Day 99

Trail miles: 24.7

Total: 1436.9

My feet are falling apart. Probably because I hit my highest mileage day. I’d like to not make a habit of it. I got up right away to hike 6 miles to Burney Falls! I was running low on water so I was trying to drink it sparingly. I made it to a sign around in the state park saying the overlook was 0.8 down a side trail. I couldn’t decide to keep going on the PCT to a shorter side trail further down or take this one. I didn’t have any service and decided to take the trail because it seemed like a shortcut. It ended up being a wheelchair accessible trail and man was it luxury! There were benches with backrests along the way, there was zero incline, and the trail was flattened so well that I didn’t have to step over a single rock. I found the gang under a pavilion waiting for the general store to open at 9:00am. They didn’t seem phased that I wasn’t able to make it to camp last night. I plugged in my external charger to the wall and grabbed my cameras to head to the falls. They were beautiful! I took shots from so many angles walking from above to below the falls. I hope I can come back with my family someday! At the general store, I bought a Starbucks espresso, egg burrito, Dr Pepper, postcards, and a pen. I came back to where some girl had plugged in her phone to my charger? I just unplugged it and took everything to pack up. Something to mention, a problem that I’ve been noticing. When I get the chance to eat food other than what I’m carrying on trail, I try to make the most of it! My thoughts are that I can eat more and get in excess calories. But the problem is, I eat that food and then don’t end up eating what I am carrying. So it just weighs my pack down. It’s because we’ve stopped for long enough to get the food, that there’s no time or reason to stop again for a long break to eat more. So I just snack and probably end up eating less. But I won’t pass up off trail food! It’s basically counterproductive.

Our first point of interest for the afternoon was Britton Dam that was under construction. You had to blow a horn to get the attention of the workers to be escorted across. Not much was going on but some sandblasting behind the curtains. I wonder how hot it was in the curtained off area, because it was hot for us out in the open. The worked was nice, giving Krista a brief history of the dam and area. I just kept video taping everything of course. The next stopping point was a creek that I ran down to to get knee deep in. I washed off all the dirt that built up over the last 3 days. Then I got 2 liters of water for the 12 mile hill. I quickly realized on the switchback above the creek that we were wading in the top of a 50ft waterfall. So that could have been bad. I followed Lifeguard the whole way up the hill. We took breaks here and there, but I’d say we made pretty good time. My feet were killing my so bad that I had to take Motrin for the pain. Only my third time now on trail that I’ve taken a painkiller. I really wanted to get the mileage done by 6:30pm. It was the balls of my feet and arches that were sore. Then sometimes my heel on the uphill. But I had to make it to the water source because I hadn’t planned on dry camping. Somewhere in the middle of this climb, I almost choked on my flipper. The fake tooth in my mouth. I guess I was drinking my water too aggressively and it dislodged and headed to the back of my throat with the water. I had to spit all the water out to get the tooth back in place. Another disaster was when I tripped over my trekking pole while stepping over a log. I fell on my hands and knees. My moms poor GoPro flew out of my bag. That thing has been through more than I have. Somehow Krista and Lifeguard didn’t even notice and kept walking. Anyway, we got a beautiful view of Mt Shasta near the top! Then we were finally able to drop our bags at camp. The spring was not a far walk off trail, but I had to hold onto a tree to get the water. And for dinner, I had the taco bean burrito mix that I actually cooked properly tonight! I liked it so much last time that I went back to it as soon as I could. Like in the desert, everything is perpetually dusty again. Like I spent 10 minutes washing my hands at the state park just for them to by covered in dirt by camp. Also, is a half assed bear hang still better than sleeping with your food? These tree options are getting worse. Tonight it’s pine trees. Last night it was short trees. Two nights ago there were no trees at all.