Could it Get Any Hotter? 7/13-14 revise 7/17

Note hikers on left. Mt. Shasta in distance. We are beginning Hot Hat Creek Rim. 

Today the temp. was 103. Some people were in air conditioned houses watching the World Cup soccer match. We were melting. Yesterday we hiked 9 miles in the morning to the town of Old Station where we ensconced ourselves at a vacant building that had a shaded porch next to JJ'sCafe. We arrived at about 10:30 and had breakfast. FC ordered the wrong thing. It was too ordinary and she could have branched out. 

She complained about the pancakes as she ate them. TC was happy with her pulled pork scramble. Moxie had bacon and eggs and didn't complain. Midway had the same. 

Laying on the porch. Hiker trash. 

The four of us walked our gear over to the porch and found places to lay down. We were planning on staying until 4.:30 and then heading out to the hot, exposed, plateau rim we were going to hike. There was no water for 30 miles unless the water caches people maintained still had water. Most people carry enough water, just in case. We wanted to try night hiking because we had never done it and this was a good place to do it. We probably slept for only a few minutes because the porch was adjacent to the restaurant parking lot and all manner of engines were passing here. Mainly we talked about the drug Ecstacy and Midway's first time using it. He ingested it at the infamous Priceless festival in Belden where it was given freely and under supervision. People had set up the environment to accommodate a bunch of people who were experiencing nothing but pure love and positive vibes. I must say it had a life changing positive affect on Midway. He experienced that mystic kind of pure love where you realize we are all one. Because most of the attendees were from the Bay Area, he will be moving there. FC was a bit envious. She wished she had stayed and tried that drug. It seemed to be a safe place to do it.

      Just before 4:00 we all headed to the cafe and FC made her second poor choice of the day. This cafe sold products made from grass fed organic beef but she chose to eat a salad. The salad was excellent but did not provide her with the energy she needed to get up that hill and plateau. She should have had corned beef sandwich or a Reuben. She still regrets it today, a day later. MW had a hamburger, Moxie a corned beef on wheat, and TC had a ceasar salad. She is tired of pigging out everytime she eats. FC wasn't so hungry at the time of ordering but became ravenous once she hit the road. She predicted this would happen and so it did. 

 

 Sun set

Moon rise. 

 We hiked as the sun set (it was still in the high 80's) and watched the moon come up. The ground was relatively level but quite rocky with lava rocks. FC and TC had puny headlamps while Moxie had a powerful light. MW took off and we didn't see him again. It was cooler and definitely a new experience but ultimately we stumbled and tripped a lot. FC did not like it because of the stumbling and poor light. The moon was bright and the path could be seen without a light but not the various rocks we were tripping over. We hiked about 13 miles and stopped at midnight. We camped on a road at the water cache which did indeed have water. 

     The next morning we got up at 5::30 to escape more sun. Hiking at night can be too tiring because you don't lay around all day catching up on sleep. It's too hot and there is no shade to hang out in.

   We pass by a water cache by a road. On the road is a converted white Isuzu truck.We are above the road drinking water when out pops a man with only a loin cloth on. His name is  Coppertone and he did the PcT last year. Now he roams the trail making people root beer floats. The first thing he said to us was that he only had a bit of ice cream left. We were sure what he meant. Moxie is lactose intolerant, FC is not an avid ice-cream fan and TC won't eat just any ice- cream. There is a Japanese hiker who has had 6 of Coppertone's root beer floats. All FC ever wants is fruit so she asked if he had any. He did; 3 Fuji apples, FC's favorite. In her opinion this was another of those miracles.Fuji's appear in the wilderness. 

Trail angel Coppertone

Moxie & FC enjoying shade & water at supplied by trail angel Cache 22. 

Exposed lava field.  We must cross at noon?

      By noon it was 90. By 2.00 it was 103 and we were crossing old lava fields. There was no water for cooling ourselves down and the lava radiated more heat all around us. Poor TC came undone. This was too much for her. Ordinarily you would never catch her outside if that was temp. We didn't have many choices. She bought new shoes recently and they are not working out. Her feet are killing her. Between achy feet and a combusting body temp had a meltdown. She was not enjoying Northern California. She didn't want to do the rest. She wanted to quit.FC made her lay down in the shade, remove her excess clothing, take off her shoes and sleep for awhile. She felt better after 30 minutes so onward they went. Moxie was way ahead and unaware of the developments. TC was also perturbed because in the last three days she had lost her prescription glasses, a pair of socks, and just that morning her wide brimmed hat. Hikers don't go backwards they just hope someone finds and brings their gear ahead.We are still waiting.

     Thirty minutes into hiking after our rest TC lost it again. She could see a lake below her but the path didn't lead that way. Water immersion or just some water was her only hope to cool down. FC was concerned. What to do? In the nick of time, FC hears water but when she sees where the noise is coming from she is not happy. The water is in a large pipe being routed somewhere.

Water coming out of the pipe. 

It's not out in the open. There is a slight leak however and a tiny jet of water is spewing up into the air. FC calls TC over and in that tiny spray of water they get everything wet. In the nick of time. They then see a sign that says, "Rock Creek 1/4 of a mile". More water ahead.

    There is more water and an old fashioned hydro plant owned by PGE. Water was flowing out with a powerful current. In we jumped. The water smelled fishy but it was cool and refreshing. We soaked our underwear and shirts and continued on to Baum Lake a few minutes down the trail. There were people fishing but no one swimming. Here we caught up with Moxie who was laying on a picnic table in the shade of a large willow tree trying to cool down. We all ate dinner ,jumped in the lake, soaked our shirts and walked for three more miles to camp. It was the hottest day we had hiked in. The night air remained hot for a long time.

     Before we got to Burney Fslls we passed the most amazing cache ever!! 

Cooler with iced sodas, water, camping trash disposal. All in the woods with no one supervising. Wild Bird Cache:

FC is looking in the fully stocked outdoor cabinet. 

Picnic table. Shade. 

Outdoor shower with solar heated H2O

Shower with solar bags ready to go. 

Burney Falls. 300 ft. 

     Today the temp. Is 106 degrees. We walked here in the morning and have stayed under the general store porch most of the day. We did jump into the Burney River which was surprisingly cold before getting to the general store porch.

Chilling packs in front of General Store. 

Mr Baggins, Soap Box, & Choop. 

   At 6pm we started hiking. It is cooling down. 101 degrees!! We hike 5 miles. 

FC, TC and Moxie were down by the river chilling when the boys came by. FC told them to come down and cool off before heading out again. They all had their packs on and were already boiled. FC had discovered a way to totally immerse her body in only a foot of water. You simy do a push up in the water. Everything usually fits in. The boys all did push-ups with all their clothes on. FC usually takes her clothes off. Boys are different. Choop walked in even with his shoes on. Sufficiently cooled they hiked off. We all returned to the porch and our packs where we cooked our dinner and began to hike out. It was 5:00 pm. At 8:00 we meet up with the boys. They will walk on into the night. We camp at a river.

Firecracker 

Soap Box snowing good form. 

Looking at 3 Bald Eagles. Choop, Mr Baggins, Soap Box, & Cheese.