I woke up early so that I could get into town early. I had 28 miles to go and my app was saying there was over 8000 feet of elevation gain. I wanted to enjoy my time in town, not just check into a hotel late at night.
The day went really well. It was hot, but we were in shade most of the day. We had a big climb, but the app calculated the gain wrong. It was only about 4500 feet. (According to my Fitbit anyway) Soon I found myself at the top of the climb eating lunch and it was just 10 miles into town.
I left the lunch spot with 2Taps and started hiking down. I got to the road and saw a trail register. He was 10 minutes ahead of me. I turned on my phone and checked for service. He had already gotten a hitch! I waited and waited. Other hikers showed up and it was still really hot. Eventually, a really nice bro picked us up. He offered us a protein bar and the entire ride into Mount Shasta he was blending his protein shake with his blender ball.
When we got to town, 2Taps had acquired a hotel and was enjoying the air conditioning. I dropped off my stuff and went to get a pizza and some chocolate milk. The pizza was huge and I only ate half of it. I did finish the 2 liter of Pepsi that came with it though. I got the chocolate milk from a natural grocery store in town. As I was outside drinking it, a guy in dreadlocks tried to start a game of hacky sack with me. If you don’t know much about the town of Mount Shasta, look it up. There’s a cult there, healing crystals, and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was a fun stop.
In the morning I went to a diner for breakfast and the grocery store for food. As I passed by Taco Bell, I saw a sign saying they couldn’t offer drinks because of a boil water advisory. That explained the jug of water they gave us at the hotel. Too bad I had been drinking the hotel water all night. Pretty good view for a Taco Bell parking lot though huh?
Around noon I decided it was time to hike out. Others were going to take a zero. I got a ride to the highway on ramp and then hitched from there. It didn’t take too long before someone took us back to trail.
I had heard about an amazing campsite near the top of the climb away from the highway. It was 18 miles and should be a perfect stopping point for a short day. It was SO HOT today. I’m sure many of you have heard about the record temperatures on the west coast. It was brutal. There was a decent amount of water along the way, but it’s starting to run out. A couple streams were dry and some of the flowing ones were barely flowing.
Finally, after what seemed like forever I got to the campsite. It’s amazing. Huge views of Mount Shasta and Castle Crags. The next 80 miles to Etna look pretty easy. Maybe I’ll do my first 40?