Summer Hiking Trip Wrap Up

It has been a whirlwind of busyness ever since we returned home from our summer hiking trip in early August. With Whisper leaving us to attend school, there was much to do. Nonetheless, I wanted to write a wrap-up of our summer trip. Better late than never.

Mama and Papa Raven have had to re-adjust to hiking without Bling and Whisper. They are genuinely missed by their parents. For the past twenty years, our kids have always been out in wild places with us. Hiking had never been more gratifying. There was no limit to the possible ways The Raven family had fun as we hiked together. There were snowball fights, baseball with sticks and snow balls, games of “Pooh Sticks,” squirt gun battles, and barefoot races in the snow. We became Badland warriors as our hiking poles became swords. No wonder The Ravens took so long to get anywhere, we were too busy having fun. On a daily basis during a long hike, The Raven family laughed a lot together. We giggled and laughed over the simplest of things. It was contagious. One Raven begins and before you know it, all are joining in, and chuckles turn into roaring laughter. It felt so good. Those deep belly bursts of laughter were a daily occurrence as we hiked with our kids. Why can’t Papa Raven and I have our own snowball fights? Thus, we did this year. Such little acts of fun along the way this summer made all the difference in the world to our hiking this year.

One of our favorite parts of our summer’s hiking adventure was the first three days of our trip, when we encountered nobody. It seemed like we were the only ones out hiking in the area. Pure remoteness and serenity filled those early days. For the next week or so, there were only a couple of hikers we bumped into. Once we hit the road to Chester, two weeks into our trip, the trail became a freeway system of PCT thru-hikers. Some headed north, while others headed south. There was so much snow this year that the mass majority of them skipped from Kennedy Meadows, in the very southern part of the Sierra Nevada’s all the way up to Chester in northern California. It is a huge section to skip. Our trip began before Chester, so we were in a hiker-free zone, and we loved it. It felt like we had the trail all to ourselves. After Chester, finding a campsite each night was a regular challenge. The many hikers we encountered seemed wayward and disoriented about how to reach their goal. Most knew they would not be able to complete the entire trail; thus, they had lost their heart and dedication to a thru-hike. Hiking the trail properly was not the goal. Why hike a difficult section when you can get a ride around it? Not all were this way, but far more than we are used to seeing… or is this the attitude of long-distance hikers these days? We also noted that many thru-hikers did not even adopt a trail name. Nonetheless, it was a very difficult year to hike the PCT. In fact, the last few years have been difficult to hike the entire PCT from end to end due to fires. Knowing the difficult conditions of the trail this year, we asked ourselves, “What would we have done?” We would not have hiked it but instead bounced over to one of the other long trails.

There were many favorite parts this year. A big highlight was when our good friends Dave and Marji drove up to visit us when we were in Dunsmuir. This was completely unexpected and an awesome treat. Another favorite were the hundreds, if not thousands, of butterflies we encountered along the way. There are always butterflies here and there as we hike, but this year it was something else. All day long, everywhere we went, we would be amongst these beautiful elements of nature as they fluttered aimlessly all about. There were so many different kinds, shapes, and colors intermingling with one another. We have never seen this many butterflies before. We are uncertain as to why. Perhaps this is what it is always like in early summer?

The sunsets and sunrises that greeted us each day were special. To walk again amongst those majestic trees, wildflowers, and rock formations was a true blessing. To stand high above on a mountain top or pass above all the chaos and dysfunction of the world below is powerful. The muddled head clears, and the heart opens wide. Hiking along in nature, we find freedom, harmony, and peace. There is a strong spiritual element to nature. It definitely has a voice for those willing to listen. I am convinced more than ever that the most divine element in our lives is not a book, a building, or even a person. Instead, it is nature. It is what lies underneath our feet.

Both Papa and Mama Raven were very pleased with our hiking endurance, which seemed to grow every day of our hike. When you reach a certain age, the whole world keeps telling you that you are getting old and do not expect to accomplish what you used to when you were younger. It might take us a little longer to reach the point where we can hike a marathon a day, but I learned on this trip that we are still very capable of accomplishing that task. We hiked every day to our fullest potential this season. Instead of being a bit mopey without our kids, we were enthusiastic and thankful about what we were doing. We had fun. We kept up with the fast and young hikers that have already been out for a couple of months. Some we even passed and never saw again. This was a real moral booster. Over the past few years, I have doubted myself and my capabilities. There are body parts that hurt. I wondered if the best days of our hiking were behind us. With this summer’s hiking, we pushed ourselves in a way we have not done in a while. In fact, if we had a little more time on the trail this year, I am confident that we could have hiked a number of thirty-mile days through Oregon. Genuinely, we loved what we were doing this summer. My love and passion for the world of long-distance backpacking were greatly renewed.

So what were our least favorite elements of our summer hiking adventure? To be truthful, there were not many. Only two come to mind: blowdowns and mosquitoes. There were far too many of both. I guess I could add hot weather to the list. There were a couple of days that were sweltering hot. It was so stifling that you began to wonder if it was safe to be out hiking in it. Then, of course, there is always my feet, the one aspect that routinely ruins all pleasure for me when I hike. The bigger miles we hike, the more they hurt. We soaked our feet in cold streams, rivers, and snow banks. If there was a way to exchange my old, worn-out feet for new ones, I would. I joked at dinner with our friends Dave and Marji that I am ready to have the nerves in my right foot removed to eliminate pain. I said this in a joking manner, but I was dead serious. So serious that I have an upcoming doctor’s appointment with a peripheral nerve surgeon. This is the cutting-edge surgical treatment for chronic nerve pain, which is what I have. My best understanding of this procedure is that it is not the removal of a nerve but rather the disengagement of a nerve of a very specific area. The procedure’s goal is to disable the nerve-to-brain-pain pathway. We shall see what he has to say.

Meanwhile, Whisper is now attending college in Quincy, California. It was a difficult departure for both her and us. My last image of her is from the car’s side view mirror, looking back at her sitting on the curb with her head down, crying as it was drizzling rain. Nonetheless, she is doing well. She and her dorm roommate get along beautifully. Whisper attended her first football game the other day by herself. She has never watched the sport before and thus knows nothing about it other than the basic premises of two sides vying to move a ball beyond a goal post for a score. During the first quarter, she called us to ask questions about the fine details of the sport. She and her dad talked for nearly an hour as the game carried on, discussing what was happening.

As I write this, it is 4:30 in the morning, and Bling just left to go climbing in an area near Mt. San Jacinto, which is located up above Palm Springs. Bling is struggling to figure out what he is supposed to do in this world. Recently, he announced he would like to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. He will be finishing this semester; after that, we are uncertain what he will actually do. Meanwhile, we will be gently encouraging him to not give up on education. Taking time off is good. Going to Chattanooga is also good, but giving up on school entirely is a difficult pill for his parents to swallow.

The End For This Year

Hwy 138 – 1845.3
Day 38 – 7/26/23
Miles – 9.0
Total Miles – 645.6
Low – High – 84°

We rose  before the sun. A road  and a ride at 10:00 am was our final goal of our hiking adventure. Since the hiking was level and easy, we moved quickly. The forest was open with small lodge pole pine trees. For the first few miles the downed trees had been cleared, then they weren’t. For an hour or two we climbed up and over everything that had fallen down during the previous winter. This has been all too common for this year. The PCTA is excellent at taken care of the trail and keeping it in good walking condition. Over the past three years there has been too many fires and too much snow this year fot them to keep up with. Too many miles are in need of attention and so few workers and money. Rarely a summer goes by that we are not somewhere  on the PCT. This is the worst condition we have seen the trail with consistently overgrown bushes completely covering the trail and hundreds and hundreds of down trees. To our delight near the highway, we came across a trail crew working south. We are still in Crater Lake National Park, thus they have more man power and financial means to send out trail crews than the PCTA. Behind us, as the hikers come through this aru, there will be some happy thru-hikers to enjoy the cleared trail.

Nonetheless, we reached the road at 9:30, and our ride came early. Paul drove us to Chemult, a very small town with a train stration. We settled in for a long wait. Our train comes in at 8:40pm, thus we had a ten hour wait. Being in the need to clean up a bit we went over to the Pilot store to see if they had showers. They did. We were going to be clean for our train ride. Such a simple pleasure brings such great joy to thru-hiker.

Our summer hiking came to an end at the highway 138. We covered 645 miles in a little over 5 weeks. This is six days faster than we thought it would take. We managed to keep up with the hikers that had been out since April and May. This was a confidence booster for us. Although our biggest hurdle of course is Mama Raven’s feet. The pain she experienced was severe leaving the thought of another long through hike in the future in doubt. We shall see. As always, the end of a hiking trip is bitter sweet. We are tired, our feet really hurt and there is a need to return home to help Whisper; however, the heart wants to keep going forward on that two foot wide path.

Around The Rim

Grouse Hill Camp –
Day 37 – 7/25/23
Miles – 13.6
Total Miles – 636.6
Low – 40° High – 84°

We woke in no hurry as we knew that today was going to be a short day. All we have to hike is to Hwy 138. That is where Trail Angel Paul is suppose to pick us up tomorrow. At 7:00, we walked over to the restaurant for breakfast. The selection was slim because they had no eggs. They could not even make French Toast. Papa Raven ordered biscuit and gravy and Mama Raven had potatoes fries and a bowl of fruit. As we ate breakfast, Papa Raven worked with the poor Internet connection for a long time trying to figure out a way home and to confirm tomorrow ‘s pick up. It was so slow, he finally gave up. He hoped for a better connection up on the rim later today. We returned to camp, packed up, stopped by the store for some snacks that were different from our usual food for the day and back to the trail a little after 10:00.

The Annie Springs trail took us back to the PCT. From there, we followed the PCT to the Dutton Creek trail, which brings you up to the rim. The official PCT route does not go up to the Crater Lake rim. Instead it keeps you low down in the trees. Despite this, the vast majority of thru-hikers skip the official trail and instead hike the rim so they can revel in the beauty of Crater Lake. Being a National Park, we were surprised by the quantity of fallen trees on the trail. We would have thought that the National Park service would have cleaned them up by now. I suppose even the NPS has limited man powered too.

The forest we walked through looked very healthy with many large trees and young ones coming up. Mosses and thick ground cover was beneath the trees. Spring fed streams were in abundant. It was the kind of environment that one would expect to find fairies and other nature elementals. Up in the rim, it is grand and powerful to look upon Crater Lake with it’s sapphire blue waters in a big round bowl. You just want to keep staring at it. It is a mesmerizing to look upon.

The hike around Crater Lake is familiar to us. We have done it four other times. It is not easy. There are a lot of very steep climbs. It becomes tedious and trying. Nonetheless, the trail stays close to the rim so all the hard work is rewarded with magnificent views of the lake. After breaking away from the rim, we headed north and after several miles came to Grouse Hill Camp. Our home for the night.

Tomorrow we have about eight miles to reach Hwy 138. Our ride is picking us up at 10:00. Papa Raven had a good enough internet connection at the top to confirm are rendezvous with Paul. We even got a phone call into Whisper that we are coming home. We

Mazama

Mazama – 1818.4
Day 36 – 7/24/23
Miles – 25.7
Total Miles – 623.0
Low – 41° High – 76°

We were a bit slow at getting up this morning, because just as we predicted, it was a cold night and we did not want to get out of our warm sleeping bag. When we started hiking, we had no idea if we would be going into Mazama or not. Mazama is a Crater Lake National Park village with camping, store, restaurant. Most thru-hikers send a resupply box to this location. Since our trip ends at Crater Lake we do not need one. Nonetheless, we still have to walk up to the rim to complete this section on our hike.

Our biggest concern in the morning was water. Since it was a cold night Mama Raven stared out with her knit bennie on. We had a little more than three miles to the next water source, but first a climb…of course. The sun came up and it started to warm up. Our thermal shirts came off and Mama Raven put her bennie in her pocket. An hour later we reached the water. We also discovered that Mama Raven’s bennie was missing. Somewhere, within the last few miles it had fallen out of her pocket. Well we were not going to hike back for it. We filtered a lot of water,  enough for 20 miles of hiking.

As we dropped down for the streams, we headed out into an area known as the Oregon Desert. There is very little above ground water here. The pumice fields are so porous, any water just soaks into the ground. To make it even more deserty a fire had burned all the trees in the area. In fact we spent many hours hiking through the burn area. With every break we looked at how far Mazama was and it was getting closer, fast. By lunch, we realized that we could reach Mazama by early evening, just in time for dinner at the  restaurant. We pushed on, across burned out plains, up on to ridges, mosquitoes, and finally into Crater Lake National Park. After one last quick break to rest the feet, we hiked to the road. A little cross country and we reached the Mazama store.

We came in looking forward to a dinner that was not a freeze dried dinner. It was going to be real food tonight. Our excitement quickly ended when another  hiker informed us that the restaurant was closed due to a power outage. Dejectedly, we bought something for dinner at the store. The options were limited because it was at the end of the day at they would not be restocking until the morning. We bought a cup of soup that we heated in a microwave, a big bag of Ruffles potato chips and a drink each. Afterwords we continued onto the campground. It is free camping for backpackers. In the hiker area, there were tents everywhere. Toward the far end, Papa Raven threw some trash away and turned to find Mama Ravens missing bennie on a post. Someone had found it and put it there hoping it’s owner would find it. Mama Raven was excited to find it. Actually it was Blings beanie that he wore on our PCT and CDT hikes. It has history with our family so the thought of losing it was a bit sad. But the lost hat is now found thanks to an unknown person. A short time later our tent was set up and a dinner chips, soda, and a cup of soup was consumed. We ate the entire bag of chips for dinner.  We settled down for the night with Mama Raven wearing her beanie.

We still are not sure how the next two days will work. A ride is lined up for the day after tomorrow, but it’s about 20 miles away.

Low On Water

Beyond Snow Lake Junction – 1793.7
Day 35 – 7/23/23
Miles – 22.7
Total Miles – 597.3
Low – 48°  High – 91°

We had no water this morning. Our day started with an easy climb around the eastern edge of Mt. McLoughlin. So far, none of the climbs in Oregon have been difficult. Once up, we had miles of level hiking. The forests are starting to change to Lodge Pole Pine. These pine trees have a smaller diameter, most of their branches are high up in the trees, and then grow apart from reach other. Many times theses forests have a lot of old downed trees and branches, making a thick understory.

We had lunch at the only water we past on trail, Christi’s Spring. We took a long break there. Soaking our swollen feet was a priority. Upon leaving we had miles of almost flat hiking. It seemed that it would never end. In the late afternoon, it finally ended with a climb up onto a ridge. The upside, we had wonderful views east. The downside, it was all rock and burned trees.

We have not complained about mosquitoes much however that is about to change. For weeks now we have been under constant attack by the bloodthirsty pestilent. The late winter snow melt has made them a persistent annoyance since day one. Papa Raven is not effected by their bites. Opposite reaction is  Mama Raven  who is  covered with itching bumps. We knew this would be an issue that is why we normally hike later in the summer when mosquitoes are gone. This year, the only option was to hike early because of Whisper’s school schedule.

We found a nice place to camp high up on the ridge. There had been a lot of high clouds so it was cooler up here. It feels like tonight will be a cold night, our first in quite a while. We did not plan well back at the spring, so we are low on water. Not to worry because in three miles, tomorrow  morning we should be at a source. We could have pushed on but we would not have made it there before dark. Even though it was relatively easy day, we felt a bit lazy and we did not push ourselves like we normally do. Perhaps we know our trip is quickly coming to an end and we just want to slow up a bit.

We should be at Crater Lake tomorrow. Then we have to figure out our exit strategy of coming home is.

Oh, The Feet Hurt

The Bridge near Hwy 140 – 1771.0
Day 34 – 7/22/23
Miles – 26.6
Total Miles – 574.6
Low – 52° High – 83°

We woke before dawn, packed, and began hiking just as the sun came up. The hiking was easy with mild climbs and drops. We came to our first water in four miles. This was a canal from Howard Prairie Lake. The water was almost overflowing the banks and was brown. Hence we decided to skip this water and continue on to a spring in four more miles. Thankfully we had just enough water. We continued hiking through thick forest. For the first time of our trip, we noticed a trail crew has been out cleaning the trail of blow downs. We walked through the trail with great appreciation for whoever had cleared the trail. After the hundreds of trees we have climbed over, under, around it is nice to hike an unobstructed trail even if it is temporary. We finally reached the spring in need of water. Both of us were completely empty.

We remember this spring we’ll from all our other hiking trips through this area when the kids were little. You first pass through a squeaky gate. It has squeaked ever since our first time through in 1996. Next you walk down a boardwalk. At the end of the walk way, you reach a piped spring with ice cold water. Many wildflowers and lush green plants grow all about. Unknown to us why, this spring is completely fenced off. Perhaps cattle are permitted in this area so to protect the springs purity, a fence is needed. This seems like a plausible explanation except we have never seen cow dung anywhere near the spring.

Upon leaving, the next eight miles, we climbed up around a mountain then dropped down toward Brown Mountain Shelter. The shelter is not a place we would never want to stay. It seems to be more of a shelter for rats than people. Rat droppings are every where. The main reason we were there was for it’s water well. It is a hand pump well, so you have to work a bit to get the water flowing. we washed off our feet and legs and pumped water for lunch and the rest of the day.

The next section was the hardest part of the day, ten miles of lava fields. First of all, lava fields are hot. All that black rock radiates heat and they are out in the open with no tree cover. Second the trail is very rocky. Our feet were always being twisted and banged. By the end of the lava fields our feet were done. They throbbed and ached. The feet tend to swell up greatly when it warms up. This is a reason thru-hikers buy shoes two size too big. When we reached the highway on the otherside of the lava, we stopped for the night. Usually we do not like to camp next to a busy road however for today we were done walking.

The Last Section

Wildcat Mountain – 1744.4
Day 33 – 7/21/23
Miles – 26.0
Total Miles – 548.0
Low – 54° High – 89°

We were up a little before 6:00 am and did most of our packing. Down for breakfast by 6:30. Then back to the room for a few final tasks. We started hiking at 7:05. That is good time when leaving town.

Most of the morning was climbing up to Pilot Rock, which is a historical landmark settlers used to guide them through southern Oregon. Today, it’s back side, where people have no access, is breeding grounds for the peregrine falcon. We took a break with views of the rock. As we ate, we could hear the screeches of the falcons

Today’s terrain consisted of open areas covered with low plants and grass, all brown this time of year. Then we walked into small pine forest or a low thin oak forests. We spent most of the day alternating between these environments. The temperatures were hot out in the open grassland and instantly cooled off in the trees. We were not in any large pine forests until the late afternoon.

Since we took a zero, yesterday, we are hiking with a different group of people. There is Mad hatter from England and Bartender from Switzerland. There is also two women from the US, Yard Sale and Corn Lily. They are hiking the length of Oregon. To our surprise, we also saw Cha Cha. We assumed he would be long gone because he was doing the Oregon challenge. He said he was not feeling well and having a slow start today. Once he left the spring where we were all at, we never saw him again.

Our packs are extra heavy because we are carrying 4.5 days of food and a lot of extra water. In general Oregon has few water sources and we are adjusting to that. Long water carries are to be had in this state. Oregon ‘s soil is volcanic thus it is porous with little ground water on the surface. From time to time there is a stream or spring. However often time it is pond water that has been sitting stagnant for a long time.

Twenty-six miles is a good start for this section. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Corn Lilly and Yard Sale

Thimble Berries

Callahans

Callahans – 1715.6
Day 31 and 32 – 7/19/23 and 7/20/23
Miles – 4.3
Total Miles – 522.0
Low – 65° High – 78°

7/19/23

We took our time getting up since we had less than five miles and it was all down hill. By 8:30 we were at Callahans. We will be taking a nero and a zero here. We sat and talked to the other hikers until our room was ready: Sagen, Gadget, Bonnie and Clyde and a couple we had never met before. Bonnie was wearing a pair of our friend Sketch’s socks.  Then it was time for laundry and a shower. There is no word to accurately describe how good that shower feels after walking many days on a dusy trail in temperatures of over 90° for days on end. You stink and are dirty beyond what a descent human being should be. You come in into town exhausted and a bit down in the spirits. You basically feel subhuman. All those dismal moods instantly disappear underneath a showerhead. After showers, Mama Raven worked on the blog, Papa Raven sorted the food for the next section. We will be doing 102 miles in 4.5. days. Crater Lake will come quick.

7/20/23

We had a great zero. Two trail angels helped us to get to Ashland and back again.We wanted to mail some stuff home, and we needed to stop by a store. The rest of our day was working on the blog, relaxing, and trying to figure out how to get home from Crater Lake.

Sagon

Clyde

Into Oregon

On a Ridge – 1712.1
Day 30 – 7/18/23
Miles – 23.6
Total Miles – 517.7
Low – High – 80°

We were really tired after yesterday’s big miles. Since we knew that today was going to be a short day,  we allowed ourselves the rare luxury of sleeping in.

We started hiking after 7:00. Within ten minutes, we reached the California/Oregon boarder. After signing the registry, we continued eastward across rounded tree covered hills. Early in the day, we could see Pilot Rock, a core of an old volcano. It was small and way off in the distance. By evening, it was big and dominated the eastern hills. We climbed a good bit throughout the morning, before hitting this days high point, then the basin we are in drops towards hwy 5. We had wonderful views in all directions, although the south still was hazy. We heard from a day hiker that there is a fire up in southern Washington. Maybe that is where the haze is coming from. Whenever there is smoke in the air, hikers grow a bit concerned. This is a very pretty section of trail  filled with all colors of wild flowers and grand views.  Even though it is hazy, Mt Shasta can still be visible in the south.

On our decent, we rounded a bowl and came upon trail magic. Two coolers with root beer and orange soda. We had one of each. This same trail magic was here in 2015 when we came through with the kids. Instead of being eighty degrees as it was today, it was raining when we came upon the stash of sodas eight years ago. It is unknown how many years this stash has been here. All we know is someone or some group has been purchasing a lot of sodas and ice every year and regularly leaving it out for the long distance hikers. We signed the registry and gave out a big thank you. Farther down the mountain, we stopped for dinner at a location that had a water faucet and a picnic table. After eating, we started looking for a place to camp. We were having problems because there is a good bit of private property around with no trespassing signs everywhere. Luckily we came across an old road just above the trail. Home for the night.

The hiking was easy today, but we were wornout from yesterday’s long day. We were sluggish and exceptionally hungry all day. Feet and ankles really hurt. Lots of breaks we took today. Usually when you increase your daily miles, you do it in small increments such as a mile over a period of time. For example, we can comfortably hike twenty three to twenty four miles a day now. The next level we aim for should be twenty five miles, and repeat it over for a while till we have built up our endurance and bodies for that distance. Then we set the goal for twenty six. To hike twenty-seven was a bit too big of increase at one time. Thus we had a difficult day of hiking. Despite this we were able to hike nearly twenty four miles today.

We will get to Callahan’s early tomorrow morning. So it is time for a nero and a zero.

Big Miles

Donomore Cabin – 1688.5
Day 29 – 7/17/23
Miles – 27.3
Total Miles – 494.1
Low – 53° High – 94°

Being down low in elevation, it was a warm night and we slept in late again. We wanted to reach Cook and Green Pass before it warmed up too much. Road walks are not hard thus we made good time. The road switchbacks up the west side of the mountain, so it took awhile for the sun to reach us. Towards the top, we came across a beautiful waterfall next to the road. We reached the pass at 9:30. Time to obtain water from a spring and have a break. After eating, we started up the trail. While we were still in sight of the pass, a red pickup truck drove up and out came a bunch of hikers. Then another vehicle arrived and more hikers unloaded from the car. All of them skipped the 14 mile climb up. Mama Raven became mad at them and was determined that none of them were going to pass us and off she went. We climbed the last 1,100′ and started traversing. We took a break at Bear Dog Spring when Graham and Lars walked up. They sat down and joined us. They commented that they had cheated, along with ten others, and got a ride up the mountain. It was not too long ago that if a PCT hiker got caught accepting rides and skipping sections of the trail, it was a huge embarrassment. They would be called yellow blazers, a true badge of shame. Now a days, cheating the trail is something to brag about. The more rides you get, it seems to be a badge of honor instead of shame. Thru-hiking has changed since we began and not necessarily for the better. We talked with them for a bit but soon we left them and did not see them again.

The hiking was easy as we rolled along open, round hill tops, all covered in flowers and views of Mt Shasta off in the distance. We had great views to the east and south, although it was hazy. Someone said there was a fire on the coast and smoke from it was beginning to blow in. Later in the afternoon, we reached Alex Hole Spring, to find Peanut Butter (PB) and Bean reading in the shade. They along with Hot Rocks and Hobbles walked up the road yesterday. Both are planning on hiking the Oregon Challenge, which is to hike all of Oregon in 2 weeks. To do that, they will have to average 33 miles a day. Hence they are taking it easy because their challenge begins tomorrow. After obtaining water, Beans packed up and began hiking. We ate a bit and talked to PB for a while before heading out. After a mile or so PB passed us. PB was heading toward the Donomore Cabin, seven miles away. That would be a stretch for us so late in the day. An hour or so later we passed PB as he was making a phone call. A short time later he was right behind us again. Then a funny thing happened. This section of trail was a gentle down. Mama Raven started hiking behind PB talking to him, and she started to match his pace. He was doing about 3 miles per hour. Off they went. For more than 1.5 hours, she stuck to PB. I was having problems keeping up. The only thing that broke her pace was a long climb. She can hold a fast down hill pace, but not up hill. She put me in front and we continued the last 1.8 miles to the cabin. In the end we hiked a 27.3 mile day. Very good.

As we were settled into the tent, a truck drive up to the cabin. It is a very long dirt road to the cabin, so why was he here. I walked down and found out he was dropping a hiker off and he had brought beer for any other hikers there. I had one then returned to the tent.

Tomorrow we head into Oregon.

Clean and not clean

Into Seiad And Out Again

Along the Seiad Creek – 1653.4 + 5
Day 28 – 7/16/23
Miles – 19.2 (Seiad Creek Road to Cook and Green is 12 miles. I know we did 4 miles, but have no way to figure out how much more. We’re just going to say we did 5 miles from town.)
Total Miles – 466.8
Low – 60° High – 100°

Pap Raven, Clyde, Bonnie, and Star

We woke late because it was so dark in the valley alongside the river. We ate and packed quickly. We need to get moving to beat the days heat. The trail was very level along Grider Creek, thus we could make good time. The only thing that slowed us down was dodging all the poison oak, and there was a lot of it. After completing 7.7 miles, we came to the road walk. This was the hottest part of today’s hike. It started out as a gravel road then turned to a paved road. It had some shade that slowly went away as the sun rised higher in the sky. We saw a bald eagle sitting at the top of a tall pine tree over the Klamath River. It was growing miserably hot. At 12:30, we walked up to the Seiad store. We got some drinks and went to sit with the other hikers. Peanut Butter, Hot Rocks, Beans, Hobbles were there along with several others we have not met. This whole group is very fast and we are not sure why they are not miles ahead of us. Mama Raven thinks they like towns a lot thus they tend to linger a while in town. We decided to have lunch at the small Cafe before it closed at 2:00. After eating, we went back outside to sort our resupply box. Once finishing up, Cha Cha arrived. We sat and talked to him under the shade of a tree. He arrived earlier in the day and will be staying at the campground tonight. We had a lot of time to kill, waiting for the day to start to cool down. In the late afternoon, the Japanese couple of Bonnie and Clyde arrived. We have been bumping into them since Squaw Creek, several hundred miles ago. They speak very little English so they use a translate program on their phone. We mentioned that we know one other Japanese thru-hiker, Sketch. They both looked surprised. They also know Sketch. We talked/read translation for over an hour.

At 6:00, We started hiking the Seiad Creek Road. The last two times we hiked this section we took the trail. This year we decided to see how the road was. The first four miles were paved and we past many homes. When the road became gravel, we stopped seeing private property. A little after eight we found a flat place way off the road. We have a home for the night.

Tomorrow we will rejoin the PCT in seven miles then we continue northword.

Cooling Off

Poison Oak

Marbles

Near Grider Creek – 1639.2
Day 27 – 7/15/23
Miles – 23.6
Total Miles – 447.6
Low – 60° High – 91°

Old Ranger Cabin

We had a quite night. The morning sun was blood red. We hope there is no fire in the area. This area of California has burned seven years in a row. A break from the fires is well deserved for everyone that lives up here.

Our first objective of the day was a little more than five miles away: a stream near a cabin. We entered the Marble Wilderness yesterday. As we approached the cabin, we past by large slabs of white marble, hence the name of this wilderness area. There are even a couple of  towering  mountains above us made from all marble.  This marble is porous so we past several deep holes  in the rock. The cabin is an old ranger station that is no longer used. After obtaining water and eating something, we hiked onto our second objective, Paradise Lake. We had a 900′ climb to get above the lake. By the time we reached its shore, we were hot and tired. Off came our shoes and into the lake we went. The bottom of the lake was very muddy and covered in small rocks. None of that matters because it felt so good to be in the cool water. Afterwords  under the shade of a large ponderosa pine we ate lunch.

Our third objective, Buckhorn Spring, was more then seven miles off with a hard climb in the midday sun. The climb was not long, just exposed. Once we reached the top, the trail became level. We had miles of easy walking through open field of flowers and small outcrops of trees. Some trees had recently burned while others did not.  We were concerned that a huge tree we had slept under with the kids in 2015 had burned. It is a huge magnificent and unique tree. We are not sure if it is three trees that grew into one super large one or one tree that mutated and had developed three separate trunks. Not too sure which one it is, all we know it is special. The thought that it could have burned had us concerned. As we grew closer to its location near Buckhorn Spring we kept eagerly looking for it. Finally, before us, standing grandly was our favorite tree on the PCT. Unharmed by any fire. We stopped for water and decided to have an early dinner underneath the stately old pine tree.

The fourth and final objective of the day was to complete a big chunk of the drop down to Seiad in the cooler late afternoon. The whole down is over 21 miles. We did about seven of those miles. It was growing late when we reached Grider Creek. The first few campsites were taken, but we found a really good one a little farther on. This is the first time this trip we are camped close to a river. We enjoyed being able to clean the thick layer of dirt on our feet and legs off in the river.

Tomorrow we will go into Seiad. It is supposed to be over 100°. Our plan is to do our box, drink plenty of cold drinks, eat a bit, hide in the shade, and when it starts to cool off, hike out. It we can get 4 to 6 miles of the up done in the evening that will make tomorrow’s up easier.

Waterfalls

Before Summit Lake Trail Junction – 1615.6
Day 26 – 7/14/23
Miles – 18.3
Total Miles – 424.0
Low – 51° High – 91°

Red Bellied Newt

Since our ride was going to pick as up at 8:30, we did not have to rush. We walked over to the bakery at 6:30, for breakfast. Then it was back to the room to finish packing. A little after 8:00, we picked up our packs and headed back to the bakery where Molly was to pick us up at 8:30. The ride back up to mountain was uneventful compared to our ride down yesterday. Molly still used both sides of the road to drive. She dropped us off where she picked us up yesterday. It was 8:50 when we started hiking.

The trail north was the same as we have been hiking for the past week or so. Climb up onto a ridge and stay there as we weave from the east side to the west and then back, whichever took us north. It was hot out in the burned areas and we were grateful for the shaded patches we past through.There was not a lot of water today, so we left town with a good bit. As the day grew hotter, so too did our water. Warm water is not that palatable, but that is all we had so we drank it anyways. Mid-afternoon we came to a stream feed by springs and we filled 6L of cold water. It tasted so good. Soon afterwords, we hiked past two small lakes with newts swimming in them. The best part of today’s trail happened right after the lakes. We past by numerous small cascading waterfalls. Their water was spraying over the trail and it felt good to get wet. papa Raven had to pull Mama Raven away from the waterfalls, so we could climb a notch and start down the otherside. This was the steepest climb we have had in a while. By the time we reached the far side, we were tired and hungry. The trail provided a large flat rock ledge overlooking a deep valley with a lake below. It was a perfect spot for dinner. Next we began looking for a campsite at the next level area we could find. We had to walk farther than we wanted to, but we eventuality found a great stealth site off the trail.

Tomorrow we will get closer to Seiad and it is supposed to be hot again.

Etna

Etna – 1597.3
Day 25 – 7/13/23
Miles – 6.0
Total Miles – 405.7
Low – 48° High – 99°

We woke early because we wanted to reach the road to Etna as soon as possible. Nothing can fix a hikers poor spirits more than going to town. There is so much to look forward to: food, cool drinks, showers, laundry, soft bed, a day of minimal walking. Town days make trail life worth all the hard work.

The trail climbed up 900′ before dropping down to the road. We had great views down into Scotts Valley. We reached the road at 8:45. There was one hiker waiting for a ride. He arranged a ride for 9:00. When Molly arrived there was 4 of us waiting, and she took us all to town. And what a ride it was. This elderly women who can barely hear anything, used the whole road with total disregard of any traffic coming up the mountain. How a semi truck missed us we will never know. She also likes to drive her foot on the pedal. It was kind of like a scene from Mr. Toads wild ride. Nonetheless, we made it safely to Etna. Once down, she gave us a tour of the town. Afterwards, she dropped us off in town.

We called the Collier Hotel and were able to obtain a room. This hotel was built in the 1800’s and they kept that feel in all their decorations. In fact, there is no TV in any of the rooms.

Tomorrow we head back up the mountain with Molly. Hopefully it will be a calmer ride. Then it is off to Seiad. Our last town in California.

We Finally Turn North

Paynes Lake – 1591.5
Day 24 – 7/12/23
Miles – 20.2
Total Miles – 399.7
Low – 49° High – 85°

It was cold last night and we did not want to get up. Our campsite was blocked from the early morning sun by a mountain top. So the only way to warm up was to start hiking. The trail dropped down a west facing slope so morning sun was not to happen yet. Eventually we reached a saddle and the sun. The burn we hiked through was fairly recent. There was a mix of badly burned and not burned at all. For five miles, we hiked west until we reached Crater Meadow Summit. At this point, the PCT turns north and we left the burned area. Of course, since we climbed up to the summit what did we do when we left? Climb some more. We kept working our way up until we reached today’s high point and then we stopped for a break.

The next section of trail takes us into the Russian Wilderness on a very long, exposed, and hot traverse. Of course we are doing this at the hottest time of the afternoon. Near dinner time, we crested a saddle and moved onto a bowl. This entire valley was an old burn. What is the difference between old and new burn:

New burn: blackened trees, some still with brown pine needles, little our no plants on the ground. Old Burn: low ground plants, some baby trees, and standing trees are all white and skeletal looking.

This burn was here eight years ago when we hiked through with the kids. We ate dinner on a saddle filled with tree skeletons. It sounded eerie when the trees whistled as the wind blew through the dead branches. Our goal after dinner was to hike to Paynes Lake. We stopped here because there is little chances to camp between here and the road to Etna. Unfortunately, everyone else was at the lake too. We camped next to a boy scout troop. Yes they were noisy but it was good noise of laughter and boys being boys. Tomorrow, we only have five miles to go to reach the road to Etna.

Trail Magic

A campsite on a ridge – 1571.3
Day 23 – 7/11/23
Miles – 24.2
Total Miles – 379.5
Low – 38° High – 80°

Last night was warmer than expected given we camped high on an exposed saddle. Today was more of the same as we hiked ridges and contoured around valleys, all the while staying as high as possible. The trail did a lot of ups and downs. We had great views of The Trinity Alps and Mt Shasta.

The Trinity Alps are a small mountain range that looks very similar to the Sierras. It has rigid, jagged, granite spires, with large bear granite bowls. Everything is just smaller. We have always enjoyed hiking The Trinity Alps.

About noon time, we rounded Scott Mountain and dropped down to Hwy 3. When we hiked to the far side of the highway, we came upon our first Trail Magic. Just before we arrived someone had placed a cooler with ice cold Coke and Sprite as well as a tub of snacks. We both drank a Sprite and ate a bag of cashews. Mama Raven took a couple of icecubes from the cooler and rubbed the bottom of her feet to get the hot out of them. We also took two Kind bars to go. Whoever left them we are very appreciative of their kind deed. Thru hiking is just plain hardwork. Many times you wonder why are you doing this to yourself. To come across such a treat in the middle of nowhere, lifts the spirits. That is why it is called trail magic.

After our break, we started a 1,000′ climb, in the heat of the day. This was not fun. How we longed for one of those ice cold drinks back at the highway. Once we gained the altitude, we started traversing southwest. The mountains became more rocky and we started to hike through snow. There was not a lot of it and it was easy to cross. At the end of the day, we had the same problem we had yesterday, very few places to camp and too many people. We past the first location and continued to the next saddle. To add to our difficulties a fire had burned here last year. We crossed over a mountain hoping to find a level campsite with no people and no burned trees. In the end we succeed. We always do, it just depends on how far you are willing to walk.

After three weeks of hiking, our leg strength has improved greatly. Our endurance still needs to improve. Most of the hikers out here have been out for several months already. We only have three weeks behind us, however we are managing to keep up with most. Although we are hiking at least fifteen hours a day to do so. We are very tired. Why push ourselves? We have a deadline to finish in order to move Whisper to college.

Contouring

On A Saddle – 1547.1
Day 22 – 7/10/23
Miles – 24.4
Total Miles – 355.3
Low – 47° High – 78°

We woke with condensation covering the inside of the tent. This is the first night that this happened.We whipped it down the best we could and packed it. We’ll dry it and our sleeping bag later in the day. Today’s trail is a lot of ridge walking and contouring. The trails elevation started between 6,000′ and 6,800′. Most of the day, we could only look down onto clear blue lakes as we rounded their valleys rim. The exception to this was Deadfall Lakes when we hiked between Lower and Middle Deadfall Lakes. We walked a short distance to the middle lake, dropped our packs, removed our shoes, and dunked our feet into the cold clear water. The view across the lake was wonderful. We ate lunch. We were the only ones there. Grudgingly we packed up and left. Once back on the trail we headed for Park Stream Trailhead. A long the way we past group after group heading towards the lakes. We passed twenty to thirty people. We guess the lakes are popular with overnight campers. It is not a difficult or long walk from the trailhead parking area. After leaving the parking area, heading northwest, we only saw a couple of thru hikers. The trail north was miles of contouring. Late in the day we stopped at the gap above Bull Lake. The view was beautiful and it was dinner time. In the waning light, we had two choices, hike to a camp in 1.9 our 4.1 miles. We choose the closer. Not because we needed to stop, but because we wanted to line up for a nero into Etna. Our camp is high on a ridge with beautiful views to the west.

Mt Shasta

Deadfall Lake

One Big Up

Before Gumboit Lake Trail Junction – 1522.7
Day 21 – 7/9/23
Miles – 22.2
Total Miles – 330.9
Low – 39° High – 88°

We were up early. Our ride was picking us up at 7:00, so we ate and packed up. Papa Raven realized that we did not have enough cash to pay Doc for the ride which was $15, thus he quickly walked a few blocks to the nearest ATM machine inside a gas station. Mama Raven  finished packing up. Just in time, Papa Raven returned before Doc arrived. He returned us to the store where he picked us up two days ago. Doc told us that there were two trails back up to the PCT, Bob’s Hat trail and the Flume trail. We have hiked Bob’s Hat trail twice, so we decided to take the Flume. The Flume trail took three miles to join back up with the PCT. It stayed closer to the valley floor and had a lot of tree coverage unlike the other one. Once reaching the PCT we worked out way back up the valley. After several miles the hard part began.

The climb out of Castella is 4,500′ and most of that is done in the first eight miles. It is exposed, hot, and steep. We have never enjoyed this climb and it is always a relief when it is over. This time was no different. It took hours to get up. We took a long break around 3:00 to soak the hot feet in a stream with trees for shade. By this time we had about 800′ left to climb, but the trail was much easier. It gains most of that altitude as it circles a big bowl. We had stellar views of Castle Crags and Mt Shasta. Castle Crags is perfectly named because it looks like a castle of craggly spires of granite floating above the green treed valley below. Finally the trail reached the ridge and became more level. With this came rocks. A lot of rocks, that would force our feet to twist and tweak into awkward positions. We stopped for dinner at a rock outcropping with great views north and east. We had hot dogs for the first time this trip. Afterwords we continued for a few more miles. We found a quite campsite well below the trail. That was one big up. We will sleep soundly tonight.

Dunsmuir

Dunsmuir – 1498.7
Day 19 and 20– 7/7/23 and 7/8/23
Miles – 13.4
Total Miles – 308.7
Low – 66° High – 89°

7/7/23
We heard the Japanese couple, who shared our camp, getting ready a little before dawn. It was time for us to pack up too. We still had a 1,000′ of climbing, but it was well graded and we hiked fast after a good night’s rest. There were clouds this morning which helped keep us cool. After several hours, we came to Girard Ridge Road Junction. From this point the PCT does this ridiculously long switchback. Two miles out and two miles back and you cover a few hundred feet in elevation change. We have done this official  PCT route twice before. Thus we decided, this time, to take Girard Ridge Road that is only 1.5 miles long and then rejoins the PCT. This will avoid the frustrating four mile long switchback. The road dropped quickly and gave us some beautiful views of both Mt. Shasta and Castle Crags. After returning to the PCT it was a quick hike to the valley floor. The PCT passes under Hwy 5 and starts a very long climb. However this year they are logging out dead trees and there is a detour over to Castle Crags State Park and the store where we sent our re-supply box. At the store, we also purchased food, drinks, and fruit popsicles. We sorted the boxes and sent 2.5 days of food to Etna, thereby breaking the next section into two parts. Lastly we obtained a room in Dunsmuir for the next two nights. Yes we are zeroing again, but so too are the other hikers we are around.  This last section was brutal on everyone and an extra day off is needed both physically and mentally.

Mt. Shasta

Castle Crags

7/8/23
This has been a restful day as we have tried to stay off of the feet as much as possible. We finished this sections blog. Our next good chance to send blogs out is Callahan’s in Oregon. Possibly we can complete a few in Etna which is five days away, but we are not planning a zero which leaves us with very little time to complete the task. We walked into the town of Dunsmuir for lunch at the Burger Barn and stopped by the grocery store. Back at our hotel room, we repaired Papa Raven ‘s hiking pole straps that was eaten by a deer and the two holes chewed by mice in the tent. Laundry is done. Showers are done. Recharging all tech items is done. We are ready  to hike out in the morning. Our ride to the trailhead is all lined up. Doc will pick us up at 7:00. It’s going to be a long slow hike out of this valley.

We had unexpected visitors last night. Our old friends Dave and Marji Thomsen from Reddings took us out to dinner.  It was a special evening with special friends. Thanks you so much for last night.

Big Ups And Big Downs

First Camp After Squaw Creek – 1484.2
Day 18 – 7/6/23
Miles – 22.8
Total Miles – 295.3
Low – 59° High – 89°

We must be working harder because this was the third day we slept in. With two other tents in camp, we packed quickly and quietly. This is the valley where we camped with the kids when a mouse chewed inside of our tent and we were up at midnight chasing it around the tent with our cook pot trying to capture it. Sleeping so soundly throughout the night, we did not hear the mouse that once again chewed a hole in our tent and food bag. Nonetheless, we were on the trail by 6:09. We had miles of down. That makes for fast hiking, but it hurts our feet. At the bottom we reached McCloud River. It was time for a break. With easy access to the water, a shallow place to soak our feet, and abundant shade, we could not ask for more. There was a good bit of poison oak over hanging the trail so we made sure to wash legs and hiking poles. Upon leaving, we started a big, hot climb. We were at it for most of the day. Taking it slow and easy and stopping at one point at Trough Creek to soak the feet, we finally reached the unnamed saddle of the up. Next we had miles of down to Squaw Creek. It was late in the afternoon when we reached the river. Finding it to be brown with muddy water, we hiked a short distance to Clear Creek which thankfully lived up to its name and had clear water.  We took a long break for dinner, filtering lots of water, soaking our feet and rinsing out our very sweaty shirts. Filtering lots of water was necessary because tomorrow was a very long dry section. It was getting late and we could of easily made camp by Clear Creek, Instead we chose to tackle part of the steep 2,000 foot up before us. We hiked only 1.4 miles further before stopping for the night but at least we had completed the hardest and steepest part of the up, which was 1,100′ climb. That only leaves another 1000′ tomorrow.

Castle Crags, Castella, Dunsmuir, there are all the names of the next town we reach tomorrow. Castle Crags is a star park and campground. Castella is where the PO is. And Dunsmuir is a small town about 5 miles north.

McCloud River

Squaw Creek

Feeding The Deers

Camp Above Deer Creek – 1461.4
Day 17 – 7/5/23
Miles – 21.8
Total Miles – 272.5
Low – 58° High – 90°

Last night we were very tired. The hiking has become much harder with bigger ups and downs. Throw in hot weather and hiking thirteen to fourteen hours a day in these conditions, we go to bed each night absolutely exhausted. We ended up sleeping in late. So we did not get out of camp until 6:20. As we packed, something was funny about the pitch of the tent. Come to find out a deer had chewed through a cord of our tent and two wrist straps on our hiking poles. Mama Raven fixed the tent with needle and dental floss while Papa Raven replaced one of the poles straps. We will have to later repair the other. First goal of the day was Moosehead Creek, for water. The trail continued to move from ridge to ridge. Early in the morning, we took a break at Mushroom Rock. In our last two PCT thru-hikes we stopped here, so we had to again. The rock sits in an open area, well above the trees. Before us was a grand view of Mt. Shasta. Soon after leaving the rock we ran into snow. We were not expecting this and it really slowed us down. There was no trail visible for quite a distance. When we should have been down low, we were up high. When we should have been high, we were down low trying to make our way through the thick under brush. Nothing was working out. Finally we broke to the south side of the ridge and we could hike trail again. Even though we were in snow, the air temperature was in the low 90’s. Taking advantage of the situation, we would fill our hats with snow and place it on our heads as we walked. This cooled us off when we hiked in the direct sun. Another hiker we passed thought that was a great idea and he started doing it too. In the late afternoon, we hiked across Grizzly Peak and stopped for dinner. After eating we continued down. As we dropped into a deep valley the trees grew larger. We past a number of very big trees, both in girth and heigth. How rare it is to walk amongst the really giant trees because most have been cut down. How old were they? Probably they were at least 800 to 1,000 years old. It was an honor and privilege to be walking through them. Finally, after the sun set down, we came to the only place to camp but there were already two other tents setup. We asked if we could stay and they said yes. Our home for the night.

Shasta from Mushroom Rock

Hard Day

Just Over A Saddle – 1439.6
Day 16 – 7/4/23
Miles – 22.6
Total Miles – 250.7
Low – 57° High – 91°

It was a warm night and we accidentally slept in late. We knew that today was going to be another hot one so we wanted another early start. Despite sleeping in, we hit the trail at 5:55.We hiked across a flat area, over and down to the dam across Britton Lake. We took our time crossing the dam. It’s fun to look down at all the water coming out, and how the dam is put together. Once in the other side we started up. Today had a 2,000′ climb and with the heat, it would not be easy. We covered as much ground as we could in the cool of the morning. The only detraction was the sworms of mosquitoes. Today was the first time this trip that mosquitoes were a big problem. They did slack off midday but came back even worse in the evening.

The one good thing with climbing 2,000′ is that with the increase of elevation, the air should be cooler, and it was. I told Mama Raven that it should be 10° cooler and I was very close.

As we reached the top of the climb, we started to go into and out of logging areas. We hiked through many places that large tractors had been. Some areas were well cleaned up but most were a mess of piled up debris. You could not help to be saddened by the state of the land had been left. There was one area that was not a complete clear cut, instead they left quite a few large trees standing so it did not look so barren. It was also well cleaned up. Whoever managed over this logging section treated the trees and land with respect. We wished more loggers were this way. There were some older logging sites that had been replanted and are looking healthy once again.

Around 4:00, we stopped at a spring. We were dragging so we decided to cook dinner to give us some energy. That keep us going tell 6:00 when we started looking for a place to camp. The bood thirsty mosquitoes have been relentless. Heat has been tough. We are both cranky. It’s time to call it quits for the day. With all the logging there were not many options, but we climbed to the top of a saddle and found three different sites. Home!

The trail is turning westward and we will be hiking that direction for many days. The trail is taking the long way around Mt. Shasta.

Doing something new. The final image posted is the last view from our tent in the evenings.

In N Out

Beyond Burney Falls – 1417.0
Day 15 – 7/3/23
Miles – 22.3
Total Miles – 228.1
Low – 53° High – 100°

The Montana Girls hiked by our camp around 5:00  this morning and that got us moving. We quietly packed up so we did not wake any body else up in and hit the trail at 5:50. We wanted to get some miles in before it got hot. It did not take long to drop off of the plateau and start the lava field. Hiking the lava field was not hard, it was just rocky thus we had to watch every step. It was a good thing it only lasted for four miles. Mid morning we arrived at the larg pipe the feeds the Brum powerplant. The last time we were here, the pipe was squirting water out. We enjoyed putting our heads over the squirting  water to cool ourselves  off. This time there was not enough water in the pipe for such an event. Just down the hill from the pipe, we came to a small stream. This was the first of  four breaks in less than a mile. We soaked our hot and sore out feet in the stream. Then we stopped a the fish hatchery to look at the hundreds of small trout in long tanks opened to the public. Next we swung by Brum Lake and took pictures of the geese. We also spotted what we think was a muskrat in the reeds eating the blades of grass. Our last stop was another foot soaking at the stream feeding Brum Lake.

Upon leaving Brum Lake, we realized we needed to reach Burney Falls today, before the store closed at 5:00. Otherwise we would be stuck at Burney until nine in the morning when the store opened to pick up our resupply box. These days the weather is way too hot. We need to be already hiking by five or five thirty in the morning. This means we needed to complete 21 miles before five, with all those breaks we just took we will be hard pressed  to make it. Also we were heading into the hottest part of the day. Our came the umbrellas and off we went. The hours and the miles rolled by. Our biggest problem was the heat.  Despite this, we were holding a 2.5 to 3 miles an hour pace, and it was looking good. It was just plain hot and miserable with very little shade from trees. Our heads were throbbing. Mama Raven reminded us that heat exhaustion is the number two cause of death on the PCT right behind falling. We slowed down a little bit. We took one break at the cutoff for a spring. Papa Raven took the steep down to fill a bottle with cold water. The spring was huge, and the air was much cooler down near the water. Upon returning, he surprised Mama Raven by dumping a small bottle of cold water on her head. At first she screamed and then she wanted more. We pushed on and made it to Burney Falls at 4:30. We retrieved our box, bought lots of cold drinks and food and more drinks all before they closed. The store and park was packed with people for the fourth of July weekend. We spent the next two hours eating, drinking, and sorting our food. Finally we hiked back to the PCT. We were very, very tired so we camped at the first flat place we could find.

This evening was the first day we saw clouds in days. We hope this is a sign that the weather will be cooling. Today was a hard day, not because of difficult terrain but because of the heat.

Keys

Trout Hatchery

Brum Lake

Hat Creek Rim

On The Hat Creek Rim – 1394.7
Day 14 – 7/2/23
Miles – 24.1
Total Miles – 205.8
Low – 53° High – 100°

We knew that today was going to be hot, so we wanted to hit the trail earlier than normal. We ate breakfast, finished packing, then hit the trail at 5:49. Our usual time is up at six and hiking by seven. At this early hour of the morning, it was cold and the sun was not up yet, but we moved well in the pre dawn light. Before leaving old Station, we filled our water bags full. This was the first time we had to do that on this trip. The last place for water, before heading up onto the Hat Creek Rim was Subway Cave. We have been there a number of times in the past and since we had our full water bags, we passed it by. In 2015 with the kids, we took the time through the lava tubes but since they are not with us we just walked by them.

The Hat Creek Rim is a long plateau made of lava. It slopes up in a series of steps. In the cool of the morning we hiked over to the rim then up the first step. The first eight miles were pleasant, with small trees and low bushes. The plateau at one time had large pine trees but they burned in 2009 leaving the rim treeless. However the locals of the area wanted the rim to be replanted, so they did. Those baby trees are now five to ten feet tall. Ten to fifteen more years they will be tall enough to provide shade for the hikers. We took a break at Lost Creek Spring. We did not need water, but we were hungry so we stopped briefly for a snack. By this time, the day was starting to warm up. Upon leaving the spring, we started our final climb of the day. Four miles later we reached the high point of the plateau, which had a large radio tower. Here, we took another break, in the shade of a big oak tree, to cool off. It was 100° in the sun. The rest of our day was basically down, but the heat made it hard. Our next stop was Cache 22. A large water tank where hikers can obtain water. By this point, we were almost dry, so we filled everything. We sat there for over an hour, hoping the day would start to cool off. In the early evening, we hiked four more miles, before coming upon a very large campsite. It was time to quit for the day. This area is one of Mama Ravens favorite. It looks like the savannah grassslands of Africa. You are expecting to see a lion sitting out amongst the dried grass along with some giraffes  and elephants. As we were settling in, Keys, a hiker we met at the water tank decided to camp here also. After dark,  two more showed up. I’m not sure who they are.

We will make it to Burney Falls tomorrow, but the store will be closed by the time we reach it.  So we might stop a little early and go in the next day.

Cache 22

Old Station

Old Station – 1370.9
Day 12 and 13 – 6/30/23 and 7/1/23
Miles – 8.1
Total Miles – 181.7
Low – 49° High – 85°

6/30/23
Again, we slept well last night. Today is a town day and we will be taking a zero. Eventhough, yesterday’s hiking was easy, we felt very rundown and sluggish. Additionally, both our feet’s have blisters and in need of a small break to heal. A zero day is what we need. We packed quickly and headed out. The trail dropped down onto the flats below My. Lassen. Just as the valley opened up, we hiked into a large pine tree farm with it’s blackened trees. Soon we reached a very significant point…the northern edge of the Dixie Fire. Yes we finally hiked out of the largest single fire in California history. The Dixie Fire burned nearly 1,000,000 acres and it took us 12 days to walk through it. The devastation we passed through was astounding. The day was warming up as we hiked into Old Station. Now we had a long wait, the PO opened at 11:00 and we could not obtain our room until 3:00. So we at breakfast and talked with other hikers. When the PO opened, there was a line of hikers waiting to get their resupply boxes. Also this is where they were sending home their ice axes and micro spikes. We got our box and sorted our food for the next section down by the Hat Creek River. We talked a long time to Whisper on the phone. When we could get into our room, we immediately took showers and did laundry. We were in desperate need of both. The rest of our day we rested our feet. Tomorrow we will do the same.

7/1/23
Zero! Need I say more. We worked on the blog, posted pictures, and relaxed.
Tomorrow we head out onto the Hat Creek Rim. A long flat plateau with very little water and no shade. It is supposed to be in the 90’s so we will be getting a very early start.

Through Lassen

On a ridge, near the Lassen boarder – 1362.8
Day 11 – 6/29/23 3
Miles – 19.2
Total Miles – 173.6
Low – 50° High – 89°

We woke early to get across the park. The beginning of our day involved climbing a ridge and dropping into the valley in the other side and doing that several times. As we stopped into the first Mama Raven commented on after 5 days without a bath we were really starting to stink. A short time later,  Papa Raven pointed out that she was not smelling us, but it was sulfur from Boiling Lake. Lassen Park had many active volcanic areas, and we were approaching one. Boiling Lake has a weird milky blue-green color with steam raising from the far side. After leaving the lake, we dropped down to Drakesbad, a resort that featured a hot spring fed swimming pool. It has been closed since 2020 due to Covid and has never opened back up.  PCT hikers would stay at the nearby campground and enjoy showers and a good meal at the resort. But that seems to be a thing of the past too because the campground is no longer opened either.

After leaving the closed campground, we entered into a very dead area of Lassen National Park. There was no sign of life anywhere. Singing birds were not heard, nor were there any buzzing bugs and no young green plants were starting to come up like in most other burn areas. It felt absolutely dead and depressing to walk through. What we have heard is that Lassen was hit severely by the fire, not much was left untouched. This broke our hearts to see. It was Lassen that we brought Bling and Whisper to for some of their earliest backpacking trips. We finished the hard part of our day, after we climbed the next ridge and dropped down to a stream, an area that we stopped many times with our kids to rest and play in the water. It had not burned. This whole river valley was an oasis in a vast landscape of deadness with live trees, plants, flowers, birds singing. We even saw a chipmunk. Now this was the Lassen we know. As we hiked up the next ridge, we encountered patches of snow, but very little to be a problem. Down that ridge, we entered back into the dead zone. Although we gave a sigh of relief to see that the trees around Lower  Twin Lake had not burned either. This was another location our kids played and swam in the water. Thus another break we took to enjoy one of the few areas in the Park that had not burned.  After our rest, we started a long flat section through old and new burns. The temperature has been going up over the last few days and it was getting hot out on the flats where there were no trees left for shade. Our thermometer read 89 degrees. This was the same route that wagons used on the Oregon trail to reach California. Later in the afternoon we came upon the only water for miles. Of course we had to stop and soak our feet. It would be temping to camp here for the night, but without a bear canister we must keep hiking on until we are no longer in Lassen.  In a couple of hours, we found a small ridge very near Lassen’s border.

Tomorrow we will nero in Old Station and take a zero. Our first of the trip.

Trail Magic

Boundary Spring – 1343.6
Day 10 – 6/28/23 R
Miles – 22.8
Total Miles – 154.4
Low – 38° High – 92°

We woke to another clear blue sky. Since we camped toward the top of a mountain, we had a big down this morning. As we descended, we kept a lookout for another possible place we could have camped without having to climb up the steep ridge. It was a good thing we stopped where we did because there were dead black trees the whole way down. Last night, if we had gone on, it would have been a very long day till we encountered  a group of live trees. When we reached the bottom, we had to cross Soldier Creek. The creek was in the middle of a very wet meadow and the bridge had burned out. So off came our shoes. We decided to not take a break at the meadow and push on to Hwy 36, which was a good thing. There was trail magic going on at the trailhead parking lot.  Unfiltered, up from Chico, had just setup a table with fresh fruit, drinks, same veg’s, dips, and fresh baked cookies. We stayed much longer than we should have, but it was just really nice talking with her and the other hikers thad had come up from Chester which is the location that the PCTA is recommending that hikers skip up to, to avoid snow in the the Sierras. After departing the highway, we had a short climb and then we rolled up, over, and around a series of small hills. We enjoyed this area because we were hiking amongst living trees. I know we are not finished with burned out trees, but we are nearing the end. The last of the Dixie Fire burned very close to Old Station, our next town for a food drop. Tonight we are camped right in the southern boarder of Lassen National Park. To be legal to camp in the park, you need a bear canister. We did not bring one. So, tomorrow we will hike across the park, about 19 miles.

Camping Amongst the Dead Trees

On a ridge beyond the PCT mid point – 1321.0
Day 9 – 6/27/23 R
Miles – 21.0
Total Miles – 131.6
Low – 38° High – 72°

We slept well last night and woke up ready to hike. We began the day with a simple climb, not to high nor to steep. The best part was all the live trees around us. This is a rare thing ever since the Dixie Fire two years ago. The mass majority of trees have been killed for nearly a million acres. It is a bit depressing walking through the destruction. Once we reached the top of the hill, we began to hike ridge tops with small climbs and drops. This went on for most of the day. We saw our first puffy clouds at 10:00 in the morning. We heard our first thunder around noon, and we felt our first rain about 1:00. It sprinkled a number of times, but none of it amounted to much of anything. The thunder heads were not very big and they would build up and move off to the southeast. All and all, if you’re going to have thunderstorms, this is a good way to have them. Toward the late afternoon, we had one big climb. It did not cause any problems, but we did have to cross several snow fields at the top. As the day waned, we reached the PCT ‘s official mid point. As usual these days, we were surrounded by dead blacken trees. We started looking for a camp. It is hard to do with all the dead trees, but we found one after climbing up a steep ridge. We try to avoid sleeping amongst dead trees because they have a tendency to fall for no apparent reason. A few years ago a thru-hiker was killed in his tent by a falling tree. There also has been several serious injuries. Even Mama Raven has experience with a tree falling on the back of her head. Thus we try are best to avoid camping in such areas but with far more dead trees than alive, it is hard to avoid.

A Big Climb

A Saddle After Frog Mountain – 1299.9
Day 8 – 6/26/23  R
Miles – 15.8
Total Miles – 110.6
Low – 42° High – 70°

It is a very big climb out of Belden, 4,800′, thus we got up early  while it was still cool. This was going to be a long hard day. The up will last the entire day.  The trail started contouring up the mountain heading for the valley we would stay in most of the day. Belden sets at 2,200′ and many of the plants were starting to turn brown. Once again, we encountered our friend poison oak. But today it was easier to avoid. In fact there were several miles of cleared trail which was a pleasure to hike on. Since we began our hike, we have had to climb up, down and around a great number of down trees. In this section someone has been out doing trail work. We stopped by Rattlesnake Spring and of course we happened to see our first rattlesnake next to the spring. Later in the morning clouds began to build up and we enjoyed the shade they provided. We plauded a long, slowly gaining altitude when we looked up to see dark black clouds to the north. It was not long till thunder began. As a light rain started, we hoped this would quickly pass. When it didn’t, out came the rain gear. We looked for a place to hide out of the rain, but all the trees about us were blacken husks from the Dixie fire. Finally we found a blacken tree that leaned out a bit, giving us some protection. We stood there as it rained behind our little dry patch waiting for it to let up. After about 15 minutes, the rain lighten and we headed out. The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, the rain came and went. We heard thunder from all directions. In one of those breaks from the rain we had our first river crossing where we had to take shoes off. Towards the top of the climb, Busty set her tent and stopped for the day. We continued on and soon the sun came out. The thunderclouds were breaking up. As we reached the top of the climb, snow started to appear once again.

When we crested the top, we were greeted with a large steep snow bank. We worked our way down some rock ledges and smaller snow banks. At one point Papa Raven stepped out into what looked like mud, but what was in fact a thin layer of mud over a smooth rounded boulder. His feet came out from under him and down he went. He was covered in mud but worse than that was his bloody forearm. He used snow to clean the wound. It looked like his arm was put through a cheese grater. Mama Raven bandage him the best she could. Since Bling does not hike with us anymore, we stopped carrying large wound bandages and all we had were a couple of small bandaids for blisters.  Bling was often in need of the larger bandages with all of his scrapes knees and shins.  We continued down. It was not long before we left the snow. A short time later we found a place with no dead trees around. We called it home for the night.

Am I Starting To Itch?

Belden – 1284.1
Day 7 – 6/25/23
Miles – 18.7
Total Miles – 94.8
Low – 60° High – 76°

Our friend Charles, AKA Pounder, picked us up a little before 7. With him was Busty, another thru-hiker, We all went for breakfast before Charles took as back to the trail. Busty was returning back to the trail after taking a month off to let the snow melt. To our surprise she is from San Marcos, about a half hour from where we live. Charles took us to the Thunder Mountain for breakfast, the only place open this early in a Sunday. After eating we headed up to Bucks Summit.

We started hiking about 8:30. Not a bad for getting out of town. For several hours we walked a dirt road towards Spanish Peak. We had wide open views to the south. As we headed towards the summit, we cut around it and started hiking in snow. Last night we looked at the snow levels and everything is melting fast. The next seven miles is the most snow we will see until the Trinity Alps. For hours, we worked our way across the north facing slopes, loosing and finding the trail over and over again. It was late afternoon when we hiked out of the snow. As we headed toward the valley floor and Belden, we tried to decide what to do. Either we stay for the night at the last campsite before the big drop or we hike to the bottom. Either a 12 mile day or an 19 mile day. We kept pushing on until we were committed to going to the bottom. We had been hiking out of the snow for quite awhile when we came around a corner and before us was a large steep snow bank we had to traverse across. It was too big and steep to just walk across, so out came the microspikes. The crossing was not bad until the end when Mama Raven stared sliding down. She was able the stop herself, but she could not get her feet under her. I came down and helped her up and we continued across,

We have hiked into Belden two other times and each time we have had the same problem with Poison Oak. This time did not disappoint. The last 1.5 miles had Poison Oak growing tall and short and all of it over hanging on both sides of the trail. . There was no way to avoid it. We tried our best to find creative ways to get around it, but it eventually gets you. When we were near the bottom, we crossed the only stream on the decent. We stopped and washed out arms, legs, and hiking poles. Continuing on, we soon reached the bottom. We were tired and ready to stop. As we walked a road to the resort, we found a quite place to camp and stopped for the night. The first thing we did was to use wipes on the exposed flesh, our clothing, and backpacks.

Tomorrow we start the climb out of here. By the way once we past Busty, we never saw her again.

Quincy

Quincy – 1265.4
Day 6 – 6/24/23
Miles – 3.7
Total Miles – 76.1
Low – 46° High – 83°

Today we were going to town. We only had a little more than 3 miles and the hiking was very level. We got to Bucks Summit a little after 8:00. As we arrived at the trailhead Charles came walking towards us. Charles is a friend and fellow PCT thru-hike who lives in Quincy. He took us to town and we spent most of the day visiting. I did stop by the hospital. The doctor gave me antibiotics as a precaution against Lyme disease. Tomorrow we Charles will take us back to the trail.

A Short Day

On a small hill near Bucks Summit – 1261.7
Day 5 – 6/23/23 0
Miles – 14.4
Total Miles – 72.4
Low – 48° High – 80°

It was warm sleeping at only 3,000′, so we had a relatively comfortable night’s sleep. The hips still hurt a bit but not as bad as the first night or two of the trail. The day started with an up. A big up. A nearly 3,000′ up. We were not

looking forward to it. Yes it is graded nicely, but it was going to take hours to complete. Soon after beginning, we encountered an old friend, Poison Oak. We constantly had to watch out for it until we were almost to the top. This side of the river also burned in the Dixie fire, but unlike the otherside, most of the trees lived. This is because the fire had to burn down hill and it did not insenterate all the trees. After a few hours we came to Bear Creek. It was too hard to get down to the water so we hiked on. We needed water and were getting hungry when we came to one of Bear Creeks tributaries, but we decided to push on to the next one on the map. That was a mistake because it was dry. So too was the next one, and the one after. We finally had to just stop and eat because we were running on only fumes. It was after we began to walk again around the next corner, we found water. Thus we stopped again to fill our water bottles and we decided to soak our feet in the cold spring water as we kept guzzeling water. Afterwords we hiked to the top of the valley. Now the trail stayed mostly level and we made good time. We did encounter snow. Our first of the day, but it was patchy at best. At times, the trail became quite marshy from all the snow melt. We were quickly approaching Bucks Summit. Tomorrow is a town day and coming into town so late in the day would not have given us time to do everything we needed to. So we decided to pull up short and camp about three miles from the road. We setup camp early and relaxed. While fixing dinner, Papa Raven found a tick that had dug into his skin on his leg. He removed it with a pair of tweezers. Now we will have one more job to do in town tomorrow, to see a doctor about Lymes Disease.

Dixie Fire

Middle Fork of the Feather River – 1247.3
Day 4 – 6/22/23 0
Miles – 19.9
Total Miles – 58.0
Low – 43° High – 72°

Once again, we woke with the sun on our tent. Looking at the altitude profile, if there was not a lot of snow, we could hike more miles than we have for the first few days of the trip. The snow has been slow to get through. Plus the trail is underneath the snow, so much time is spent in route finding.

Most of the day was traversing ridge tops with small gains and losses in altitude. The best part was that we had snow for only about 2 hours and then it was clear trail. Without the snow, we could move along at a more normal pace. The sky was covered with high clouds muting the sun’s light. As we left Aster Spring, we moved into where the Dixie Fire burned three years ago. For miles, we walked on the edge of the burn. Then we turned and hiked into it. We hiked through mile after mile of black, dead trees, no green plants anywhere. Looking over the mountains around us we saw all the same thing, skeleton trees. As we dropped elevation approaching the Middle Fork of the Feather River, the understory was growing thick and some oak had put out new growth. It will take decades for this area to grow back to a lush pine forest again. Late in the day we crossed the Feather River. This is the most favorite swimming hole for hikers of the entire PCT. In 2015, we spent a couple of hours swimming at this very spot. However this year with the record snow pack and melt, swimming is not possible. It was running very high.

On the north side of the river, it was not burned as badly as the south side. We were able to find a camping spot in a few unburned grouping of trees. Once again, we did not see a single person today. It feels like we are the only ones out here.

Tomorrow we start the day with a big up and then we will see how much snow is up there.

A Day Of Drama

A Jeep Road – 1227.4
Day 3 – 6/21/23
Miles – 13.5
Total Miles – 38.1

It was a cold night. According to our thermometer, it reached 32 degrees. First few nights on trail are rough. There is lots of tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. It takes a couple of nights to get the hips toughen up to sleeping on the ground. The bitter cold night did not help our nights rest either. We just need three to four days, until we are able to sleep soundly throughout the night.

The first part of the day went smoothly. We contoured down around the  mountains. Since they were with west facing, there was little snow. After a few hours we reached A Tree Spring, where we filled our water bottles. On our 2015 PCT thru-hike with the kids, we camped here.  Upon leaving, we contoured  upward. When we reached the high point of the day, our problems began. The down was in two parts. First, a group of switchbacks that dropped hundreds of feet below. The second was a long traverse around a bowl. The difficulty was that the whole hillside was very steep and covered in snow.

Since the switchbacks were completely buried in snow, we opted to go straight down. We started by dropping down the few areas that had no snow. This seemed like the safest thing to do. However we did not realize how saturated the soil was with snow melt. With one foot step, a mud slide began down the mountain side. We quickly aimed for any rocks we could. At one point, Mama Raven slipped and fell in the mud and gravel which started another landslide but this time, she was going down too with all the debris. Uncontrollably, her body twisted around with her head pointing downward. She was heading straight towards an outcropping of rocks below.  Papa Raven desperately grabbed any part of her he could to stop her from sliding into the rocks. He succeed at catching hold of a portion of her pack. After that incident we just sat there to calm ourselves before proceeding. This time, we held onto willow branches to keep us from sliding as we made our way down to a snow shoot that took us to the steep traverse.

The traverse started out easy enough. Then we came to a steep snow field. With our microspikes on, we worked out way across until Papa Raven slipped. As he started sliding down the snow embankment he tried to grab a willow branch to stop his fall. It didn’t work. He continued to slide toward a large pine tree.  He feel into the deep snow well around the tree as he slammed into the tree.  Mama Raven was still up the slope scared that he was hurt, but he reassured her he was fine. All and all, the drop was about 40′-50′. Mama Raven continued across and made it past the point Papa Raven fell and then she too slid down . Luck for her she fell right next to that willow and she was able to grab hold. She had only dropped about 20′. The problem she had was hanging from the willow branch she could not dig  a deep enough platform with her feet to stand up on the steep angled snow. Everytime she tried, the soft snow would collapse down the  snow shoot. Meanwhile , Papa Raven was trying to crawl out of us predicament.  Finally he was able to reach Mama Raven. With two of us, it was  easier  to get her standing up so we could climb down to a safer spot. Since this was just the beginning of the traverse, we were apprehensive as to how the rest of it would go. Thus we decided to go straight down into the valley and cross-country to the trail after the traverse. This avoided any more terrifying situations. We are looking forward to a non traumatizing day tomorrow.

The rest of the day what smoothly. we just had to be careful when we cross snow on the north facing slopes. Although toward the end of the day I broke one of my hiking poles. Not good with all this snow.

Trail Angel

On A Ridge – 1213.9
Day 2 – 6/20/23
Miles – 11.0
Total Miles – 24.6

My brother dropped us off at the same location as yesterday. He had to return to the cabin because they need to leave by 9:00. Vanessa had to be back to work by 11:00 am in Reno. We started hiking at 8:15. Ten minutes later Papa Raven realized that he left his phone in the car. We use two different guidance apps and with all the snow we could not hike without it. In panic mode, we began to walk as fast as we could down the road.  We had to reach the main road before Danny and Vanessa drove by on their way back to Reno. Even though we were too far from the highway, we had to try. A half mile down, we came across a forest service truck stuck in the snow in the middle of the road and another couple who were watching. I explained our problem to them and the couple offered to drive us to the highway.  Raul and Edith said  they would take us all the way to Sierra City. Our only concern was Danny could drive by as we were driving to town. This is exactly what happened. Our car was quickly turned around and a high speed chase began. When we finally were  behind them, we flashed our lights and Papa Raven waved his hat out the window. Finally they pulled over and we got the phone. The couple drive us back up to the stuck forest ranger vehicle. Edith and Raul were are miracles. We informed them that they had just become the most special people in the thru-hiking community and that is trail angels. We  hugged them and told them how grateful we were for their help.
We did not take the new section of the PCT because we did not want to drop way down and climb back up through all the snow. We preferred the old PCT that started on the top of the ridge. For several miles we walked between the trail and a dirt road. Taking whichever one had less snow. Finally the trail turned into a north facing slope and we had miles of snow to walk through. Other than a group of five teenage boys hiking to Rock Lake, there was no one else hiking. Walking in snow is very tiring. By late afternoon we were exhausted  thus we decided to stop early. Our first day of hiking was very hard and stressful.
We know that this first section has the most snow. The father north we go, less snow should be encountered.

Slackpacking

Sierra City – 1195.4
Day 1 – 6/19/23
Miles – 13.6
Total Miles – 13.6

We decided to begin this year’s backpacking trip with a slackpack. At the start of a trip, the last thing we wanted to do was a 4,000′ climb up the Sierra Buttes on our first day of hiking with heavy packs. So we arranged for my brother and his family to come up to Sierra City for two days. On the first day, Danny drove us around to the backside of Sierra Buttes. From there, we hiked down the Buttes to Sierra City with only a day sack. The second day he would drive us back to the same spot, but this time with all of our gear, and we would begin hiking north.
This morning Danny got us as close to the trail a possible. Snow closed the road about .6 miles from the top. Afterwords we traversed south toward the cutoff for the Sierra Butte Lookout Tower. We have hiked this section twice before, but never taken the time to climb up to the tower. Well, this was the year, snow and all. We put our microspikes on for the big up. The climb was not too hard except for the high altitude. Breathing was labor intensive. Elevation at the top was 8,580′. The trail was completely buried under snow so we were uncertain as the best way up. Three hours after we began hiking, we reached the top. Despite the very cold wind, the view was beautiful.  Because it was freezing, we did not stay long.
On the way down, we did not worry about following the trail. We just went straight down until we crossed the PCT. It was a short time later we left the trees and started the long traverse across the face of Sierra Butte. At this point, we left all the snow behind. That huge drop was a foot cruncher. We held a 2.5 – 3 mile a hour pace. At 3:40 we reached the bottom. For hours I had been trying to get cell service and never succeed, hence I cold not call for a ride. Thus, we started walking to town. A half hour later Danny drove by and picked us up. Since 2:00pm,  every half hour he had been driving his two year old son up the road to look at a helicopter and looking for us at the same time.  There has been a search and rescue going on up here for an elderly women with dementia.  Her family went to look at a lake, when they returned to the car she was missing.  For two days, they have been looking for her. She was eventually found but in very poor condition after spending two nights in the cold weather. The military helicopter that Danny and Wyatt were regularly visiting was used in the search. The crew  eagerly allowed Wyatt to sit inside.
Tomorrow we start heading north.

Electronic Problems

We have been having problems with our camera. So we can not post pictures with these blog entries. We will update them later.

Foot Update

I have been quiet about my foot since surgery in February 2022. If I do not have anything good to say, I don’t like to talk. The main goal of the surgery was to eliminate the intense stabbing pain in the ball of my right foot caused by a torn planters plate. Dr. Wrotslavsky said while he is repairing the plate, he might as well take care of the neuroma and the abnormality of my foot caused by the rip. For years, I have been told by numerous doctors that I had a birth defect. It is something that comes on later in life and is usually a hereditary issue. However, Dr. W says the torn plate is the cause of that deformity, which is painful all on its own. What I understand is that the torn plate permanently killed the nerves at the bottom of my second toe (the one next to the big toe). However, the top nerves still functioned normally. This unbalance caused my toe to crunch up, pulling and tweaking my big toe along with it. This abnormality only occurs after a lengthy period of a torn planters plate. Since the early symptoms of the ripped ligament are similar to a variety of more common issues, it is easily and often misdiagnosed. This was my case for fifteen years.

It has been well over a year since the surgery. My last follow-up with Dr. W was this past February. I left his office very discouraged because, a year after surgery, I was having more intense and persistent pain than pre-surgery days. The whole area constantly throbbed. The following incidents may seem like a bunch of malarkey, but they are my personal experience.

On the ride home from that last doctor’s appointment, I was emotionally down and mad. I have tried everything medically possible to fix it, but nothing has worked. This cannot be the final result. Being stubbornly stubborn, I refused to accept that I was stuck with this pain for the rest of my life. It is not my destiny. For so long, I have spent much time and energy dwelling on the foot. All of that attention was focused on negative thoughts like “how bad it hurts” and “it’s never going to get better.” It was like I was giving permission to the cells of my foot to misbehave. I was no longer going to do that. Instead, I proclaimed, with sincere intent and conviction, that “I am the captain of the ship and king of the castle, and I do not permit the pain to exist. I am worthy of a pain-free foot.” Every morning and evening, these words are my mantra. At that last appointment with the doctor last February, the MRI revealed lots of inflammation that showed up as pure blackness. Thus, I envision my foot internally filled with a beautiful and loving white light instead of blackness. After all, it is not possible for darkness to exist where there is light. When I took my first steps each day, the pain would instantly make itself known. I commanded it to go away. I refused to acknowledge its existence. Additionally, I recently began taking liquid turmeric with black pepper, which is supposed to help inflammation. I know this sounds like a bunch of rubbish, but all I know is that my foot is much better than it was four months ago. In fact, it has not been this good in many years.

I myself am a bit baffled by it all. I am in uncharted territory, and I have many questions. Is there more to the power of our conscience mind than I thought? I have heard of spontaneous remissions; is this how they are achieved? Do our cells listen to our thoughts? Is this a bunch of hogwash, or is it just coincidental that things began to improve? Perhaps since my foot has been damaged for so many years, the only thing my nerves know how to do is hurt. Does it take awhile for them to calm down? I have no answers to any of this. All I know is that my right foot is improving. These results did not occur in an instant flash but instead in a gradual manner. With each passing week, I noticed less discomfort. During the first month, I was constantly having to tell the pain to leave me alone. Today, it is just two to three times a day. My foot has come far. I have no doubt that the surgery was necessary. No improvement could have been possible without it. The tricky part was how to get the area to heal.

Call me a fruit cake! Call me crazy! Call me silly! I don’t really care because the only thing that matters to me is that finally, after many years, my foot is healing. I am not too sure what to credit for this positive change. Hence, I am not changing anything in my daily routine until all pain is gone, even if it is a bit unorthodox.

The Raven Family Update

It has been a while since I wrote anything. I’m not sure why, other than we have been terribly busy. My homeschool duties came to an end last week with Whisper’s graduation from high school. She had a unique upbringing filled with grand adventures as we hiked our way across the United States. She knows what it is like to walk in days of hard rain and whiteout snowstorms. She knows what it is like to wake up at night to a bear chewing a hole in your tent. She knows the glory of standing atop Mt. Katahdin in Maine after hiking nearly 10,000 miles. However, the greatest adventure for her is about to begin. Unlike the others, the upcoming one is attending college far from home; she is on her own. Her dad, Bling, and I will have to watch from a distance.

This fall, Whisper will be attending Feather River College in Quincy, California. It is a small two year college in the heart of the northern Sierras, between Reno and Lassen. Whisper is pursuing an AA in equine (horse) studies along with history. She wants to later transfer to a four year college to complete her studies in history.

So what is Bling up to these days? As I write this, he is back east, solo hiking a small portion of the AT. He said he is enjoying himself, except on breaks. This is when he says he gets lonely because there is no one to talk to. Below are a few images taken by Bling. He has a two-month leave of absence from his job, which is still as a lifeguard at Camp Pendleton. After his hike, he will spend the remainder of his time rock climbing the boulders and cliffs around Chattanooga, TN. When I think of famous climbing destinations such as Red Rocks in Nevada, Moab in Utah, and Joshua Tree and Yosemite in California, those are the places that come to mind, not Chattanooga, TN. However, Bling informs me that this area of Tennessee has some of the best rock climbing in the country. Thus, that is where Bling will be for most of his summer. When he returns home, he will be back at work and attending Palomar College. It has taken a while for him to figure out what he wants to do for a career, but he has finally decided upon graphic arts. He has also stumbled across fine woodworking as something he really enjoys. Since Palomar has excellent programs in both fields, that is what he will be doing next year before transferring elsewhere.

As for Mama and Papa Raven, on June 19th, we will begin a six-week backpack trip. We have only two more sections to hike to complete a section hike of the PCT. One is from Big Bear to Cottonwood Pass in the southern Sierras, and the other is from Sierra City to Crater Lake. We have to hike early in the season because we have to move Whisper to Quincy in mid-August. It is too late in the season to hike the desert sections out of Tehachapi and too early for the heavy snow pack of the Southern Sierras; therefore, we have decided to hike the Crater Lake section. There are visions of a double Triple Crown dancing in our heads. We have already completed the PCT twice; now all we have to do is re-hike the CDT and AT. A lot can change between now and then, but the lure of hiking another long trail will not leave us alone. Thru-hiking is our beautiful addiction.

Sierra City

Sierra City – PCT 1193.4
Day 32 – 8/15/22
Miles – 8.9
Total Miles – 448.2

It was a warm night. Since this was our last day of the trail, we took our time packing up. Last day out is always bittersweet. One side you just want to just keep moving forward up the trail living the simple and carefree trail life. The other side is tired and looking forward to returning home to a regular soft bed, clean clothes on a daily basis, real food of fruit and veggies, not having to search and filter water. This time there is something new for us to look forward to returning home to and that is Bling and Whisper. They are an extra lure pulling at our heart strings to come home.

We had only 9 miles to town and all of it was downhill. As we left camp, it did not take long to reach the main drop down to Milton Creek. It was going to be a hot and humid day, but down by the river, it is cool and heavily shaded. We hiked for several miles through a narrow canyon covered with pine and the creek running below us. As we went down in altitude, we started to see oak trees along the creek. We saw our first Umbrella plants toward the bottom. The plants grow right at the edge of the water and have at least 2′ leaves.

We soon came to the Wild Plum Campground trail junction. We took this path and walked through the campground and on to Hwy 49. From there it was a short walk to Sierra City, where we will be ending our trip. Originally, were going to hike five more days to Belden but plans have changed. Both of our shoes have literally worn out. And there is an extra lure pulling at our heart strings to come home of our children. We are a family that has spent much time together as our children have grown up, even when they were older teenagers. It is hard and sad for me (Mama Raven) to just stop hanging out together the way we have for so many years. Inevitably, I know things cannot stay the way they were forever.

Before our summer trip began, I thought wow, Papa Raven and I can take five to six weeks to hike. However, with each passing week as we hiked, my heart longed for my family. This trip taught me I am a mom before anything, even a thru-hiker. The trail did not lure me to keep hiking like I thought it would. Instead it was my children and their needs that called us home. Bling, the organizer of his friends upcoming adventures to Yosemite, needed last minute help with pulling sleeping bags, tents, and other gear together. None of the kids have their own camping gear and there are six of them. Whisper, a Senior in high school, first college course starts next week at the local Jr College and she is nervous. She also needs help with all the chores around the house since Bling will be gone. Yes Papa Raven’s shoes have fallen apart, so too has Mama Raven’s. I have had feet issues, especially with the one I have had surgery on recently, which I have chosen not to mention. Along the way I had two X-rays taken to make sure there were no serious problems. Weather has been miserably hot. All these issue and others did not pull us off trail five days early. It was the need to go home to our children.