People were curious about my umbrella. Here's how it worked.
The trail was pretty flat heading out on Highway 36
Little creek just before Stover spring. Actually, this water comes from the spring.
The little trail to Stover Spring
The spring came out of a pipe and was quite profuse at this time in mid-late-July.
The area around the little pond where the spring poured in was flat and you could put a tent here. There was also a campsite below near the creek.
The trail continued in manzanita and pine
Bridge over the North Fork of the Feather River
North Fork Feather River
Trailhead near Domingo Springs
Are other trees not also wildlife trees?
The wildlife tree
The boiling lake in Lassen National Park. No plume of steam this year.
The boiling lake
The meadow near Drakesbad
I'm heading toward the Drakesbad Guest Ranch, not knowing what to expect
They greeted me with lemonade, towels and a bar of soap and told me to wash up and soak in the pool until dinner time. The pool was 96 degrees. Ahhhh.
My dinner companions, EnviroPiro, Rolleicord and Icebag. I forgot to take a picture of our prime rib steak dinner. I was too busy eating it.
Ed, the plumber. He wasn't really the plumber and that isn't really hair.
Flairhair! You can buy it online.
Off to the PCT again after returning to Drakesbad for breakfast after a stealth camp in the forest nearby.
Last time I walked through the Grassy Swale there weren't any cool little boardwalks and you just had to balance on small pieces of wood thrown into the bog.
Here's the creek that was a raging torrent impossible to cross back when I was here in the late 90s. It was much lower now.
I ended up walking right into the water to the other side
The bridge over the creek wasn't doing much good lying on the shore
I took the alternate, lake-blessed route
I remembered this burned out section from the last time I was there. It seemed to be coming back.
I finally saw Lassen although it seemed a little lost in the haze.
I remembered this part of the trail as soon as I saw it again.
Post office, ice cream, trail angels and food. What more can you ask for?
In case you missed the sign about the ice cream, this one was right next to it.
My tent at the trail angel's house. I almost never could set it up without that wrinkle on the side.
The coolest tree house ever. This is at the Heitman's in Old Station.
A balmy morning waiting for breakfast
Pretty clouds before breakfast. It would thunder shower for about 10 minutes later in the afternoon. I kept thinking I shouldn't have taken a zero because the clouds would have cooled my walk along Hat Creek Rim. But lightning wouldn't have been fun.
Volunteers comprised of previous years' PCT hikers would cook the food
The Heitman's maintained a water cache at the beginning of the Hat Creek Rim. It was probably very welcome to southbound hikers and northbounders who missed the water at Subway Cave.
Inside the tree house
I loved the railing on the tree house. That was the best part.
The store at Old Station.
Gary (Driveby) and Lorenzo (My Uncle Lorenzo). Lorenzo carried an electric razor.
I put a beer in the water bottle holder on the bicycle I borrowed. Unlike most people, I only drank one or two beers at a time and only rarely.
Dinner at the Heitman's. That's 2obtuse right there.
Lots of hikers there for dinner. You can see a book "Class of 2008". They would take your picture and you'd fill out a little card about who you were and they'd put it in the book. That's Emily's Dad bottom left.
The following morning was a little cooler
Back on the trail again. It's always nice to return. The trail was very flat all day.
This is my third time at this junction with the PCT. Finally I'm doing it as a thru-hiker.
The junction again. Years ago I stood here and thought how amazing it was that one way would go all the way to Mexico and the other to Canada and that someday I'd do it.
Highway 89 before you climb up to Hat Creek Rim. People fear Hat Creek Rim because it is shadeless, hot and waterless.
Up on the Rim now.
The Hat Creek Rim is indeed shadeless, hot and waterless. It's also very dusty.
My Drakesbad dinner buddies enjoying a rest at an old lookout tower on Hat Creek Rim.
Even if you found any water you were told not to drink it. Sometimes I think the trail builders were very cruel in their choices of where to put the trail.
Cache 22, a water cache on Forest Road 22. The water, shade and chairs were very welcome this hot and dusty afternoon.
The smoke thickened as the afternoon progressed
I expected giraffes to wander onto what looked like the Serengeti Plain to me, despite all the sharp lava everywhere.
The trees and plants reminded me of my own backcountry
The sun was red due to smoke.
This is the first water source after the Rim. A broken pipe. But there was a creek right below it.
Ahhh. Fresh water!
PG&E Powerhouse
Apparently this is where PG&E expected you to cross. Down these steps.
This is where the PCT actually crosses. Note the PCT emblem on the closed bridge. I had a choice to make and I won't tell you which path I chose.
Baum Lake
A woodpecker granary
Yet another burn zone to walk through. Future PCT hikers will probably only walk through burn zones.
I'm close to Burney Falls now
Burney Falls
The campground had little cabins
A dam on the lake near Burney Falls. I'm on my way again.
I enjoyed walking through the oak forest
Suddenly the forest became very lush
These smelled really good
This is the only time I saw Shasta. I had really looked forward to being in the presence of Shasta and this was the only time I ever saw it on the trail.
A clearcut
SlickB with his ukulele. The others are Paradox and Chief Cha-hua-hua.
Strange rock
A welcome spring after another long, dry stretch
You'll note I have a lot more pictures of the small, close things than the views in this section. That's because there was no view due to smoke.
A deer
With antlers!
Thimbleberry. I tasted one. Very tasty.
The McCloud River near Ash Camp
Bridge over the McCloud River
Inviting pools. I really wanted to swim in them but I was alone and too tired and unbalanced to try to make my way down the cliffs.
My sentiments exactly
Hard to see, but this was my magic campsite that appeared at the first switchback before the descent to the Sacramento River. Somehow I knew this would be here. I should have taken a picture with my tent. The spot just fit my tent and not much more.
Castle Crags through the smoke. I was disappointed that the fires were robbing me of many things I had dreamed of for my hike: the walk through Belden, emerging to highway 36, seeing Shasta. With my broken down feet I was heading home now.
Logging on private land where the PCT has an easement
I appreciate that your private land is yours to do as you wish, but is it necessary to pile the logs on top of the trail?
The PCT is under these poor murdered trees
Descending back into oaks again as I near the Sacramento River and the end of my hike. I really liked the forests in this area and felt so grateful I was able to live in Nature like this for 3 months. I didn't want to go home, but I knew I had to.
The Sacramento River
I begin my RR track walk to Dunsmuir where somehow I just knew there would be an Amtrak station so I could go home.
My cabin at Cave Springs Resort where I spent my final hours as a PCT hiker. I cried a lot while I was here.
