Day 102-108: miles 1314.3-1453.7

I'm in Bend, OR right now, staying with a family friend in what has been possibly the best zero ever - it's been absolutely fantastic to sleep in a real house, with homemade meals and a tour of the city, and with such kind and caring people. We've had such a restful stay here and I'm excited to get back on trail tomorrow! Sorry for the long wait between posts - we've been doing longer miles with no zeroes for a while, and it's hard to have the energy to do anything beyond chores and showering when getting to town.

Day 102: miles 1314.3-1341.8

Headed off early this morning, starting with some good up and downs and then a solid climb as we went up Butt Mountain. All of the water here is far off trail, so I was carrying enough for about 15 miles. After the climb, it was a really lovely downhill even in the midst of a burn zone. And the halfway marker was there!! It's so exciting and surreal to have finally reached halfway! I took a nice long break there and waited until Shade and Cheers came by, then headed on. I pushed to Highway 89 for lunch because there was some great trail magic there from Hopper, a PCT hiker who was taking a break waiting for the heat wave to pass. I enjoyed the treats with Roadrunner, Traffic cone, Knots, and Firecracker as we chatted about the trail. I left around two and went on to some ups and downs as I listened to a podcast. The trail went through some rough burn zone areas here, which were very exposed and hot. But I got to camp around 5:30, where I soaked my feet in the river. 27.5 miles in less than 12 hours - it feels really good to do this much! We're pushing more so that we can get through Lassen National Park where you can't camp unless you have a bear can. It's the longest day we've done yet, but with good terrain it doesn't feel too bad - just very, very hot and dusty.

Day 103: miles 1341.8-1368.3

Another early morning start with some up hills that weren't too bad when done early without the heat. Then some up and downs as we entered Lassen National Park. I could smell the sulfur of Terminal Geyser and see the white steaming lake of Boiling Springs, which was very cool! Then onto Warner Valley Campground and the very intense uphill of Flatiron Ridge. The burn zone here was more noticeable, with a lot less growth. I put on some music and ended up passing Shade and Cheers, then cruised downhill afterwards. Then it was some gradual ups and downs until lunch at Lower Twin Lake, which was so fantastic. I took a swim and relaxed, had a good lunch and sunbathed for a bit before heading on. It was almost entirely flat here, but super exposed in the burn section and very very hot. I listened to a podcast and was glad to have my sun umbrella with me. I filled up on water, then continued to camp, which was just a mile or so after the park boundary where we could camp without bear cans again. Hung out around camp for a while before Shade and Cheers came by, chatting with Stitch who was camping there as well, then we had dinner and went to bed. Still super hot at night, so I'm not using my quilt at all. But very excited to get into Old Station tomorrow!

Day 104: miles 1368.3-1386.6

Only 10 miles into town this morning and I made fantastic time as it was almost entirely flat. The landscape was really cool with lots of lava rocks and sputter cones. I got to the road around 9:45 and then headed into the town of Old Station, which consisted of a gas station, laundromat, and café. I got a cold drink at the gas station, then went on to the café and ordered a scramble with pancakes and hashbrowns. Shade and Cheers soon soon joined me and we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast. While they resupplied, I napped by the river and then they joined and we lay in the shade for a while. We then headed to Subway Cave, a really cool volcanic lava tube that was so amazing and cold spite from the 103° outside. We chilled (literally) for a bit and headed out, doing another 8 miles before camp. This section coming up is very dry so we camped above water, climbing way way down into the canyon to get it. It was quite the busy site since water is so scarce - we shared it with T-dubs, Overboard, Happy Camper, Werewolf, Breezy, Sniper, Juggernaut, Don't Stop, Shazam, and three more I hadn't met yet. I had dinner, wiped off some of the dirt, then went straight to bed!

Day 105: miles 1386.6-1409.5

Headed off around six today, getting to see a gorgeous sunrise. We were way above the valley floor and it was cool to look out and see both Shasta and Lassen, then look all the way down and see patches of lava flow. It was incredibly hot - around 102 by 11 am, but luckily it was mostly flat. I also saw my first full sized rattlesnake! I'd seen two babies in the desert but they were really little and didn't rattle (though fyi those are more dangerous because they almost always use venom if they bite, unlike adults that will typically dry bite humans). It rattled loudly before slinking into the grass. I took an early lunch, passing 1400 miles right before, then headed on and resting a bit at Shade and Cheer's lunch spot. I got another bloody nose there, which was annoying and took a while to stop. It's so dry, dusty, and hot that I've been getting one every couple days. And it was so hot that even being in the shade felt like sitting under the sun - I was sweating too much to really relax, so I headed on while they took a siesta. It was so so hot - just indescribably hot and exposed. I had to pause under every rare bit of shade to brace myself to step out into the heat. I came to a water cache and took a bit, passing Sesame, Avalanche, Shazam, and Don't Stop as they napped in the shade. Then on again, going from lots of sharp lava rocks into a dead grass meadow with oak trees. I finally got to a cold stream and arrived at Lake Baum, where I took some time and checked out the trout hatchery there - they were really neat. And then I took a nice long nap in the shade by the lake - much better than earlier on trail in the hot lava field. Sesame's group joined and then headed to a swim spot down trail, so I went for a dip and joined them for dinner there. Then did the last 0.7 miles to camp, which was absolutely swarmed by mosquitoes. I got very sweaty and hot booking it to where Shade and Cheers were set up. But only 2 miles into Burney Ranch tomorrow, where I'll get to take a nice long shower! I am so incredibly filthy it's hard to even comprehend haha.

Day 106: miles 1409.5-1410.8

We had a really nice sleep in this morning, getting up around seven and heading out at eight. We had a measly 1.5 miles to the turn off to Burney Guest Ranch, which was a really cool section with lots of oaks and dead grasses that reminded me a lot of Foothills Park back home. Next to the turn off for the ranch were these massive powerlines where two big stags passed by, and also massive osprey nests rested on top. The guest ranch seemed unassuming at first - just a few buildings - but it became clear it was a true Hiker Paradise. The main building had a gorgeous lounge with lots of chairs out front and in the back, plus a huge saltwater pool. There was a good laundry setup and lots of hammocks. I immediately took a long shower - this is dirtiest I've ever felt this entire hike. I'm just coated in grime from sweat, dust, and soot. The shower was divine and then I pre-washed my clothes - it took a long time before the water was anything but a black brown. We decided to do a double wash of the clothes which was much needed.

I got a bunk in the dorms, which was lovely and I had it all to myself. We relaxed, I called home, and we went in the pool which was so so nice. We relaxed some more, had ramen and pizza for lunch, relaxed again and I updated my blog a bit before dinner, which was a family style meal of salad, pasta, cheese, bread, veggies, and dessert. Christine, the woman who owns this place, is really fantastic and kind. Dinner was a great social affair with good conversation from Overboard, Lizard, Lynx, Sherlock , Duke, Gadget, and Turkey Vulture. Afterwards, we soaked our feet in the pool, admiring the sunset. I took a second shower and then headed to bed.

Day 107: mile 1410.8-1428.9

I got up around 6:30 and headed to the main lodge for breakfast at seven. It was a fantastic affair with fruit salad, bacon, hashbrowns, veggie scramble, and waffles! We all chatted as we ate, mostly discussing the upcoming Shelly fire and our reroute plans. The trail is only closed for 20 miles, but the smoke and fire personnel necessitates a much larger skip. Quite a few people are skipping from Shasta to Ashland, which is over 200 miles and misses the Oregon border. We'd really like to avoid that and might try to go from I-93 to Seiad Valley. But we're waiting until Shasta to make any concrete plans since the situation is changing so fast. It's sad to know we'll have to skip, but I was prepared for it when starting this hike - it's just a reality of the trail nowadays. We headed out around nine with 18 miles to do. It was immediately hot and I was very sweaty and experiencing some bad chafing on my hip belt; I was wearing different underwear so that might've contributed to it. The trail was pretty easy though, and we got to Burney Falls State Park by lunch. I got some food and ice cream there - I had a completely liquid chocolate bar in my pack that made for a good ice cream topping. We relaxed in the shade for several hours, though even that felt very hot. The falls themselves were really cool - massive and from almost entirely underground springwater. The trail down the base was closed, but there was still a good overlook. Around 3:30 I continued on and quickly came to Britton Dam, which was very neat to see! Then grueling uphill for a few miles until camp where we filled up on water down a side trail. Then had dinner and headed to bed!

Day 108: mile 1428.9-1453.7

I slept really well through the night and got up around 5:30. There was some immediate uphill, but it was deeply forested so stayed nice and cool. I wore different underwear and shorts today and tied my socks around my hip built to try to alleviate the chafing, which did help quite a bit. Lots of ridge walking and dense, overgrown forest sections today, so the heat was more bearable. Also got some gorgeous views of Mount Shasta in front of us. I took lunch by myself near spring and continued on, listening to a podcast. Shade and Cheers had passed me at lunch, but I passed them getting water. Some ups and downs, then a big up with lots of blowdowns before nice downhill to camp. We had a fantastic view of Mount Shasta here. It's really beautiful! Slow end to the day as my feet are quite tired and sore, but I got in at 5:30 so not too bad! We've got a long day tomorrow and it's supposed to have some bad blow downs so hopefully we get through it without too much trouble.