N of midpoint (1,327.5) to N Fork Feather River (1,344.5)
Miles today - 17
When Bronco and I got to Hwy 36 this morning we made a spontaneous decision to go into the town of Chester for a big breakfast to celebrate reaching the halfway point. Neither of us had planned to go into Chester, but the thought of food was too great to pass up. Plus there was the number of a local trail angel posted at the trailhead to call for a ride. So we called and 30 minutes later a woman known as Piper's Mom showed up and took us into town.
For breakfast I had two massive pancakes, two eggs, and bacon.
Then we walked down the road and stopped for three tacos and a milkshake. That was as much food as we could handle so we hitched back to the trail. It was a successful trip to town.
Above: Riding in the back of a truck. Don't try this at home, kids.
We stopped to camp pretty early, but it shouldn't be too hard to make up the miles over the next few days to stay on schedule. It's nice not feeling like we're in a big hurry.
Above: Getting close to Mt Lassen. We've been seeing it for about a week now.
Yum, I can smell that bacon through my PC monitor! Looks like my kind of breakfast!
ReplyDeleteMt. Lassen had a series of eruptions between 1914-1917, the most powerful occurred on May 22, 1915 when volcanic ash rained down as far as 200 miles to the east of the volcano. Be careful!
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI hope this post finds you well and in good spirits. No entries for a week makes me wonder... given your average mileage you must be in the Shasta area about now. Either that or... well, let's not talk about that. =]
Who am I? I'm just some random person on the internet. How did I get here?
Well.
I was doing a 15 mile out-and-back on the PCT (north to south, summiting Table Mountain, looking down on Cascade Locks) and on the way back I developed some moderately painful chafing. As I stood behind a tree with my pants down - applying Carmex to the affected area - I wondered, "What do PCT thru-hikers do about this? They can't just stop for a day or two every time." When I got home I googled 'chafing PCT'; the first result was some quack (an "expert" at Backpacker Magazine) named Buck Tilton who's first recommendation was to wear cotton! The second and third results were "Autopilot Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail" days 27 and 28. I started reading there, got hooked, went back to the beginning and then read your whole journal.
I have often thought about doing the PCT but I'm a single dad with kids so I can't... yet! =]
For now I'll just enjoy the experience vicariously. Thank you for sharing.
Best Regards,
Charles
Hi Charles, thanks for reading. I never imagined that chafing would lead anyone to my blog!
ReplyDeleteChafing has definitely been one of the most miserable experiences of my trip. The key is to stay cool and well ventilated, so sometimes I'd hike with my fly open to get some airflow through there. Yeah I'm sure it looked goofy but I didn't care! Gold Bond powder works wonders. I didn't carry any, but the good thing is that chafing heals quickly, almost overnight.
Also, stay tuned for more entries in the coming days!
ReplyDeleteLOL. Zebba from Australia here. I also found your page by googling "hiking chafe" and this blog was one of the first hits... And like Charles above, I got hooked on your story!!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be able to do something like this one day... Alas, two young kids mean it's at least 16 years away, and I'm not getting any younger... Plus there is still this chafe issue to contend with :)