Yum!!! Breakfast at Drakesbad Guest Ranch. I made my way from the makeshift campsite to the serving area at the dining room around 7am. The sign out front said breakfast would be served from 7:30-8:30. Needing desperately to set aside some time to catch up on journaling, I took advantage of the 30 minute window and sat in the quiet game/main room to the lodge and made some progress. At 7:30 all of the gang , except Tabasco, converged at the dining room entrance and worked our way through the fantastic array of fresh fruits, yogurt, scones, and we were also served eggs benedict as the main course. We couldn’t figure out where Tabasco was; he hadn’t been seen since just after 6am when he packed up.
After eating for 20 minutes and much debate, I went to the pool area to see if he was there. Bingo! He had taken a long early morning swim in the hot pool under the chill of early morning. Smart guy! After we paid for our meals and got our packs on, Tabasco and I were first back on trail. We climbed virtually all morning, reaching a filled camping area around 11:15am. We had passed multiple trail junctions along the route, all were marked, but some had no PCT markings. I felt that we were on target because my altimeter’s elevation was correct for the trail elevation at 6 miles. But nothing in the data book mentioned a campground.
So after a snack at an available picnic table we asked some campers and we were at Summit Lake campground, about 4 miles off the PCT. We didn’t panic and we checked our maps and found that this alternate route was virtually the same distance as the official PCT for about 10 miles, but it brought us closer to Mt. Lassen and brought us by several lakes while the PCT basically was a walk through the forest. So we continued north and hiked by five beautiful lakes that were totally devoid of human visitors.
When we reconnected with the PCT at 13 miles into the day we stopped for a lunch break. The water that was supposedly at the Badger Flat was dry, so after lunch we continued another six miles before resupplying our water at a beautiful flowing river, adjacent to the trail. Wanting to get to Old Station, we resumed hiking and reached the road to Old Station just after 5pm. Tabasco and I walked down the dirt road which soon connected with a paved road with sparse traffic. We saw the store and tiny post office to the left. Both were closed.
Fortunately we had a telephone number for trail angels nearby and we called from the pay phone. There was no answer, so we hung up and tried again in a few minutes. No answer again, so we left a message. We then tried a third time 10 minutes later and left another message. We weren’t sure what would happen, but another 10 minutes passed and a caravan type car pulled up with two women in the front. The driver was Georgi Heitman and the passenger was Stick Girl, a true southbounder. We loaded our packs in the back, climbed in and drove a little over a half mile to the Heitman’s home where we met Stick Girl’s husband, Little Bump and Dennis Heitman, who were relaxing on the back yard deck.
Georgi gave us the nickel tour and explained a few simple rules (all common sense stuff including no leftovers, meaning we would have to eat all food prepared) and then we got nice hot showers, clothes to wear, and a chance to do laundry. Even though we had showered yesterday, the volcanic dust clings everywhere and the whole trail is just one big dust bowl as they haven’t had any rain here since June. After showers and starting laundry Georgi asked if anyone knew how to cook in dutch ovens. I volunteered my services and for the next two and a half hours cooked a large dutch oven full of chili and another large dutch oven of biscuits.
The rest of the gang called and made it in by 7:30. Dinner was served on the back deck around 8pm. Our northbound friends Nick and Emily prepared the homemade churned ice cream for dessert. After dinner I spent some time on the phone calling back to Portland and got in some internet time as well. We had full access to the Heitman’s home, which is very cozy and feels just like home. It was a super evening and these two angels are salt of the earth real people who truly open their hearts and home to the hikers. We are truly blessed! Today’s weather: sunny, low 39; high 75. Today’s mileage: 23.9; cumulative 965.6.
