Day 94 – Hot Climb through Castle Crags S.P.

7/17

Miles: 1501.7 to 1521.1

Trail Miles: 19.4

Miles Hiked: 21.4

I woke up around 5am and worked a little on the blog. I didn’t start packing up until about 0535. I could have been on the trail by early but delayed to charge my phone and get one more blog post done – I’m running more and more behind in my posts.

— I forgot to mention something in yesterday’s blog. When I was at the Castella PO, a C-17 flew overhead at low altitude. It was obviously on a low- level training route. It made a turn just over the I-5 interchangeat Castella. It was pretty cool to see and brought back memories. I initially could hear but not see it until it was directly overhead. Not enough time to get a pic. Right after it passed I told Peanut-foot, a German hiker, that I used to fly those. He looked at me incredulously and said “you did?” I really don’t think he believed me, sitting there as filthy and smelly as I was, trading food with him.

Anyways, Smokebeard and I had camped at the Castle Crags C.G. He opted to hitch back to the trail. I’d hiked there via a 2mile connecting trail yesterday. I wasn’t a fan of hitching near an interstate, so I hiked the additional 2 miles again. It was already 0715 when I started hiking – pretty late by thru hiker standards.

7/17 PCT Video – boring & unedited

(The video is for M&D and D&M. It’s boring and unedited, but my folks like to see and hear me. And yes, I do eat 4 breakfasts per day on trail.)

Since the connecting trail followed I-5, I had cell service. I called and did all my check-ins with family, particularly M&D. D was still in the hospital. M sounded a bit down and discouraged by the prognosis. D was in good spirits as usual and asking about the trail. It was challenging to get him to talk about how he was doing. There was nothing I could do but stay in contact and keep everyone in my thoughts.

When I got back to the PCT it was still a cool 65°, but the forecast called for a high of 104 in Castella. As is typical when leaving town, the trail climbs. Today’s climb would be slightly more than 4000 ft elevation in 9 miles. At one point it was 1200 feet over 2 miles. In over 100 deg heat.

Given my late start, I was in the thick of the climb during the hottest part of the day. The lower portion was shaded in the trees. But the upper portion was exposed with few trees. I worked hard to stay hydrated as sweat streamed off me in rivulets. I carried extra water. The extra weight was not easy given the climb, but I’m glad I did. I didn’t get a headache or feel sick at any point. I was relieved I stayed ahead of any heat related issues, at least for one day.

I’m in yet another race to get to a P.O. I need to get to Etna, CA by Friday. Today’s Tuesday. It’s 100 miles to Etna. I think I can average 25 miles/day over the next four days, but the heat….. It might be difficult with this heat.

One trick I’ve learned is to call the P.O. in advance. When I called Edna, they said I could pick up Saturday 8 to 10, even though they were not officially open. Good news, but I was hesitant to base my resupply on a phone call. Plus it’s a 10 mile hitch into town from a mountain pass with limited vehicle traffic. Too many variables I couldn’t control. Best to hike as far as the heat allows and get there on Friday.

Eventually I got up to 6700 feet and gained awesome views of Castle Crags SP and Mt Shasta. There was a perfect campsite with an epic Shasta view, but i pressed on 2 more Miles. In order to make Etna, every little it counts. I wound up cowboy camping near some friends of Smokebeard whom he’d hiked with last year.

Although I stayed ahead on hydration, I fell behind on food. I got really hungry before reaching the campsite. So much so I stopped to eat twice. Once, in an effort to hold off on dinner, I ate instant pudding with protein powder mixed in. The second time I had to eat my planned dinner. It was pesto pasta with pine nuts and Parmesan. I know I was a little dehydrated and hungry, but man, I couldn’t get over how good it all tasted, the pesto especially.

When I finally got to camp, I boiled water for some hot chocolate and camomile tea. Perfect way to end the day…..except for I kept smelling poop. I thought I must have stepped in dog, horse or even human poop and it was on my shoes. I kept smelling it nearby. Sure enough, packing up the next morning. Underneath my Tyvek ground sheet, was some kind of poop. I thought I’d cleared the spot but apparently not well enough. Ugh.