Day 100

Hat creek to cache 22 water tank/forest road 22 - 23.9 miles

Total - 1395 miles

Woke up in a good mood finally. Last couple days have been rough. Caleb and I got moving around the usual time and just cruised for an hour going 4 mph. We got to old station campground to grab water before cruising to the next water source 4ish miles out. Such great terrain as it required literally no effort. We were orginally not planning on going into the cafe in old station just a couple miles away from the campground but we flipped a coin to see if we should or not and it landed on heads meaning we had to go. We walked the 0.4 to the cafe and got seated. Tons of hikers were already there and then more muggles came in. The service wasn’t the best as we waited a solid 20 minutes for our order to be taken after we decided to sit inside which we were told would have better service according to the server. After we ordered it took an hour for our food to come out. A guy who we later met at camp named wolfie ordered at the front after us and sat outside and still got his food first, ate it and left before we even saw ours. We ordered two breakfast burritos and a girl cannot complain as it was a huge ass burrito. I demolished it. Caleb got a slightly bigger one and was hitting the wall instead of me for once. “The first wall is always the hardest to break through.” We paid and got the hell out of there as it was becoming more and more busy. We stopped at the gas station and I grabbed a gatorlyte. Easily one of my favorite drinks out here. Killed that. Caleb was in pain from all the food but I was feeling great. He told me to simmer down lol. After a 30 minute digestion break we hit the road. I did burp and almost threw up but I kept it down like the brave girl I am. We had one climb today and it was easy. The heat was pounding down on us though so I was sweating. It felt like we were back in the desert with all the sage brush and dust. There was no water from old station to the water tank so it was a 16 mile carry which Caleb and I decided to only bring 2 liters and it was a small gradual grade, windy, and we had no other option lol. There was one water cache which we drank a half liter to refill from that and met the local who fills the cache. Super nice guy and gave us the deets on fires. We then trudged our way through the next 12 miles. My feet HURT. Muscle wise they just hurt for the last probably 8 miles of every day. I mean we did do 50 miles in two days so I’m not surprised as well as we didn’t take a break after old station until we got about 2 miles out from camp. So that’s a 13.5 miles hike without stopping. No matter how many pounds are on your back, your feet are gonna hurt. Finally we made it to the bench just outside of camp. We lounged around for probably 20 minutes to give our feet a rest. Caleb badly needs new shoes as his feet are hurting more than mine. We met three hikers and chatted with them. Again, we are trying to put ourselves out there more to get to know other hikers. It’s so easy to just stay in your bubble as it’s already established but after the past few days, Caleb and I know we need to branch out so we don’t kill each other lol. We finally made it to camp and talked with a girl for awhile before she headed out. Wolfie eventually came and started talking to him. He’s from Minnesota but lives in San Francisco. Cool guy so hopefully we continue to see him around. He wasn’t orginally planning on going to resort ranch but after another guy named scrub a dub (I think) also started saying how cool it was we might’ve changed his mind. We chit chatted for awhile with scrubadub, wolfie, juke box, and caleb of course. Scrubadub has a very good vibe to him as well. He’s the type of guy that when he talks people listen as he’s so charming and just has a good voice. It was fun to get to know new people! Wish it was more women but I’m the only gal at this campsite tonight as most of the other women we talked to moved on with their groups. Also meeting a lot of people from portland the past few days! By a lot I mean two. Super cool women though and I am hoping to see them again down trail. Overall it was a good day despite my feet hurting on flat trail. Everyday you learn how marvelous uphill is as nothing really hurts, just your lungs and you sweat a lot.

Also absolutely insane that we are on day 100. Hopefully just 1/3 left time wise. Might push it longer to prolong this adventure.

Forgot to mention pretty much all day on the ridge we saw mount lassen and mount Shasta. Two very pretty mountains. It just feels like home.