Breakfast at JJ’s Cafe starts at 7. That means I got to sleep in. We arrived right as the waitress flipped the sign to open and I ordered the fiesta scramble with a pancake. Some fisherman in the cafe offered us a ride to the trailhead and we accepted, even though it was only half a mile. Any off trail walking that can be avoided, will be avoided.
Right as the trail started, we took the side trail to subway caves. I never miss a chance to go in a lava tube.
Even though the cave was short, with breakfast and everything, we didn’t really start hiking until around 10 am. Our goal was to get close to the Burney Guest Ranch for breakfast in the morning. We only needed probably 27 or so miles.
Today took us across Hat Creek Rim, what could be the driest section of the entire trail. Luckily, someone put a water tank about 17 miles in.
Today was hot, but the hiking was flat and easy. We walked on the rim of a huge canyon all day, eventually making it to the water tank. At the tank was Tread, a trail angel who brought drinks for everyone. All he had left was raspberry iced tea, which I don’t usually like, but I drank it and it was delicious. We filled up our water (donate to help keep it running at http://PayPal.me/jimbeatty) and hiked on.
We kept hiking and it was still hot. I was running low on water and we still had 4 miles to go. Then we came across some true trail magic. A cooler full of Gatorade and Capri sun. I drank a Gatorade and hit the trail with new vigor. I even got everyone to jog about half a mile.
This is when things took a turn. All day, we had been planning on going to a bridge we could jump off. The signs said not to, but we wanted to anyway. When we got there, I was ready to jump in and get the dust and sweat off me but I was convinced to go just half a mile more to a lake.
The view at the lake was stunning, but it was getting dark and we couldn’t camp there. It was a fish hatchery too. I grabbed some water and we hiked on. Exhausted, dehydrated, and hangry, I finally made camp. It was a 31 mile day and we’re only a mile and a half from breakfast. This will be the 4th day in a row with a real breakfast. I guess that makes us the breakfast club.