Climbing Everest 7/29

Mt Shasta   We go all around it. 

Today we climbed 7,340 ft. The first 5 hours were steep. FC thought she was climbing Everest without the snow. We started hiking at 4:30am to avoid the heat which worked until about 12:30 and then it was 90 degrees and we still had another 1,500 ft. Both TC and FC had sweat pouring under their sunglasses. We needed a herd of cows to lick us dry. We hiked 21 miles and quit at 6:00. For some people it was dangerously hot. Sideways turned beet red and almost dropped. One Speed took her GIARDIA medication on an empty stomach, climbed a few thousand feet and thought she might quit the trail altogether she felt so sick. TC did well considering there was very little water. After Hat Creek Rim she made an attitude adjustment and has been better in the heat. It helps that for the first time in a month she has a pair of shoes that fit her and don't cause pain. 

        We stopped for lunch at a beatiful spring and before long there were about 18 hikers sitting under some huge shade trees cooling off and waiting for the heat to dissipate. It didn't do that. It just got hotter. At least 100 miles away Mt.Shasta commanded the sky drawing puffy cumulus clouds to its summit. It looked like a plume of smoke came out of its snout and turned into a line of clouds that looked like the Starship Enterprise. Seriously. Those clouds may be hiding UFOs after all. The skies above us were mainly  clear and blue. There was the occasional cotton candy cloud build-up but everything eventually drifts toward Shasta.

Trying to get water from tiny spring with Princess & Mr. Sandals. 

      So, we are still roasting and nothing  is getting easier but tomorrow we finally enter the state of Oregon. Everyone is so excited. We now have less than a thousand miles to go and have gone over 1,700 miles. FC is anticipating miraculous weather changes and a landscape you can roller skate through (only in her dreams). TC is anticipating 30 mile days and water fountains every mile which is unlikely since we haven't even done 25 miles yet and the water won't be coming out of fountains.Oregon, beckons like the promised land. This weekend we will take a few days in Ashland. Buy something new and come visit and show us your new purchase. 

      Before I forget, the Marble Mtns. which we finished yesterday in Seiad are famous for having more variety of conifer trees than any other place in California or maybe even the United States. One type of tree has branches that point downward and pine needles that point upwards. The tree looks like it is growing towards the ground. FC thinks they look like the regal gown worn by queens at their coronations. TC calls them feather trees. Tall trees adorned with layered feathers. Some of these trees I have never seen before. They are exotic.

6 people in the king cab. (Back seat) 10 total in cab. A new record. 

Packed in there 

      Yesterday we arrived by truck (remember the cheating) by 1:30 and spent the day on the RV park's big green lawn shaded by big bubba trees. We ate and drank and did little else. It was 103 degrees. The town has a post office, grocery store and small cafe all lined up in a row. The RV place is in the same line. Everyone likes us because we spend our money there. TC now drinks shakes and smoothies when in town. FC is inconsistent but always in search of something good. She is not ordering well. She ordered a BLT that came highly recommended by 3 people. NOT. Should have had the burger. TC stays safe with shakes. 

Pizza party on lawn at Siaed sponsored by Tortuga. 

      FC does not have giardia. In fact, now she is constipated. She hasn't pooped in a couple of days. Her abdominal pain is not completely gone but it is mild. The malaise has passed and her appetite is good again. She prefers the constipation to running into bushes but we will update you. Glitter our fellow hiker does have the bug. He took some gigantic horse pill to start the cure. Good night.