I’m a bit superstitious, so I had an inkling week 13 would be a bit weird and eerie. It did not disappoint! From rattlesnakes to harrowing hitches to Lemurians, this week had it all for someone who loves a little spooky thrill.
We left Burney feeling a bit sluggish from our 4th of July festivities. Luckily, we didn’t have to hike far before having a nice long break at Burney Falls. The falls stand 129 feet tall and
over 100 million gallons of water rushes over them everyday. The falls are fed by the creek above and several springs that shoot water out midway through the falls. It was a fascinating stop, and our hungover bodies were grateful for the pause in hiking. Later on in the day we crossed the Lake Britton Dam. It’s under construction so we had to be escorted across by one of the workers who was kind enough to offer an endless stream of Lake Britton Dam facts and history as we walked. I wish I could say we learned more, but between the gushing water and construction, we only caught every other word or so that spewed from his mouth.
The next couple days we hiked through immensely beautiful country. The forests were lush, the wildflowers were in bloom, and the views were incredible. We hiked across the McCloud River, whose water is colored a mystical icy blue. We never got a solid answer as to where the color comes from, but glacial runoff is our best guess. The wildlife was active this week, which kept us on our toes. I think everything is a snake (half the time it is - we saw rattlesnakes every single day this week) and leap into the air like a goddam kangaroo every time something scurries across the trail. My rash reaction then scares Chris who screeches to a halt and screams “HOLY SHIT WHAT IS IT!?”. Depending on the critter, I either scream back “SNAAAKE” or coolly say “calm down, it’s just a chipmunk”. We then argue about whose reaction was more dramatic. Chris befriended a French couple. They’ve felt somewhat isolated on the trail as their English isn’t spectacular, so they really appreciated Chris being able to communicate with them in their primary language. We learned one of their trail names is Smuggler. He somewhat unknowingly had a large shipment of Xanax and other controlled substances sent from France. When he got more drugs than he bargained for, he offloaded the extras in a hiker box. Some lucky hiker hit the jackpot - according to Google, Xanax isn’t cheap!
On July 8th we crossed the 1,500 mile marker! Hallelujah! And then a few hours later we arrived to our new favorite trail town, Shasta, California - a town with a palpable mystical energy and a hotspot for supernatural happenings. Legend has it (well, the Lemurians have it) that 12,000 years ago a city called Telos was built underneath Mt. Shasta as a refuge from civil unrest and world floods. The people that live there, though, aren’t people like we know them. They’re lizard people - half evolved reptilian humanoids. A bit of a stretch in my book, but not to modern day Lemurians. Shasta is home to a group of people who truly believe, amongst many other unique beliefs, that there’s a thriving city of lizard people living in the earth beneath Mt. Shasta. The Lemurians wear thick baggy robes, shave their heads, and use crystals for any and everything. We got to see a few of them, and they seemed surprisingly normal. Maybe we’re just that weird too?
Shasta was one of the best stops on the trail so far. The cute downtown is lined with crystal shops, eateries, and breweries. After getting settled at the local campground we walked the short distance downtown and ate a phenomenal meal at Pipeline. The massive loaded salads were amazing, but the cheese curds… out of this world. We had a few drinks then hit the town to do our chores. We witnessed a local Karen take on a large group of strung out hippies who’d set up camp in the city park. Karen wasn’t having it. Her persistent berating of the hippies eventually got her what she wanted; the group packed their things and set off to a new location. The vast array of unique people kept us entertained all afternoon - we could have people watched in that town forever - but eventually we had to hike back to the campground to finish our chores and prepare to hike again the next morning - after an amazing breakfast at Black Bear Diner, of course! Our stay in Shasta was awesome and we definitely want to visit again in the future. Well, it was awesome minus the painfully cold water spraying from the showers like a firehose. Once again, there was no hot water. It’s a trend.
We got back to the trail and hiked a tough 18 miles before making camp at the most incredible campsite we’ve seen on the trail. The light from the setting sun cast the most beautiful glow upon Mount Shasta and Castle Crags. There were eight or so other hikers camped there too, and we all just sat in silence for a while admiring the astonishing views. The next few nights we were lucky enough to camp at more amazing sites. This section was home to some of the best views yet! And some of the best lakes! We hiked alongside several crystal clear alpine lakes. Chris can’t help himself - he jumped into every single one. We stopped at Porcupine Lake, our favorite lake of the week, for lunch one day. A few years ago someone abandoned a kayak at the lake, which is still there and in good working condition. It was a bit small for Chris, as the weight limit was 130lbs, but he gave it a shot anyway. He paddled endlessly around the lake, half-submerged and happy as a clam. When I finally got my turn I realized why he was out there so long. The water was incredibly clear, and out in the middle of the lake there was a deep drop-off. It went down seemingly forever. Part of me wanted to explore it further and part of me was scared shitless. My creatively irrational mind came up with all sorts of things that were probably living down there. The more I pondered, the more spooked I got; I eventually hightailed it out of there, nearly flipping the kayak with each panicked stroke of the paddle.
A few days after leaving Shasta we arrived at the Etna Summit Trailhead. A local trail Angel and former world-class figure skater offered us a ride into town. The road into Etna quickly wound down the mountain, blind turn after blind turn. Molly, the lady driving us, whipped around those corners like she was Danica Patrick. This would’ve been fun, except she spent more time on the left side of the yellow line than she did on the right. We white-knuckled it all the way into town. She offered to give us a tour of the town but we kindly declined and jumped out at the first opportunity. I thought I was a wild driver, but Molly has me beat by a long shot.
Etna was another awesome trail town - super hiker-friendly! The city park, equipped with a HOT shower, allows camping. We set up there along with about 40 other hikers. It was the most hikers we’ve seen in one place since the McDonalds back at Cajon Pass in Southern California. The majority of southbound hikers are in this area right now, so we’re in a huge hiker bubble. Like always, we ate a big meal and then knocked out our chores. This time, our chore list included mending our tent. We recently got new sleeping pads, which turned out to be way too big for our tent. They put pressure on the tent walls and have destroyed our zippers, so each morning we wake up with a small ecosystem of bugs crawling and flying about. I told Chris if I wake up to one more spider hanging from the ceiling directly above my face, I’m done. Plus we know the mosquitoes are going to be horrendous in Oregon, so we have to get it fixed regardless. We spent several hours developing a plan, purchasing our materials, and then superglueing Velcro strips to the tent and large pieces of screen. The Velcro will hold our new screen doors in place overtop of the original tent doors. Our pretty green tent now looks like one of those two-toned cars whose owner couldn’t afford a door the same color as the rest of the vehicle. A sad sight, but it’s the best we could do.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends at Denny Bar - the local distillery. Loads of amazing food and a few beers later, we got booted from our table to make room for all the reservations that evening. It was a super cool place; we weren’t surprised they were booked up. After a stop at the bakery, we made our way back to the park to hang out for a few hours before hitting our tents. Like we always do in town, we had a few too many drinks. This made the Beaver Dam Association meeting happening at the pavilion next to us that much more entertaining. We tried to behave, but when the group started chanting “rehome the landowners!”, we lost it. Their mission is to restore beaver habitat, which they hope to accomplish by convincing landowners to surrender their land to the beavers. A unique cause, but I appreciate their passion. The meeting ended and it was getting late, so off to our tents we went. About an hour after laying down, sometime around 11pm, the park’s sprinkler system erupted into action. The sprinklers spared us, but shrill screams rang throughout the park as tons of hikers and all of their belongings got sprayed down. Maybe the town isn't so hiker-friendly after all. Maybe it was all a setup.
We’re moving pretty well, hiking between 26 and 28 miles each day. We’re at mile 1,600 and nearing the northern border of California. If all goes as planned, we’ll reach Oregon by the end of week 14!
Just keep humping!
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