Start point
Highway 36 intersection with PCT, mile 1332.4
End point
Boundary Spring, mile 1347.4
Miles hiked
15
Wilderness area
Lassen National Forest
People I met
Powerhouse
Wiki
Possum
Tangerine
The day on trail
Oh goodness it’s great to be back on trail.
I started the day going to get resupply at the local grocery store, Holiday Market. While I was there I saw Spirit playing the lottery. Weird. After that, I went to the Dutch coffee shop for one last pastry and coffee. I plugged in my phone to top it off and caught up on the garbage of the day in non-trail life.
While I was there, a woman came in and said she was going to head out to see if any hikers needed a ride. I said “if you’re looking for hikers who need a ride, I’d be happy to take one!” She was super excited and told me she and her wife love helping hikers out. Her wife and their friend hung back at the shop while she drove me to the trail.
It was so nice to be back on trail. It’s my favorite.
About a mile in, Claire and her friend Tangerine caught up to me. Claire and I caught up and she told me that, at the snowy traverse that took me out, she took a look at it and cried for 10 minutes. I’m really glad to know it wasn’t just me who was feeling it was a lot more than I was expecting.
The trail started off in a burn zone.
I found an old cicada molting right off the bat!
There was a tree that swallowed up a large trail blaze.
And a lot of burnt blazes.
I kept going and some people had written little quips in blazes on the trail. Some of them were delightfully vulgar. Others were pure and wholesome.
I saw a mushroom in the midst of growing with a lot of guttation. I love mushrooms and it’s so exciting to be in mushy territory again.
The trees were dizzyingly tall.
Finally I got to camp after a fast 15 miles over easy terrain. I was at the Boundary Springs, names because it’s a spring at the boundary of the Lassen National Park. If I camped in the park I’d need a bear canister, which I’d sent home. My plan was to camp outside the Park that night, then hike the 19 miles through it the next day. Easy peasy.
Dinner was a bag of salad with the leftover chicken I made the other night. It wasn’t pretty, but it sure was tasty. And then I brushed my teeth and knocked out.
