Day 138
8/1/20; Mile: 1,501; Elevation: 2,133 ft.
Yes, SOCO came in to camp late singing profusely and with a bright headlamp, well at least until he saw my tent. Apology from him and early morning warning from me were given and I was soon off to sleep. I had 19 miles to bang out in order to get picked up for my resupply night. I wanted as much sleep as I could get with an early morning alarm set. Sore feet will just have to put up with it.
Dark, dark, dark. Pre-sunrise alarms in the trees and it’s a given. Breakfast in the tent, camp take-down, filtering water and even hiking. All by headlamp. But remember I’m motivated. It’s town day! Night hiking (I guess I should just call it dark hiking) has it’s benefits. Your world is only as big as the globe of light from your headlamp. There’s no looking ahead to see how far you have to go, you can’t see it. For those who are pilots, it’s like instrument flying. So for the hiker, this is a good time to just take a big breath, pull up your big-girl panties and put one foot in front of the other. Even hills aren’t that intimidating ’cause you can’t see the top (even when you get there). And personally speaking, I just love hiking time into sunrise. It’s a new day, the world is just awakening, at least it seems like that to me. Though I’m sure all of the nocturnal creatures around me are like, “WTF, dude. Hello!?” OK, sorry. Life is just kind of weird in the trees and the dark.
The first major milestone today is crossing Squaw Valley Creek. Cool looking bridge (finally daylight!), and trail signs. When you start seeing signs like this, you know you’re getting close to civilization again. Did I mention today is a town day? Up and over the next short ridge I drop down to a road crossing where there are fire personnel. These must be for the now-mop-up operation for the fire that was here. They don’t give me a second glance and I don’t wait for them to (despite a row of porta-potties that look tempting to utilize).
By now, my feet are hurting again. No lacing techniques fix the issue. But once I start running on the downslopes, the pain goes away. It doesn’t make sense at first, but then I realize that by running, I’m changing my gait and the pressure points on my feet, as well as reducing the deceleration forces on my feet. It’s like my feet and legs are rolling downhill instead of the stop/go motion of walking. And I’m making good time!
At the Girard Ridge Road crossing, I meet a big dog. Staring at me, tail horizontal. Oh my. I’ve been around dogs all my life and know the signs. I click my poles together to sound impressive, say “Sit!”, and even raise my poles to look more impressive. He holds his ground, until his Alpha shows up and he relaxes. She’s a semi-retired nurse from the town of Mt. Shasta. We have a lovely conversation about retirement, her work during Covid and my little adventure. All as the dog is now leaning on me getting all the love he wants.
It’s all downhill from here to Interstate 5. My longtime friend Talyon is going to pick me up and host me for the night in Mt. Shasta where his parents live. When I first started planning this adventure, this stop was one of the first I put in my planning spreadsheet because I knew I could count on him to be here for me. He never fails. I’d like to think I do the same for him. So, I’ve been in touch with him via my gps tracker to arrange the pickup time. Once I dropped off of Girard Ridge, I was getting into cell reception and got a call from Don and Beth. The same ones who met me way back outside of Sierra City and were supposed to have them resupply me a Burney Falls until I realized I F-ed up my resupply planning schedule and blew through there too quickly. Well, they were still doing their family camping trip to the falls and just happened to be passing by on I5 when they noticed my Garmin tracker was showing me within shouting distance. So once again, they walked uptrail to escort me back down to their waiting car and a cold Coke. And then Talyon showed up with beer.
It’s mid-afternoon, and despite my sore feet (and now knees, too), I’m on the town day high. Unlike a stop at a hotel, this one is literally personal. I get to spend time with Talyon and his parents at their HOME. Just that fact makes it feel warm and special. And I can relax more. I don’t have to coordinate Uber or public transit to get around, I have a driver. And home cooked meals. And this town is big enough with enough outdoor activities that they have a really good outdoor store. Maybe they’ll have a pair of size 15 trail runners…
Another adventure- I have seen sunrise but never while hiking in nature, with the forest animals all around- that must be a mind opening deeply spiritual experience. IDK if that part of your story was the highlight, or that you wear Big girl Panties occasionally, lol!
Great to have awesome friends. Haven’t read the posts sent to my email in several months so now binge reading to catch up, your writing is always enjoyable.