Etna

8/15-
Day 127 - We continued our "big jump" today, hitching from Lassen up to a small trail town called Castella. A hitch like this can go a number of ways. In this case, all five of us had the best rides we could have hoped for.
Willie was the first one out of Lassen Chalet, the trailhead restaurant that we all breakfasted at this morning. He got one ride that took him sightseeing through Lassen before bringing him out of the park and up as far as Old Station where he waited a good long time for his next ride.
Krumholz and Knergneemergh got a ride as soon as they walked out into the parking lot. The woman was a documentary filmmaker who was travelling with her son. They too got a long car tour of the park, then drove by the rest of the Veggies in the full car all the way to Shasta City, just a few miles from Castella. It took Squirrelfight and Pickle three rides to get out of the park. First a San Francisco couple headed to Paradise Lake. Next an older couple picking up their kids at Summit Lake. Then a park ranger who brought them to the highway outside the park boundary. From there a coupe from NY picked them up. This ride was continuing north on Rt 89 but for some reason decided to let them off in Old Station. As Squirrelfight and Pickle got out of the car they saw Willie 100 yards down the road. They put their packs on and walked towards him with their thumbs out, wondering how easy it would be to hitch with three people. Before they even reached Willie, a car had pulled over for all three of them. This was, no doubt, the best ride any of them have gotten on the trip.
The drivers name was David and he was driving from Reno to Eugene, Oregon. He was 21, frustrated with being a student, and had just yesterday thought of maybe hiking the PCT. He had lots of questions, and the Vegetables were more than willing to talk about the trail. They were overwhelmed by the timing of the ride, especailly when David told them he had started this trip yesterday, but had to turn back to get new tires. David was also excited to have company in the car as he had been feeling lonely and a bit depressed before picking them up. He went out of his way to bring the group to Shasta City where they met Krum & Kner for lunch and went shopping. Then he brought them back south a few miles to their destination in Castella. After just a few hours with one another they all found it difficult to say goodbye.
All the Vegetables camped on the river that night talking about their great luck that day as they gorged themselves on town food even after the sun had set. - Squirrelfight

"The principal business of life is to enjoy it." - Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

8/16-
Day 128 - Scott Williamson update - Scott was in Castella June 20-21. The menacing Vegetables skipped 200 trail miles and were in Castella August 15-16.

Day 128 - You would think that town days would be restful and relaxing for us, but they really aren't. For some reason, I tend to get very stressed out in town. All the little chores: getting your food ready for the next week, cleaning out the pack, trying to get letters written and phone calls made and there never seems to be quite enought time and there is way too much stimulus and noise and you know you are going to forget something important and it's all a bit overwhelming and all you want to do is eat as much town food as you can possibly cram into your gut. It didn't help this time that Castella (more of a highway off-ramp than a town) was deep in a river valley with no breeze and it was so hot and humid that even the effort of thinking caused sweat to burst from every pore, soaking through my filthy shirt. I can't wait to be back in the mountains. - Staggerin' Willie

"Bush and Gore make me wanna ralph" - Michael Moore

Day 128 - Just hiked 3 miles up and out of Castella, with packs full to the top (7 day food carry). It's always hard to climb out of town with full packs, but the heat today is especially brutal. We waited until after 4pm to leave town to avoid walking in "the heat of the day." But I don't think the day remembered to cool off. Anyhoo we just made it to a beautiful, cold, and refreshing stream. We all partook in a full body dip to bring our body temperatures back to normal. Ahhh... Going on just another 3 miles to camp. See ya there. - Pickle : )

8/17-
Day 129 - Tonight we sleep just 3 feet from peaceful Upper Sexen Lake. The placid surface of the lake is showing a stunning reflection of the stars above. Goodnight. - Pickle : )

Day 129 0 Today was our first real day of hiking after "vacation" in Lassen Park. From camp at 2700 feet, we climbed 17 miles up to 6700 feet, then bushwhacked 500 feet straight down to the lake we're at now. All this with 6 days o food in our packs - the heaviest they've been in a while. We're all feeling pretty sore, but as Squirrelfight says, "it's keepin' us honest." - Staggerin' Willie

8/18-
Day 130 - The trail goes around it, and the Vegetables didn't try to climb it, but Mt. Shasta is very much with us up here. The mountain fills the entire east side of the landscape. Over the last couple of days we've had countless views of its still-snowy summit. Even after hiking the High Sierra and seeing 1500 miles of CA. mountain scenery, I've seen nothing that dwarfs everything around it the way Shasta does. - Staggerin' Willie

Day 130 - Happy Birthday, Knergneemergh! This is the third 29th birthday the Menacing Vegetables have celebrated on the PCT. And it seemed to be Rachel's sort of day. We woke up at a lake, had lunch at a lake, and are camped tonight at a lake. And to top it off we had a great bald eagle sighting during lunch, watching it swoop down into porcupine lake hunting for fish. - Ben

8/19-
Day 131 - A couple of interesting wildlife encounters recently: yesterday, we were taking lunch at porcupine lake - one of the prettiest spots of this whole section - when we had the good fortune to see a bald eagle hunting. Twice we watched it fly halfway across the lake, then swoop towards the back of some unfortunate fish. This afternoon I was exploring a tiny lakelet full of frogs and tadpoles and watched a speedy aquatic snake darting around in the water feasting on tiny amphibians. Predation, I think, is much more interesting to watch than photosynthesis. - Staggerin' Willie

Day 131 - This is the first 20 mile day I've hiked in quite a while and Rachel's first ever. But the terrain wasn't especially inspiring or difficult, so at lent itself to that sort of hike. Yep, even the Vegetables have some dull days... - Kaptain Krumholz

8/20-
Day 132 - Well the Veggies followed up Knergneemergh's 29th birthday with a 20 mile day yesterday. Pickle and I were planning a very un-vegetable week with four 20s starting today, leaving the group to put us in town by Friday. We got up before dawn today to begin our miles but pickles feet have some wierd raw spots that are making walking too painful. We ended up walking just 4 1/2 miles to a road where we hitched into Etna two days early to soak her feet and get our mail tomorrow. I must admit I was bummed at first, actually looking forward to those big days through the Trinity Alps. Then we got a $38 room at the Motel Etna, people gave us beer, and amazingly, there is a RedSox game on ESPN. Boy am I in a good mood now. I hope they win. - Squirrelfight
p.s. They didn't

Day 132 - For about 220 miles, the PCT winds west, then north, then east, through the Klamath mountains - A giant, sideways horse-shoe west of 1 - 5 from Castella to Ashland. This area, on the CA/OR border is somewhat of a psychological "halfway point" on the PCT. Despite being hundreds of trail miles closer to Canada than Mexico. There also seems to be a bit of a "Klamath Triangle" effect going on around here. We've met several would-be thru-hikers, north and southbound, who have walked this far, have decided to leave the trail. Also hikers who have picked up mysterious ailments and injuries - mostly foot related - around here. Alas, our dear Pickle is one such hiker. An inexplicable case of foot rot has forced her into town for some R&R. Jonny has left the trail with her, and our merry band now numbers three. - Staggerin' Willie

8/21-
Day 133 - At first, today seemed somehow "off," the distant scenery "out there" was magnificent, but right next to the trail it was dry and steep and dusty and uncomfortable and too hot and there was stinky horse crap everywhere. Then in late afternoon, we crossed over into the russian wilderness, which looks like the High Sierra transplanted to northern California - Really spectacular. We ended the day by climbing 120 feet above the trail to Bingham lake, which felt utterly remote, nestled deep in a glacial cirque. During the day we ran into Sam and Davo, who we hadn't seen since Belden, and we all stayed up late around a campfire (a rare treat) while David told us his fascinating life story and numerous shooting stars streaked by overhead. - Staggerin' Willie

Day 133 - Wow! We're camped tonight at Bingham lake, a little nook of the Sierra Nevada that seems to have been miraculously transported to Northern California. The lake is nestled into a steep walled granite circque with pinnacles crowning the ridgetops. We all took a chilly sunset dive into the lake and then settled around a fire for a wonderful potluck. We lost Pickle and Squirrelfight this afternoon and won't be seeing them for a few days. But our friends Sam (220) and David (Jesus Freak) caught us and are sharing this beautiful campsight. - Kaptain Krumholz

8/22-
Day 134 - (Early AM) I am in love with Bingham lake. I don't want to go to town. Rather, I will stay up here and live on fish and pilfered backpacker food and be totally naked and completely feral. Future editions of the California PCT guidebook will warn hikers to "beware the wild man of Bingham Lake." - Staggern' Willie

Day 134 - (Late PM) Nell, I changed my mind and now I'm in Etna. I've lost track of Ben and Rachel too, and seem to be quite alone for the evening. Another hitchhiking adventure: All day today I hiked with Sam and David. As we neared the road, David knelt down and earnestly prayed for an easy ride into town. We then continued to the very lightly travelled road and waited about 20 minutes for our first car. The first car turned out to be a large van full of mexican laborers with a mexican driver playing mexican music. Although the van was fully loaded with gear and people, they pulled over and made room for all 3 of us and our packs. Anyone who has travelled in Mexcio knows that this is standard practice south of the border. We let David, who is mexican-american and of course, fully fluent in Espanol, do most of the talking for us. What a great experience!

This week's ask Squirrelfight-
Your Friend Staggerin' Willie writes:
Dear Squirrelfight,
"Don't get me wrong, I love your dinners; the huge portion, all that butter and loads of vegetables, but what makes it so gosh durn hot? I keep burning my mouth."

Dear Willie,
It's the cheese. Thanks for writing. - Squirrelfight

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