northern California. Or maybe they were just section hikers – they didn’t stop long enough for me to ask

Overall, this was a pretty uneventful day salvaged by constant great views from the Hat Creek Rim. Tomorrow should be more exciting, though, as I should reach Burney Falls, one of the places I’ve been looking forward to the most of this entire trip!

Day 25

camp in Hat Creek Valley near Baum Lake (mile 1403.1) – Burney Falls State Park (mile 1419)

As the trail descended from the Hat Creek Rim yesterday afternoon into the morning today, it crossed several areas of volcanic rock that were pretty hostile to the feet. As my feet were already sore and suffering from blisters, the sharp rock didn’t improve the situation. However, the rocky sections only persisted for a couple miles before the trail became a flat, dirt highway perfect for making fast miles. In fact, I made 16 miles by 2pm, which considering I started at 8am today is incredibly fast pace for me. I’ll take the overall eay terrain while it lasts!

Early in the day, the trail passed a hydro electric plant and a dam over Baum Lake, along with multiple fisheries. This more industrial area was a bit of a shock compared to the remote landscape the trail had been going through recently, but it did afford a chance to use a pit toilet, fill up on water, and watch some waterfowl on the lake.

The rest of the day consisted of flat, dry, brown hills scattered with oak and pine trees, more reminiscent of Southern California mountains. Overall, the terrain was quite boring and uninspiring, so I passed the easy miles primarily through podcasts. I am currently listening to Serial, an investigative journalism podcast that dives deep into specific issues and crime cases. It’s quite good for taking the mind off of the monotony of such sections of trail that don’t have much going on.

In sharp contrast to most of the day, though, Burney Falls State Park, my ultimate goal for today, was simply mind-boggling. I had been looking forward to seeing these falls from the very beginning of my trek, and they did not disappoint. Two main falls fow over the rim, plunging over 100 feet, while numerous smaller fans of water emerge from the porous volcanic rock as groundwater percolates out of the cliff face. Out of all the waterfalls I have seen, this one ranks in the top 3 easily. I took a long break here to take it all in, before heading up to the visitor center and store to get some much needed refreshments.

At the park store I found three other hikers I had seen several times in the last week or so. We partook in beer and snacks from the store and had a jolly good time hanging out and discussing various things about trail life and normal life. We all eventually decided to stay the night at the state park campground, a move I was considering anyway because I really wanted to see the falls in the morning. And besides, I had already done 16 miles today – I deserved a camp spot with water, pit toilets, and potential showers after several long days since Chester.

As an added bonus, once we got to our camp spot, some women who were camping nearby gave us a large platter of delicious sausage, potatoes, and corn, so we all got a second dinner out of the deal! It’s always amazing to meet people in these more touristy spots like campgrounds who are willing to help and give to hungry hikers like us with no expectation of anything in return. So concludes one of the easiest and best days of the hike so far!

Day 26

Zero at Burney Falls and hitch into Burney

Just as the trail giveth in the form of spectacular views and experiences, the trail taketh away just as easily in unexpected setbacks. Later in the day yesterday, about 2 miles away from Burney Falls, I started experiencing some pain in my ankle, even though I didn’t think I had sprained it at the time. I thought it would dissipate overnight since the pain was fairly minor, but unfortunately the pain actually got worse this morning.

I assessed that it would be unwise to continue on into the wilderness today with the possibility of my ankle pain getting progressively worse, especially since a similar progression resulted in my knee injury back in the desert becoming unbearable. So instead of continuing on, I got a hitch into the nearby town of Burney, where I will spend a night to give my ankle a bit of rest. I will decide tomorrow if I can continue the trail from here or if my ankle requires further rest.

Of course, I took the opportunity to see Burney Falls again this morning, and found that it was in much better lighting in the early sun than it was yesterday afternoon. There are certainly worse places I could find myself stranded due to an injury!

Once in Burney, I got lunch at the local burger joint and bought some groceries for dinner and to supplement my hiking food supply. The rest of the day, I just relaxed and iced my ankle to help the healing process as much as possible. I’ll see tomorrow if the rest results in enough improvement for me to continue hiking.

Day 27

Transfer to Redding, CA

Well, turns out that my ankle needs more than just a few off days to heal. So I have decided to meet up with my parents, currently camping in Southern Oregon, to wait my ankle injury out for a couple weeks. To this end, I needed to get to Redding, CA today so I could get a shuttle to Medford, OR the next day to meet up with my parents.

This is, of course, a disappointing development. However, there are some silver linings to this off-time to the trail. For one, my parents will eventually be moving to Crater Lake National Park, where the PCT passes through, so this would be another opportunity to rejoin the trail after some rest. I would be skipping around 300 miles of trail by doing this, but there are fires in Northern California near the Oregon border currently that are closing over 100 miles of trail, so I would be skipping part of this section regardless. Also, I get the opportunity to see some amazing views along the Oregon coast! This will be a profound change in scenery from the forests, rivers, and lakes of the PCT.

It took about 30 minutes to get a hitch from Burney to Redding. The ride was from an Uber driver who lives in Redding and caters primarily to hikers. She was very nice and talkative during the one hour drive to Redding, which made the journey enjoyable.

Since I had time to kill once I got to Redding, I decided to sample the beer at one of the breweries in downtown, as well as get my favorite town refreshment, ice cream! I also booked a ride to Oregon the next day to connect with my parents.