The forest has stayed lush with massive old growth fir mixed in with young green trees as we said our final goodbyes to Mt Shasta.  The weather has stayed warm and dry for several days. This is hiker heaven.  It is also nice we picked the dates we did. The huge flood of hikers are … Continue reading Onward to Castella/Dunsmure and a split…

Our Zero in Burney was nice overall marred by the rude employees in the little store. They seemed to be rude to everybody, so it was hard to take it personally.  Monday, July 4th------- We said goodbye to Mt Lassen and watched Mt Shasta loom larger whenever we crested a ridge. The forest changed as … Continue reading Leaving Burney SP

We arrived at Burney State Park around noon. Even though it is a holiday weekend, they have an area set aside for "Hiker/Bikers" off in the far corner of the campground. It's just $5/person per night. The showers are coin (5 quarters for 5 minutes) and they have two deep sinks behind the showers for … Continue reading Zero at Burney’s

Note to self: Walking through old lava fields sucks.  Friday,  July 1st ------- The terrain continued with the low chaparral, finally finding some stands of trees. We started early and the temperature was cool. By noon we had decended to the rocky plains where the heat baked us. It was over 100deg and there was … Continue reading Rocky walk to Burney SP

Hat Creek Rim. We all dreaded this section between Old Station and Burney State Park.  It's known as the "Northern Desert" to PCT hikers.  There is a long volcanic escarpment, or cliff overlooking a valley with the Hat Creek running along the base of the cliff. The trail follows the top edge of the cliff … Continue reading Hat Creek Rim to Burney SP

The name Butt means something in these parts. There's Butt mountain, Butt overlook, Butt lake, and all the little Butt trails. My poor head is filled with puns...I'll just put this region behind us. <ouch> There are lots of burned areas where the fires were recent; within 5 years. When you walk for 4-5 hours … Continue reading Of hot springs and volcanos

Thursday, Jun 23------- The travel from Belden Town up the long canyon was the most interesting and difficult that any of us could remember.  The difficulty was not just the elevation change from 2,000ft to 7,000ft, it was also the poor trail maintence. Downed trees and large bushes overgrowing the trail. We even had to … Continue reading Travel to Old Station

We made the ridge. 5,000ft game. Ouch.  Above is Mt Lassen on the right and Mt Shasta on the left. A long way off... On our way to Old Station in 6 days. 

We made it to Belden, a tiny resort with a hotel/restaurant/bar/store.  We were ready. It had been a 17 mile day with a huge 4,500ft downhill at the end and our legs were suffering. Still no cell service for ATT!  😞  Thank goodness they have wifi so I can do the blog. It's just irritating.  … Continue reading Belden