Start point
Mt Shasta, mile 1502.3
End point
Tentsite at mile 1515.9
Miles hiked
13.6, give or take due to detours
Wilderness area
Shasta National Forest
People I met
Doc
The day on trail
Some mornings you can spring up out of bed, others take a lot of effort. This was the latter.
Sometimes it’s just hard to get out of town. You have to pack, no matter how much you prepare the night before. In my case, I had some food in the fridge that needed to get sorted in my bag, my food bag needed some reorganization, and I was just moving slowly.
The girls left early, around 9 am. Nonny and I checked out closer to 10:30. We ran a couple last minute errands and then tried to catch a hitch. Hitches from town to trail can be tough, especially for darker people like us. While we were trying to score a hitch, a young lady came by and talked to me about my pack. Her clothing, posture, hygiene, and mannerisms made me suspect she was unhoused and on some sort of substance, though I didn’t care to find out. I was just focused on trying to get back to trail.
We ended up texting a guy named Doc, a so called trail angel who charges for rides to the trail. He let us know he was about an hour away from being able to give us a ride. Nonny and I figured that was fine, so we went to Starbucks for a drink, a snack, and to paint out nails.
Doc got there right on time and hung out with us for a few minutes before we took off.
He drove a beat up white pickup with cracks in the windshield. It was fun talking with him and hearing who he’d driven that we knew. He also had lots of great beta on which trail to get back up to the PCT to take as there was a trail closure for some unknown reason.
We got to the Flume trailhead, with the park ranger waving us through. He was familiar with Doc so there was no delay getting us in. We gathered out stuff, set it down by a trail register, signed the register, then suited up and took off.
It was a pleasant climb, not too steep, and with no blowdowns. Just easy hiking with pretty views of the valley when the trees opened up, and slanted trees in the coveted spots.
We soon got to the PCT and back on the trail we signed up for.
The skies were dramatic as we continued on.
There was a boundary tree marker.
And views of some of the rock formations.
We met up with the girls around 8, and just set up, ate dinner, and crashed. It wasn’t a bad day, just low energy. It really is nice to be back on trail, even if I’m a little blasé.