PCT: Hat Creek Rim

 

Mile 1383.2 to 1401

It got a little chilly in the night, and then morning dawned clear and warm.   We are surrounded by sweeping views. Mount Lassen is closer and to the south of us  with Mount Shasta far  to the north.   The trail is mostly flat,  trending down and with a few undulations.  We planned on only hiking 15 miles today, but it was only 3:00 pm when we got there, so we hiked a while longer and stopped at 4:30.  My knee hurts.  Just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it isn’t too much starting out.  

We loved walking today along a flower lined trail with eye stretching views and two mighty mountains.  The most dominant wildflower was the bright fluorescent orange/red  of Indian paintbrush.  We were on a high narrow ridge with a steep drop off of about 700 to maybe 1000 feet to the west of us.  A rim walk.  A breeze blew some which really helped with the heat of the sun. Most of this day’s hike was treeless and so most of the day’s shade came from our umbrellas.  We have a love/hate relationship with our umbrellas.  When we use them, like today, we love them.  When they just go along for a ride, unneeded, they are a half of a pound we hate.  

Water was scarce.  We carried our needed water in last night and then hiked 10 miles this morning to get to the water cache at Forest Road 22.   Note to other hikers, the cache is not the big black tank.  It is a small tank to the right behind the boards.  There are flat spots to camp here as well.   

There are quite a few random camping spots along the rim.  Once you drop down into the volcanic rock flows it is harder to find a camp.   We are currently at an unlisted flat spot right off the trail (not on Guthook app) . It is a sad little spot, but it does have a peekaboo view of Mount Shasta.  Almost all of this section of the trail has a view of Shasta! 

We are enjoying the bird and bug sounds right now and especially this sparkly pine tree that we are sprawled under.   Did I mention it is kind of hot?  I think its needles look like water sparklers.  They shimmer and shine just like sunlight on water.   It’s quite a long time to sunset and my mind just starts to wander and wonder.  We really wish we could have kept walking, but did I mention my knee hurts.