Etna 7/23

Trail Angels: Georgia & Bat Shit Crazy Mama. 

Who knows where Etna is? Near Yreka and Ashland and Highway 3? That's where we are. We are staying at Tortuga's house. He and his wife (Batshit Crazy Mama) have opened their home to a number of hikers and we lucked out. We have not seen Tortuga for weeks and we met him on the trail today. He offered us his home and to slack-pack with us tomorrow. That means we leave all our stuff at his house and take enough for a day hike. We'll do 20 tomorrow then take the next day off in Etna. Our friend from Samta Cruz (Carolyn Biddick), is zooming up here to see us in her new car. Fun, and more fun. Our other friends Judy and Nikki came up in their new RoadTrek. Lynn Humann came up in her newly renovated Sprinter to test out her dogs and van. Please buy something new and pop up to see us. It's not a pre-requisite but it is a trend. 

Angle food. Strawberry and Unicorn digging in.

Firecracker gets to play Tortuga's guitar. 

     Yesterday was cool and overcast. Clouds were hovering, stacking, floating, collecting, and bumping into each other. Snow white clouds piled on top of Mt. Shasta. They looked like down comforters layered around her. People on Shasta would be experiencing wetness, chilliness and tranquility. It's quiet in the clouds.

 

Strawberry & Unicorn. Sisters from Seattle. 

Our daily Mt. Shasta nestled in protective clouds

    On July 22 we hiked until 7.00pm and pitched our home (23miles) The winds howled all night and TC thought she heard our poles being eaten and dragged away. Her imagination works overtime at night. FC heard nothing.

Stormy night. 

Dramatic morning. 

Cool hiking. Yeah!

 

Catching a rest when you can. 

 Our direction for the day had been circuitous. We travelled east, west, and south. Not much north. FC didn't care; the hiking was easy. There wasn't a lot of sweating or heavy breathing, just a lot of traversing at a high altitude. TC complained of not knowing which direction we were going in. She felt a bit lost with all the circling. FC had to remind her that all these miles count towards Canada, even when they are pointed in the opposite direction.

Firecracker's bee sting. 

      The horsefly and deer fly extravaganza only happened in that one place near The Sierra Buttes. FC is convinced that all the horseflies in the universe spawn from that place. The newest challenge is that when we eat we are besought by wasps and stingy things. We eat smelly things like egg salad or tuna or fancy hot aromatic dehydrated food. FC thinks the insects are lovers of fat, meat or protein. We'll sit down for lunch and by the time we are ready to eat we are swarmed by buzzing carnivores.Just another gift  for FC from the great beyond. While gently swatting away one wasp or hornet or something else with one hand she was stung on the middle finger of the other innocent resting hand. She said a few words and watched her hand swell up. The predictability of sting sequela somehow comforts her. First the swelling and stabbing pain. She felt like she was being stung over and over throughout the day. Then there is the itching. TC didn't fare so well with her ankle sting in the itching stage. She dug a hole in it and now there are slow healing scars. FC is quite cocky about her ability to not itch. She has had alot of practice with her fabulous poison oak episodes. Somehow pain or discomfort predictability soothes FC. She knows what to expect. No big deal. Three days later there is still some swelling. It's to be expected

Tortuga & Pokeman. 

       Yesterday, July 24, we hiked with Tortuga and PokiMan. PM is a 71 year old retired Etna elementary school teacher who taught all three of Tortuga's now fully grown up daughters. One is an MD in Napa, one is a hot shot (special kind of firefighter), and the other is a pregnant firefighter dispatcher. All three got athletic college scholarships in three different sports. Quite an accomplished family I'd say. They had a fabulous grade 4 teacher (PokiMan) whose two daughters are also amazingly talented. One is the CEO of Nintendo in Seattle and the other is a special Ed. Teacher who teaches severely disabled children. Maybe Etna is the place to raise children. 

Misty morning. 

Angel wings

45 degree morning. Love the light!

     So we hiked 20 miles with a daypack on and now we are spoiled. It makes a difference to be a 110 pounds while hiking as opposed to 140 or 150 pounds. This of course is on a 110 body frame. 

      Yesterday we saw Shasta in the clouds and this morning while hiking with the boys we were in the clouds. The mist was cool and peaceful. FC had wanted to be in those clouds surrounding Shasta and she got to experience it today. She calls them vapors of heaven; veils of GOD. You can see she is still a tad nutz.

 We had fun laughing and singing with Tortuga and PokiMan. PokiMan was born in Dunsmuir (near Mt. Shasta) so FC plied him with questions about the St. Germain Society. These are the people who believe that Mt. Shasta has people living under it or in it. He couldn't answer much because he wasn't a member and they are a secret society. He said that growing up he mainly made fun of them. They own some of the prime property around Shasta, property with hot springs on it, valuable property. They are a religious group who believe black and red are the devils colors so they don't wear them. FC didn't find out much but she is intrigued and will keep searching. She believes they might know something she doesn't, which really isn't saying much.

      Shasta is still largely visible from certain vantage points. Tortuga says will still be seeing it in Oregon which is only about 6 hiking days away. FC looks at it a lot hoping to gain power and insight from it.

Now we have 1606 miles completed. 

Our daily shot of Shasta. 

     FC and TC took a dip in the warm waters of Lake Payne on their slack-packing day. The lakes since entering Shasta have been warm and swimable. FC is loving this. TC is getting better at getting into lakes with mucky bottems but it makes her a little jumpy. She refuses to open her eyes in the water. She is afraid to see anything in there so she rarely puts her head under and when she does her eyes are tightly shut. That does not make for a relaxing swim. FC has to open her eyes because she doesn't like swimming blind. She appearsextremely comfortable in water, especially lake water. Nobody knows this but when she is swimming and looking down into the depths she is a bit scared that some unknown creature (something like the Loch Ness monster could come up and swallow her. This fear is not grounded in any previous reality but when she swims her eyes are constantly scanning for large shadows. To see her swim you would think she is part fish. She looks so comfortable gliding through the water. Just remember she is always scanning.

Carolyn Biddick & her new car. 

       We got a lift to Motel Etna after the hike and were greeted by Carolyn in her shiny new black Ford Fusion Hybrid. We were happy to see her. She had brought a ton of fruit from Santa Cruz and we began devouring it immediately. A week ago FC was thinking she was getting scurvy. Her gums hurt and she was expecting her teeth to fall out at any second. She thinks fruit is the answer. She probably had a toothbrush injury but scurvy is what popped into her head. We'll keep an eye on her teeth just to make sure they are staying in her mouth.

     Today, July 25, we will take a rest day with Carolyn. We haven't decided what to do yet but the possibilities are endless... we have wheels. Maybe we will revisit the town of Shasta to get a soul path reading; maybe will will go for a swim in Lake Taylor; we will not be hiking.