Week 12: Donna, Mount Shasta, almost out of NorCal!

Day 78 | 7/27/24 | ZERO

After another night of blissful rest, we made some breakfast, packed up, resupplied, and waited for Donna, a trail angel someone in the group had contacted on Facebook. She was kind enough to offer all of us a ride from Burney to Mount Shasta, where we would be able to get back on trail, though it would mean missing over 100 miles of trail due to smoke and danger from the Park Fire. Donna pulled up to the hotel in her RV where 8 or so of us managed to pile in! It was about an hour or so by car to Mount Shasta. Donna very kindly offered to let us stay the night on her porch, which we decided to take her up on. Her house and her two dogs were absolutely lovely. She trusted us to drive her truck into town where we went shopping and bought some food for dinner. I ended up buying a light dress from a store downtown and it was nice to have something other than my hiking clothes to wear! After heading back to the house, we made dinner and hung out. Donna offered to let us use her hot tub, which was lovely and so relaxing, and then we ended the evening chatting with Donna and hearing about her life. On a more stressful note, we decided to call in a missing persons report for Brand-Aid, since we still hadn’t heard from him and were very concerned.

Day 79 | 7/28/24 | ZERO

After waking up and making a big breakfast of pancakes and eggs, we had been planning to head out but managed to talk each other into staying another day (after confirming with Donna it was alright for us to spend another night on her porch). I really can’t express how grateful we were to Donna for hosting us and allowing us to use her space! Though we were very worried about Brand-Aid it was nice to have another day of hanging around town. We spent all morning in a nice coffee shop, where we ran into a ton of other hikers that had also skipped up to Mount Shasta to get around the fires. In the afternoon we drove to a movie theater and watched Deadpool and in the middle of the movie we heard back from Brand-Aid! We were so glad to hear that he was okay — it turned out that he had gotten very sick and ended up pitching his tent and waiting it out the past few days. We hadn’t heard from him because his phone and battery bank both died. Fortunately he made it to the road and was getting a ride up to Mount Shasta. In the evening we bought stuff to make dinner and enjoyed chatting with Donna and her family.

Day 80 | 7/29/24 | 1502.8-1526.6

It was finally time to get back on trail! We walked over to a coffee shop to get coffee and breakfast food, and then Donna’s husband gave us a ride back to trail. I was feeling very sluggish and uninspired in the beginning of the day (probably taking three days off trail allowed the fatigue to really sink into my body), but after hiking for a while I felt better, and the trail was really beautiful (though there was so much elevation gain — over 6000ft of climbing today!). I enjoyed talking with some other hikers that I met and eventually made it to the campsite I thought my group would be at, but it seemed like they were a few miles ahead.

Day 81 | 7/30/24 | 1526.6-1557.1

Today was a fairly flat and cruisy day, though at one point I thought I had lost my electronics bag and I freaked out for a while until I found it in the bottom of my pack. Considering that today was a 30+ mile day it was relatively chill and I enjoyed having some time in camp in the evening to recover, though the campsite was very crowded with the bubble of hikers that had skipped around the fire. 

a rattlesnake guarding a water source

Day 82 | 7/31/24 | 1557.1-1587.2

Today was a long, hard day. There was a long burn section that I happened to hit midday, and it was very hot and exposed hiking. I enjoy big days but with 30+ mile days it just feels like I’m hiking endlessly without much time to take breaks and chat with other hikers, and the social aspect of thru-hiking is one that I really enjoy. I enjoyed camp in the evening, though my group wasn’t there (part of the group was ahead and the rest were behind). 

Day 83 | 8/1/24 | 1587.2-1600.8

I hurried the last 13 miles to the road quickly in the morning. It turned out that Masshole was in the area and had already given a ride to Smoodie, Rooster, and Refill, and he came back to pick me up and give me a ride into Etna. It was great to see him and catch up and of course I was very grateful for the ride. After getting some town food, Masshole gave the group a ride up to Seiad Valley (we skipped around 50 miles of trail that were still closed from a fire). The past few days had been hot, but the level of heat in Seiad Valley was at a new extreme. The air felt heavy, any amount of direct sunlight was completely unbearable, and even sitting in the shade everyone was sweating. We set up camp at the RV park along with many other hikers, and I thoroughly enjoyed the free cold shower at the camp. Rooster, Refill, and Smoodie had bought me cinnamon rolls for my birthday which was so nice! 

Day 84 | 8/2/24 | 1657.5-1684.3

Today was my 21st birthday! I woke up super early and demolished the rest of the cinnamon rolls before setting off. The climb out of Seiad Valley was long, steep, and hot, but I started early enough that it wasn’t so bad. After a few more hot miles I got to trail magic from Masshole! He made me a big plate of veggie stirfry and had tons of cold drinks and snacks and it was lovely, and just what I wanted for my birthday! It was so nice to hang out with all the hikers there, and then my group just ended up doing a few more miles to be able to camp near water. I had a lovely evening talking and hanging out with everyone, and felt very grateful to be with this group of people that make me laugh so hard.

a birthday feast!

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