July 16th, 2022 by Jon
We woke up around 6:15, finished packing our bags, and cleaned up some of the mess we had made while staying with Singsong’s family. After a quick breakfast of yogurt and granola, we were off in Singsong’s brother Salem’s truck. We had about an hour-long drive back up to Old Station, and we were dropped off there to begin our hike. As I mentioned in the last post, this saved about 2 hours of total driving time for Salem, since we actually got off at a hard-to-reach place up a forest road.
The hike began in the forest and was basically flat as we roughly paralleled the highway we had driven in on. We meandered through thin pine trees and enjoyed the shade and all the green that was sorely lacking back in the burn zone. The trail stayed up on a ridge as the road went down a small canyon into a large valley below us. We would spend the rest of the day looking down at this valley, albeit from a different ridge that we would climb up to later on. The trail brought us around the side of a small hill before gently lowering us to a ledge down below. We walked on it for a while, and the trees became noticeably smaller and less dense. As a result, the sun seemed to beat down on us. We hiked on a flat plateau for a while before crossing a small, sleepy highway. A small trail on the other side brought us to the trail junction, where we could visit the Subway Cave. It’s a really interesting lava tube that you can actually walk through.
We left to go see the cave and got there after a quick 5-minute walk. We walked through it the whole way and then came back through it to get back to the entrance we came from. The cave stays at 46 degrees year-round, which is reason enough to go, if only to cool down. But there were also some great rock formations. It was a nice break from the trail, and we felt glad we went to visit it. We got back on trail afterward and began a 30-minute climb up through an old burn scar from 2009. The ground was still very dusty, and the super old dirt road we walked on for a bit was totally overgrown. The trail brought us to the top of the ridge, where we passed two small trailheads with pit toilets and amazing views of Lassen behind Shasta and of us in front.
We walked along the ridge for a while before finally coming to a turn-off for trail magic! It was the Trail Angel Cafe, which is becoming a semi-permanent little stop at the beginning of Hat Creek Rim. It’s a notoriously hot, dry, and exposed section with a long water carry. Thankfully, they have set up in a small clearing of trees and have lots of water to share with hikers. We sat there and enjoyed some camp chairs, shade, water, and a bit of lunch from our food bags. After eating and feeling much more refreshed, we set out into the sun once again. I managed to get service for a moment, and the temperature was 86 degrees. It felt pretty dang hot with those temps and zero shade. The next few miles were a slog, and we had 13 miles from our lunch spot to the next water, where we planned to likely camp.
The views were truly incredible; the valley below was quite green, and you could see evidence of a few creeks down below. With Shasta in the background, it made for some incredible views. Unfortunately, the heat was oppressive, and it was hard to really enjoy it. We trudged along for about 5 miles before coming to a trail junction where you could make a long climb down to a creek in the canyon below. Many people were lying in the shade of a few trees to take a break from the heat. We joined in and ended up staying for about half an hour. Singsong was the only person to brave the climb down and said the water was ice cold and there was a bit of shade down by it, too. Sounded nice, but she also said it was quite steep on the way back up. The three of us had enough water to make it to the next source, so we stayed up above in the shade.
After our break, we continued on, and it was much of the same. Lots of rocks, bushes, a few precious shady spots under the limited number of trees, and not much else. Mercifully, there was a breeze that was helping keep us a little cooler, but only barely. We ended up stopping again after 4 miles to stay in the shade of a tall bush. We must have looked somewhat dejected because we sat in silence, just drinking water. After about 10 minutes, we got up, determined to hike these last 4 miles to the water source. Our source was a 500-gallon tank that some local trail angels keep filled with donations from hikers via PayPal and Venmo.
Those last 4 miles were hard. We all spread out and hiked them at our own pace. It felt so incredibly hot, and my legs felt like jello. Even drinking our water was a chore because it was beyond just warm; it was legitimately hot. Finally, we got to the road, and when I came down the trail, I saw lots of hikers standing around a truck. Trail magic! I walked up, and MagicMan was there giving out ice-cold drinks. I took a Gatorade, absolutely delighted, and savored every single sip of that cold drink. It tasted like the nectar of heaven. I sat there for a while, and soon Missile and Singsong got there too. We all enjoyed our drinks before grabbing water from the tank and setting up camp under nearby trees. We had a delicious meal of Trader Joe’s gnocchi with pesto sauce from one of those sauce packets, and then threw in some salami and cheese. It was a master creation from Singsong, and it tasted sooo good.
We were just enjoying some after-dinner conversation and electrolytes when Biscuit went to get more water and found Stealth by the water! We haven’t seen her since Bishop! We all got up to go say hi, and it was a very nice reunion. Apparently, Rune, Wilco, and Bouge are only about a half day behind us! We wished her the best, and she pressed on because she likes doing evening miles, but we plan to hopefully meet up in Burney tomorrow.
It’s good to be back on the trail. Although we had enough time off, it definitely feels like an adjustment to be hiking all day again. Tomorrow we have a fairly easy flat day into town, and we will either stay the night there or camp just outside it so we can pick up Biscuit’s package on Monday morning from the post office. We’re hoping there is more tree coverage tomorrow because today felt pretty sick of hiking under the sun all day.
