The plan this morning was to get packed and ready for a ride back to the trail from the housekeeper at the Seneca Motel in Chester where we stayed last night. Hopefully she would be sober and would remember that she said she would pick us up at 8:30am. I was ready to go before 8 and made my way to the Holiday Foods grocery store for my free liter of Coke which I had won from a 2004 cap. When I returned just before 8:30, Tabasco was waiting at the motel after walking over from where he camped last night in some folks back yard. They fed him this morning and got him ready to go back to the trail.
Our four fellow hikers were up and about, but had to go back to the post office and consequently weren’t ready to return to the trail when Diane, the housekeeper, took Tabasco and me. The trail was beautifully wooded and easy hiking most of the morning. Tabasco and I stopped for a very brief break and a snack at Stover Camp Spring, 3.2 miles from our starting point at the highway, then hiked another 6 miles before stopping at a bridge crossing over the North Fork of the Feather River. There we met southbounder Hellcat who had flip-flopped from Walker Pass to Canada, then hiked south. He gave us the low down on the awesome food and hospitality at Drakesbad Guest Ranch, our destination for the evening. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC, so we talked for awhile about North Carolina (the state, not the school) before he moved on.
We stopped at the far side of the river to eat lunch and get water. A minute or two passed before a forest service ranger appeared walking toward us from the north. Amber was a very friendly ranger who was out checking the bridge and trail conditions. We talked with her and entertained her for about 30 minutes. She has a keen interest in hiking the PCT someday. She and I both interviewed with the PCTA a couple years ago for the same job as trail operations manager of the PCT. A couple more southbounders (SOBO’s) appeared and said hello and sat down as our conversation continued. We got a couple pics with Amber since she was so friendly and fun to talk to, then we took off north.
No, we didn’t eat lunch at this spot because I was getting some funny vibes that the two SOBO’s who had arrived while we talked with Amber were strange. As soon as we left, Tabasco and I compared notes and we both had the same feeling. A mile later we met three more flip-flopping SOBO’s, Mom, Dad, and The Milkman. These three were very friendly and once again we had an extended conversation about people and trail conditions and water availability and the wonderful food at Drakebad.
Finally we started walking again and climbed about six miles. Around 3pm we reached the Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park boundary, then a junction side trail to Terminal Geyser which is actually a large fumerole (vent) with hot gases and boiling water venting out through the earth’s crust. Tabasco and I dropped our packs and hiked down the side trail to the geyser. It was venting huge clouds of steam and hot gases and we worked our way right up to the edge and took several photos of this very hot, but way cool, place in the wilderness.
We had been at the geyser several minutes when a lone hiker appeared coming toward us on the trail with no backpack. The tall blonde, trail name Smack, real name Lauren, joined us at the geyser and introduced herself. We had met another SOBO flip-flopper, the seventh of the day. She took a photo of Tabasco and me and we returned the favor. The three of us talked for awhile at the geyser, then returned to retrieve our packs at the junction with the PCT. Smack then proceeded to entertain us with PCT stories as well as AT stories from last year. She was a delight to listen to as she told us of her great yogi skills, especially the yogi that includes a sailing trip next summer on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.
She also shared with us stories about how she was in Old Station for three days at Drakesbad yesterday, and only 2.5 miles from Drakesbad after hiking out at noon today. Turns out this Marietta, GA gal hiked in a big circle around the boiling lake a couple times before realizing it and finding the PCT this afternoon. After almost two hours of trail talk with Smack, I finally said we had to go and I think if we had pressed her she would have turned around for yet another night at Drakesbad. She was the most social hiker I’ve ever met on the PCT … we could hardly get a word in. But very enjoyable.
Tabasco and I hiked to the circuit trail around the boiling lake (and it really is boiling), then reached another junction to a horse trail. The signage was confusing and I can see how a PCT hiker would have trouble figuring out which way to go. We were trying to get to the Drakesbad ranch before the 7pm serving time for dinner. We reached the junction where we could see the ranch. The trail bent away from the ranch and I began to wonder if we had made a wrong turn. Stopping to read the guidebook, we read that the trail intersects the road to Drakesbad a mile past it. Time for a bushwhack across a meadow to get to the road.
When we arrived the guests were gathered around an outdoor barbeque, feasting on lots of food. Tabasco and I asked how eating a meal worked for the hikers. Anna, a Russian girl working at the ranch, led us down to the barbeque and we were told that we would eat leftovers after all the guests and staff were fed. So we walked down to the pool house and took hot showers while the guests ate their dinner. One woman was enamored with us being thru-hikers. She followed us down to the pool house just to take a photo to show her friends back home. Then she quizzed us with a thousand questions before we walked up to eat dinner.
Ed, the owner of Drakesbad, loaded our plates. He tried to give me two steaks plus a burger, but there was no way I could eat that much meat. Tabasco, on the other hand, took the full complement of food that was offered. We ate the huge meal and watched as Bad Moon and Happy rolled in and joined us. Ed brought over another huge platter of meat and grilled eggplant, the best part of the whole meal. Phantom and Whoop Ass made it just in time for the leftovers of the leftovers. We ate ourselves silly until we just couldn’t make room for even a wafer thin mint.
After dinner we made our way over to the pool which is heated by hot springs emanating from the volcanic strata. We spent a couple hours in the pool until time to find a place to camp off the Drakesbad property. The six of us walked along a gravel road at the back of the property until crossing a gate, then found creative spots to cowboy camp for the night. It was a very enjoyable hiking day and the guest ranch was a memorable place for evening dining and relaxation. Weather, sunny; low 52, high 78. Today’s mileage: 18.0; cumulative mileage 941.7.
