July 24th, 2022 by Jon
When we woke up, it actually felt cool, so that’s nice. We packed up and started eating breakfast pretty quickly before departing camp. The trail was generally flat or ever so slightly uphill for most of the morning. We hiked along a ledge, looking down into valleys and going along the side of mountain chains as we moved west. The trail itself was pretty similar to yesterday, with lots of rocks and brush on the sides, and intermittent trees on the hillside providing shade. After 4 miles, we ran into Woods, whom we haven’t seen in a few weeks. It was great catching up with her, and we hiked together to the spring that was a mile past where we found her.
We filled up there in the shady side of the mountain and took enough water to get to the spring, 6 miles and some change away. Biscuit and Missile were on an absolute tear today, so they left a few minutes after we got there. There is a rumor of possible trail magic down where the trail crosses Highway 3, and we all kinda wanna get there for lunch. We continued hiking after the spring, and the trail looked the same as before. This time, we had a bit more uphill as we climbed to the top of the ridge before we descended to the Scott Mountain Summit, where the highway was.
We were pushing pretty hard and got to the spring right before 12:00. The water was cold and clear, flowing right out of the grass through a little hole in the side of the rocks before flowing directly across the trail. We filtered there and had a small snack because Singsong and I were both getting kinda hungry. We took off a little after 12:00, tearing down the trail that was covered in rocks. This part of the trail looked more like a forest, with much more tree cover. We switchbacked a couple of times before crossing two dirt roads just above the highway, and crossed them easily since the cars were very sparse.
On the other side of the highway was a campground, and right near the entrance was a small dirt lot with a group of people sitting near a Prius with all its doors open. Trail magic! It’s actually the parents of a hiker who is passing through today, and they came to see her and give out snacks and drinks to hikers. They had cupcakes, lavender coconut oat muffins, watermelon, some Subway sandwiches, beer, soda, and water. It was amazing. We ate our full lunch and then ate our own lunch food as well, and enjoyed the shade of a few large trees. We ended up staying there for about 3 and a half hours because it was so hot, and it was kind of a big climb back out the other side.
We sat around chilling, eating, drinking water, and talking. It was a nice place to relax and the shade was our refuge this afternoon. Some hikers had service and said the next few days the high will be in the mid-100s down in Etna. We’re going to be there in a few days, and while it will be a little cooler up in the mountains, it’s still supposed to be quite the heat wave. Today is the first day of it.
Finally, around 4:00 or just after, we headed out. We’re headed to a campsite that’s 8.5 miles away, which is slightly daunting to do so late. Singsong and I plan to eat part of the way up, so we don’t get too grouchy, and the others say they will consider that too. The hike was really pretty as we climbed a ridge and entered the Trinity Alps Wilderness, which is part of the Klamath National Forest. We hiked through thick trees and came to the top of a ridge, where we hiked along a ledge for a few miles. We had amazing views of a granite chain of mountains across the valley from where we were. We descended down a few switchbacks before arriving at a small stream 5.8 miles from where we took our break.
We filtered more water for the night and ate dinner, listening to the creek flow. Everyone else ate a bit, but only Missile actually had dinner. They all left, and we stayed for another 20-30 minutes relaxing and enjoying our food. We both felt in the mood to take things slow, and tonight we don’t mind hiking a little later as it cools down even more.
The remaining 2.7 miles were entirely uphill. We climbed along the edge of a bowl, and when we got up near the top, we had the best views we had had all day of the granite rocks and many valleys below. Unfortunately, we also saw a wall of smoke headed our way. As we climbed, we admired the views while also feeling slightly anxious about where that fire was.
We reached the end of a ridge, and as we were about to turn the corner onto the ledge of the next face of the mountain, we saw a few tents set up in a large flat area among the rocks and bushes. We set up camp and joined everyone else who were chatting for a bit and eating a snack in a circle by the ledge. The smoke was definitely closer now, but we felt reassured because one hiker messaged his parents, who told him there aren’t any reported fires anywhere near us, and that this much smoke wouldn’t go unnoticed. It’s possible it’s from the fire in Yosemite, but it’s hard to say. Either way, we are safe, and that’s what matters.
