PCT: Burney

PCT mile 1401- 1409.7 

A warm night at these lower elevations or perhaps it’s just warmer.  We enjoyed the starry skies and awoke to another beautiful day.  My knee did not miraculously heal and is still a bit tender.  It’s a short, easy 9 mile hike back to the Burney Mountain Guest Ranch.  More flowers and a couple lakes and a fish hatchery are passed.  We had to use the Guthook app by the power station and fish hatchery, as the trail was not well marked here.  There are also lots of ancillary trails that fisher folk use.  We see a few fisherman and women and we realize we’ve only seen one hiker in three days.  That’s pretty incredible for the popular PCT.  Hiking in the time of C-19 is definitely different.  

Once we get our vehicle we go fetch the Subaru back at the trailhead and then drive over to visit Burney Falls. It is amazing and awesome.   Totally worth a visit.  We leave a car at the falls as we are going to just do a day hike to the falls tomorrow to see how my knee feels before continuing.  Right now we are poolside at the ranch. There is one other older hiker here and the owners.  Linda, the proprietor, says there has been a few self contained section hikers this year, but not many.  She is taking a lot of precautions as she has an elderly mother in law here with them.  We feel safe. We are camping on the premises, but there are also cabins for rent and they have an amazing hiker resupply store. They also have cold drinks and microwave food as well as showers and laundry facilities. .  Usually she also provides  two meals a day, but this year, of course, is different. 

Poolside at the ranch with a view of Burney Mountain.