It was a chilly start to the morning in the back yard at the Heitmans. I slept until 7:15, then got up and went inside the house to claim internet time before anyone thought of the same idea. Other hikers and Georgi were in the kitchen making breakfast. When I no longer heard the clanging of pots and pans and the sound of voices ceased, I knew it was time to get off the computer and join everyone on the back deck for breakfast.
After we ate, our friends Stick Girl and Little Bump, from Florida, left to head south as did Letterman. Our group was more interested in letting gear dry from the overnight dew and having time on the internet and phone to contact the outside world. We lounged on the back deck and finally managed to get Georgi’s car loaded with our packs a little before 11am. She drove us up to the store that was a half mile from the trail. I mailed some journals to the east coast, then joined the gang in the small store. Everyone was in the back getting the chocolate pie plus one scoop of ice cream, special for $2.79. I had to join in and the amount of food was ridiculous.
Finally at 11:15am we all said goodbye to Georgi. What an amazing woman and a fabulous time relaxing there at her home. She affectionately called me Boy Scout instead of Rabbit and tried several times to talk me into staying for a few more days. It was tempting and I might consider adoption or at least a visit again after the PCT is done. Initially all six of us were hiking together. Quickly, Wifeless (formerly Tabasco) and I got in front, followed by Bad Moon and Happy, then Phantom and Whoop Ass. Seems to be the standard pattern for the daily hiking.
We passed a couple SOBO’s early and about 2 miles into the hike all briefly came together when there was a junction with trails going several directions. Once we settled on the correct path to continue north, Wifeless and I got out in front of the others and never saw them again the rest of the day. We reached Hwy 44 about 7 miles out of Old Station and resupplied with water from the cache that Georgi and Stick Girl had restocked yesterday evening. From there we continued on several miles, stopping along the Hat Creek Rim, which was not as hot as we thought it would be around 3pm. We ate, then took about a 45 minute nap, thinking all the while that the gang would show up. They didn’t and we finally resumed hiking around 4:30pm, along the crest of the rim overlooking the Hat Creek valley far below.
We had great views of both Mt. Lassen to the south and Mt. Shasta to the north. Several other small volcanic cones dotted the landscape as we hiked on volcanic rock and ash most of the day. Around 5:30pm we met two more SOBO’s, trail names The Boat People, who we talked with briefly before continuing the hike. A couple miles later we topped out at a high point on the rim at a communications/fire tower. I noticed a van near the tower from afar. As we approached close to the van, which was parked only 10 feet from the trail, we saw a woman standing at the back of the van. Suddenly a tall, fully naked man stood up and went around to the side door of the van. He quickly returned as we were passing by, this time with shorts on. Rather than engage in conversation in an awkward moment, we chose to keep hiking, even though the woman asked us if we needed anything.
Forty-five minutes later we covered the three miles to Forest Service Road 22, where another water cache awaited us. Inside the crudely built structure (reminded me of wooden forts I built as a teenager) was seven gallons of water and one lone SOBO, named One Gallon, from Iowa. Since sunset was quickly approaching, Wifeless and I got our water, chatted briefly with One Gallon, then continued up the rim’s ridge to a high point to eat and camp for the night. We saw a hang glider below and a parachute glider above as we covered the last ½ mile and had a brief conversation with the guy flying over us.
As the sun began to set, we dropped our packs and found a spot on the cliff-like rim above the valley where we quickly cooked and ate dinner while the sun set. We found a make-shift campsite a few yards off the trail amongst lava rocks and small white pines interspersed with grassy meadows. As I write here in darkness, the full moon, which is very large and orange is rising over mountain peaks. Through the pine branches of the tree I’m cowboy camping under, I can see the moon. We saw an eagle, a coyote, and several chipmunks today, but no rattlesnakes, which are common in this area. Today’s hiking was, I thought, the easiest stretch on the whole PCT so far and posed no struggle at all. It’s 10pm now, no sign of Phantom, Whoop Ass, Bad Moon, and Happy. We’ll catch them in Burney Falls State Park tomorrow, if not sooner. I felt strong hiking today and thought the rim hike was beautiful and fun to hike, even though the reputation of the area is hot, dry, and waterless for 30 miles. Thank goodness for water caches provided by trail angels.
Today’s weather: sunny, low 37, high 85. Today’s mileage: 21.4; cumulative mileage: 987.0,
