Adam, Leigh and the Trees

Tuesday 20 August 2019
Day: 114
Location: Mile 1,578.2
Distance travelled: 30.2 miles / 49 km

We woke just before the sun this morning and enjoyed another spectacular sunrise over Mt Shasta. I took the fly off the tent and enjoyed the beautiful display of changing colours over Bull Lake as I ate my breakfast in the comfort of the tent.

A couple of miles into the hike and we crossed a small water source which was spilling out over the trail. With all of the excess water pitcher plants were growing in abundance.

The trail sidled the mountains, wrapping itself around the valley so we enjoyed beautiful views over the mountains again today. As we hiked we could hear the melodious clanging of cow bells rising up from the valley. A little further along the trail we could spot the heard, like little ants in the meadow below.

For the last week or so the trail has crossed and often shared it’s path with an old coach road. As we reached the Scott Mountain Trail Head a plaque gave us some history on what we would learn to be the old California-Oregon Stage Road. Thinking about how people travelled back in the day made me appreciate how difficult and dangerous it was to travel long distances.

Not long after entering the Trinity Alps Wildness I ran into one of my old trail buddies and original trail family members, Blink. Blink and I started the trail together back on the 28th April and hiked together on and off for a good month. We parted ways when Blink decided to flip up north rather than slog through the Sierras in high snow. He and a few other hikers drove from Lone Pine to Ashland where they hiked north to the Canadian border. Having reached Canada he is now travelling south to finish off the trail. It was so great to run into him and catch each other up on what we’d been doing over the last couple of months. We gave each other a heads up on what to expect on the next section of trail and reluctantly said our farewells and wished each other luck for the rest of the trail.

After a short section of forest hiking we were once again awed by tremendous views. This section of trail has not disappointed in the views department. We had a fairly long day on trail, wanting to get some extra miles under our belts to make tomorrows hike into Etna a little easier. We did however end up camping a little earlier than anticipated, after crossing a quaint stream we walked through the most beautiful field of wildflowers with their sweet scent thick in the air. We rounded the corner and there was a free campsite. It was meant to be. After a long day on our feet we were keen to settle in for the night.

Wednesday 21 August 2019
Day: 115
Location: Mile 1,599.7
Distance travelled: 21.5 miles / 35 km

We were up walking early, before the sun, keen to make it into the town of Etna this afternoon. We had read about Etna being extremely hiker friendly and having great food options not to mention a good Dollar General store and we were looking forward to a good meal.

What looked on our map to be a relatively cruisy 21.5 miles into Etna turned out to be a torturous 21.5 miles of steep up and down as we made our way along the mountain range. Adam and I thought it was just ourselves hiking along struggle street but everyone we met that day was feeling the same way. All everybody wanted was a short day into town but the day felt like it was dragging.

Although steep and exhausting the hiking was extremely beautiful. The trail remained high up on the crest so we retained the magical vistas we had been enjoying over the last couple of days.

Mid morning, around 9am Adam and I were chatting whilst hiking along a flat section of trail when I heard him stumble behind me. It’s not uncommon that we stumble and trip while walking so I didn’t turn around but kept walking until I heard him say “oh shit! A snake!”. I was a bit confused because I hadn’t seen a snake but I turned around to Adam saying “we just walked over a snake”. A beautiful little Rubber Boa, well camouflaged against the pale dusty soil was laying across the trail and completely unawares I had stepped over it. It was lucky that I didn’t step on the little one. I had been hoping to see one of these snakes so I was excited when I figured out that it was infact a Rubber Boa with it’s tiny little head and fat stumpy tail. Glad that we hadn’t actually walked on the chilled little snake, we hiked on.

The spectacular views continued with beautiful lakes and continuing views of the magical Mt Shasta.

We entered the Russian Wilderness and the terrain changed somewhat, we were now enjoying spectacular granite rockscapes. As Graham had said yesterday. It looked like the set of an old western film where you were expecting bandits to jump out from behind rocks.

Crossing over a pass and beginning to make our way down to Etna we walked through a burnt section of forest. California forests are very susceptible to fire. We are very lucky not to have experienced any trail closures due to fire thus far. The burnt section of forest was burnt around 4 years ago and the lower shrubbery was beginning to spring back to life. The forest had an eerie look with the tall leafless trees black with charcoal. Despite the eerie look the stillness and silence was somewhat peaceful and calming. With no animals, birds or insects the only sound was the wind.

After a bite for lunch we began our final descent down to the highway.

We were less than 100m from the road when we spotted a car pull up to drop 2 hikers off. I was hoping the driver had spotted us up on the hill but we were out of luck. Despite our rushing we just missed the car. Although the Etna locals are super helpful to hikers, the road isn’t a particularly busy one so it can take some time to get a ride. Bad luck we thought. But no sooner did we set down our packs and put away our trekking poles than a truck appear on the crest of the hill. I stuck out my thumb and it slowed immediately. The drivers name was Al, a local man who had been out hunting. Before even asking for a ride he said, “I’ll give you a ride into town, just let me move some things around. Want a beer?” It doesn’t get any better than that. Cold beer in hand we made our way down the winding mountain road into town, dodging stubborn cows and having a lovely chat to Al.

The town of Etna let’s hikers camp in the park for a small fee however it turned out that Al was mates with a couple that run a BnB and hikers hut. For $25 we could have a bed, shower, laundry, wifi, loaner bikes and loaner clothes! It was perfect, we couldn’t go past the offer. After a quick tour of Etna township, Al dropped us back at the hiker hut where we were greeted by the beautiful Vicky. Vicky and her husband Dave bought the BnB 14 years ago never having heard of the PCT. Over the years they converted an old stable into a hut to make a comfortable place for hikers to stay. They are very generous people, in their 80’s doing an amazing service to the hiking community.

After getting settled in, showered, laundry done and getting into some pretty awesome loaner clothes straight out of the 80’s, we put the loaner bikes into use and headed into town to pick up something for dinner.

It felt good to eat some real vegetables and fresh food for a change. We had a quiet evening, tired from our big day and crashed out in our bunks.