Tabasco and I both tried to sleep in this morning in Joan’s backyard, but the sounds and activities in tightly clustered neighborhood made it nearly impossible. There was the all night and morning sounds of trucks and cars whizzing by on the nearby interstate 5. Someone let their dog out just after 6am and it began barking incessantly, probably at us. Then someone began chopping and stacking wood for winter in the house that butted up to the back yard. Then two neighbors entered the back yard to pluck fruit from the vines on the wall separating the two homes. So I sat up in the tarptent and began journaling yesterday’s events.
Forgot to mention we met two more southbounders yesterday morning, NoName and KBear, two nice guys who traded trail information with us as we passed each other. Tabasco and I went inside the Blue residence and had nice cups of coffee and Joan offered the shower to us. She left us alone to help ourselves. Phyllis had left at 4am for work, Mike was sleeping in the back bedroom. We helped ourselves to nice showers, then headed to town to do laundry. It was still closed when we arrived, so we ate breakfast at the Riverside Café, then returned to the now open coin operated Laundromat where I sit as I am writing this journal entry.
After we complete laundry and pack up our gear, Joan will be driving us back to the trailhead so we can resume our hike. Dunsmuir, the small blue collar town, has been very good to us and we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay. But it’s time to get some more miles behind us. More later on today’s events.
While at the Laundromat I stepped outside to use the cell phone. Whoop Ass saw me from the end of the block and came over. Then I saw Bad Moon and Phantom at the Cornerstone Restaurant at the outside tables. The gang had made it into town and were looking for me to get a phone number for a cabin for rent. Fortunately I had just thrown the information they needed away at the Laundromat and retrieved it for them. They called to get a ride to the cabin while Tabasco and I finished our laundry and we agreed we would all see each other in Etna on Tuesday night.
Tabasco and I made one last sweep through town, hitting the PO, the grocery store, and the computer repair shop to use the internet. Satisfied we had accomplished our town objectives, we walked back to Joan’s house and packed up in the afternoon heat. Tabasco spent a lot of time on the phone in the house trying to resolve a package problem that surfaced way back in Belden and continues in Belden. Meanwhile, Joan and I watched a complete episode of the game show “The Weakest Link” and I relaxed in the easy chair. I was quite content not to be hiking in the heat and could easily have spent the afternoon hanging out in the home of our newest trail angel, except for the fact that we needed to keep hiking.
So we loaded up our gear in Joan’s van about 2:30pm and she drove us to a convenience store on the way out of town for ice cream and sodas. She drove us to the trailhead where we thanked her for welcoming us into her home and we said our goodbyes. She took us under major Interstate 5 and we began a gentle ascent in forest terrain (thankfully). A few miles went by and we had several views of the spectacular Castle Crags above us as the trail wound around the base of the Crags. About 5 miles into the hike I had a sudden intensely sharp pain in the back of my left calf muscle. It had already been bothering me the last three hiking days, feeling tight and sore. But suddenly the pain became intense on the ascending trail and every step became suddenly painful and it was a concentrated effort to fully extend the leg. I tried to stretch to help the pain subside, but was unsuccessful. Knowing I’ll just have to grin and bear it, possibly for several days, I did my best to maintain a normal gait.
Around 6:30pm we approached what we believed would be the last water for several miles and we stopped to eat dinner and gather water to take us up the pending 2500 foot climb. The mosquitoes and gnats were quite annoying. We are looking forward to getting higher to escape them and the poison oak as well. After dinner we agreed to push on to the first available campsite. After another mile we reached a seasonal creekbed which appeared dry and confirmed my suspicion that we had one additional mile to hike prior to the big climb.
Fortunately there were two flat spots to set up in the waning light, so we did just that and I donned all protective clothing and headnet to ward off the critters. Tabasco and I both carried wine out of town, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon, so we toasted each other and drank a little wine before calling it a night. I am thankfully within the confines of a bug free tarptent and my journal is up to date. Our town stay in Dunsmuir was delightful, thanks to kindness of strangers (made friends) and we were able to hike a few miles, despite the heat. I hope for an improving calf muscle tomorrow and cooler climes at 7000 feet, about 5000 feet above memorable Dunsmuir. Buenos noches!
Today’s weather: sunny and hot; low 51, high 96. Today’s mileage: 10.0; cumulative: 1104.4.
