September 3

Distance: 21.3 miles | Ascent: 3180′ | Descent: 3170′

Mile marker: 1217.4

Lunch: J – spaghetti mac (B-), A – chicken soup (A+)

Dinner: J – coconut almond oatmeal (C+), A – garlic mushroom orzo (B+)

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We meant to go farther today. We planned for closer to 27 miles, which would make tomorrow all the more breezy. However, we still have some responsibilities outside the hike.

We enjoyed some of the views we missed out on last night when we were hiking in darkness. We scared off a few large animals in the scrub around us. They were probably bears since they clumsily and noisily ran straight through the thicket to get away.

We crossed 1200 miles! We made this fancy dancy sign ourselves.

Then we crossed over the ridge and had great views of Mount Shasta, now firmly north of us. This also gave us some great cell service with which to make a few calls and coordinate our post-hike lives. In total, we lost close to two hours doing these chores, which is equivalent to about five or six miles. We knew we’d have to do these things eventually. At least we had a good view.

When we got back on trail, our friend from waaay back in Washington caught up to us. This was the guy who had lost his hat, which we found and tried to return to him at Stevens Pass (foreshadowing). He apparently got off trail for a few days and flew home to Colorado. And, he’s planning to get off again soon. Even though he’s a hair faster than us on trail, his trips off-trail allow us to catch up to him occasionally. It’s good to see him again!

The trail then took us through some managed forests and private lands. There were lots of dirt roads and evidence of logging. We had a little climb at the end of the day, which took us past a completely eroded hillside. We came across a new plant some very pokey-looking berries, although the spikes do not seem to deter chipmunks.

Before we reached camp, we found a hat on trail. It was our friend’s hat again! He must have a habit of losing hats. Or this is a crazy coincidence. We arrived at the same campsite as him and were able to reunite his hat to him this time.

We camped on an old, seemingly abandoned, and overgrown dirt road. It was next to a spring. Not every campsite can be glamorous.

Because we didn’t quite hit our distance today, tomorrow will be a bit of a long one to get us to our next resupply at the Burney Mountain Guest Ranch.