The Last Hurrah of California

As we continued heading North through some of the first tree farms that we've encountered, the horizon was dominated by our first Cascade volcano - Mt. Lassen. Still adorned with some good snow fields, the mountain held some interesting surprises for us, most notably, the boiling lake. As we hiked through the woods, we were overtaken by the strong smell of Sulfur, causing some concern that perhaps an eruption was on its way. Our worries soon subsided as we rounded the corner to find the pale blue-green waters rumbling and boiling, primarily on the South end where we also found a steaming geyser. Contrasted with the dark red soil surrounding the lake, it seemed to be a visual anomaly. While we had heard about several encounters with a "friendly" bear in this area, we were not fortunate enough to catch a glimpse. Sleeping in a large burn area however, we awoke to the eerie sounds of the coyote's cry emanating through the lifeless landscape, nothing but the skeleton's of trees in sight. We spent a few days hiking around the Volcano, and were treated to some excellent trail magic hosted by a fellow hiker and his friends from home. After enjoying a couple days of fresh food, live music and good company, we skipped around the barren and dry hat creek rim to Burney Falls State Park bringing into sight our next Cascade volcano, Mt. Shasta.

Around this time we began noticing subtle changes in the ecology, as more familiar species from the Pacific Northwest became abundant in the landscape. It started with dull Oregon grape, soon followed by thickets of Thimbleberry and Bracken fern. As we made our descent down to the McCloud river, we soon found ourselves in the presence of old growth Douglas fir and Incense Cedar, making us as giddy as little children. Here we also found occasional pockets of old and healthy Yew trees. At last we have arrived in Cascadia! While the McCloud river was flowing cold and strong with the milky blue color of glacial flour, it carved out the lowest point for miles and miles, making for a difficult climb out of the canyon. After a 26 mile day, we broke personal records yet again, climbing well over 7500ft and dropping 1000ft less than that. Needless to say, "Exhausted," didn't come close to describing how we felt when we finally arrived at camp. As we bunkered down just below Gerard Ridge, we were woken up bright and early by the sounds of cable logging, air horns and log trucks. Welcome to Cascadia...

We soon dropped into Shasta City, where a friend from the Tucson backpacking group with a seasonal home in town, scooped us up and played trail angel for the night. After running our necessary errands, Flo took us to Mt. Shasta so we could better appreciate the volcano. We took a short hike through Panther Meadows, starting conversations about native plants that would last long into the evening. Thankful to have the insight of a local backpacker, it was a very productive and enjoyable visit, even if it only lasted for 24 hours. The next day we were back on the trail, making another great climb, this time, up towards the Castle Crags. As we recently acquired a new hammock for Mandalynn's birthday, it wasn't long before we broke down on the side of the trail, and found ourselves distracted in comfort. We finished the climb up to the trinity divide the following day, revealing magnificent views of both Castle Crags and Mt. Shasta. From here we rode the divide for several days, climbing and dropping very little along the way. This area was very abundant with alpine lakes, and we did our best to camp near one each night. Porcupine lake was one of our favorites, and after a long day of hiking, few things feel better than jumping into cool water and washing off the day's work.

Around this time, I got word from a friend that I went to school with; he was working in the area at a wilderness camp, and we ought to stop by and say hello if we had time. We took him up on this offer, and after a series of miscommunications, ended up at his camp hours before he could arrive. Stinky and dripping with sweat, we wandered in and approached some of the staff. They were very confused to see a couple of P.C.T. hikers off of the trail, but after an introduction as to why we had come, they greeted us with open arms and told us to go jump in the lake. We then spent the remainder of the evening eating real food, sharing stories about the trail and unique sights to see along the way. With this insight, we hiked 26 miles the next day in order to spend the night at Statue lake, a half mile bush-whack off the beaten path. The effort was well worth it, as the lake held massive granite monoliths that rose straight out of the water, taking on the appearance of large statues. We jumped in the water as the sun was going down, then made a quick dinner and went to bed.

The next day we were joined by some good friends we had hiked with in Southern California, making for a well balanced group we call a trail family. With this group we made our way down to our lowest point on the trail so far, Seiad Valley. At 1300ft, the valley was 108 degrees while we were there. None of us were big fans. We made a minor re-supply at the local general store, and didn't hike out till after 6:00pm. Even then we opted for a more direct route out of the valley that was less exposed and more abundant with water. We camped at a great swimming hole, then finished the rest of our climb the following morning. From here it was one great celebration after another; first, we finally have less than 1000 miles to Canada! Then something even more exciting; after 125 days, we finished walking across California! Trying to wrap our heads around what we just accomplished seems impossible, but excited with the development of being in a new state drives us forward with renewed motivation. We soon crossed over I-5 for the second time, where we caught a ride with an old friend into nearby Ashland. While this will be the last sizable town we are in until we near the border of Washington, we will spend a minute reorganizing and preparing for the next 500 miles... Till next time!

Cheers from the trail!
Stump & Mandalynn

Milestones

Leaving our much needed respite in Sierra city, we began our climb up the Yuba Buttes with wings on our feet and feathers for packs. We switch-backed up the trail for hours, slowly climbing towards the picturesque fire lookout that stands above everything else. The trail here was poorly maintained, overgrown with sticker bushes, making for slow miles over the exposed scree. We passed several flowing springs through here, many adorned with one of our favorite flowers, the tiger lily.

The following day we had quite a surprise; as we followed the trail through the woods, we startled a golden eagle catching its prey. Before we could recognize what was happening, this massive bird took flight between the two of us, just a couple feet overhead. In the middle of all the commotion, the eagle lost grip of its prey and dropped it, missing our heads by a yard or two. For several minutes we stood in awe of what had just happened, unable to speak, as neither one of us had ever been that close to a golden eagle before. A treat to remember for years to come.

Thinking back to when we climbed Mt. Whitney, we ascended over 4000ft on our way to the summit. This gave rise to the term, "Whitney Days," where we climb a comparable amount of elevation, if not more. Lucky for us, all of our days through this section were Whitney days, maxing out at 5500ft over a 23 mile day. With heat advisories all around, we were fortunate enough to intersect the North fork of the Feather river, providing one of the best swimming holes to date. We floated through the "rapids" on our bellies, explored the deep pockets, and basked in sun on our watery thrones. In the evening we were treated an amazing campsite on Lookout rock, where we enjoyed both an epic sunset and sunrise across the smokey skies to the East.

Four and a half days after we left Sierra city, we arrived in Belden Town. Though there was very little to constitute a town, the area plays host to many music festivals during the warm months. As the timing worked out, we arrived into the canyon just as preparations were underway for the StillDream electronic music festival. As the PCT runs directly through the grounds, we were granted free admittance and a good time. We set up a base camp, and within the few hours, tents, canopies, coolers, dogs and everything in-between began to fill in the space around us. It quickly became evident that we had a very desirable spot, sheltered from the sun for the majority of the day. By Friday afternoon, there was hardly a walkway left to navigate between and through all the tents. For once, these dirty hikers with made up names didn't stick out in the crowd, often getting praise from music fans when they learned that we had hiked in. We stayed for a couple days enjoying the music, and catching up with other hikers we hadn't seen in hundreds of miles. By Saturday there were probably close to 80 of us slowly taking over the festival, getting sucked in to the bright lights and loud music. We hiked out that night, breaking another 5500ft climb into two pieces.

As we slowly worked our way North towards Mt. Lassen, the first of our Cascade volcanoes, we hit a couple of exciting milestones. On the first of August, we celebrated Mandalynn's 30th birthday, one of the inspirations for taking this trip when we did. Simultaneously, we crossed the halfway point of trail. For the first time in 105 days, we can say that we are closer to Canada than Mexico. We just hope that this second half will go much faster than the first. If this didn't generate enough excitement, then we are very excited to announce that Mandalynn and I got engaged, making for a very full day. After 18 miles, we landed in town of Chester, where we finished celebrating her birthday and the newest development in our relationship. That's all for now, but more updates to come soon.

Cheers from the trail,
Stump & Mandalynn