Happy Birthday America

I had kind of a restless sleep last night as I heard some critters stirring about. I believe it was deer and they never seemed to come near the tent but I could hear them moving in the woods. Shannon and Kym left before we were done packing up. When we are almost ready to go, a hiker comes up from the Carter Lake Trail. We ask if he camped down there but he is just a day hiker from Chester, so apparently there is a trail head on the other trail. We get started at 0730 and we have a few miles of uphill until the trail junction to Butt Mountain. After about a mile we catch up to and pass Shannon and Kym. Kym is not in great shape and moving pretty slow. We see a deer which saunters off into the forest.

Fluorescent Green Moss

As we continue, the trees are covered in a fluorescent green type of moss. I like the way the sunlight reflects off of it. We make it to the Butt Mountain Trail junction and the end of the big climb. We had planned on taking a break here but there is no place to park our butts. We just decide to keep our butts moving until we find a more suitable place to sit. A short while later, we find a spot with a little view of Mount Lassen and another closer peak. There is a big jumbled rock near here and I have to climb it and play a little. While sitting on the rock, we star to hear some branches cracking in the nearby bushes. Pretty sure that it is a deer and not a mountain lion stalking us, we sit down and have a snack. Sure enough, while we are sitting there, a deer comes by to check us out and then goes back into the bushes and forest.

After finishing our snack, we head out again and are happy as the climb is behind us and we have reached the easier part of our day. It is mostly downhill until we reach tonight’s camp. The trail has other ways to make things tougher and soon after our break, we get into an overgrown brushy section. It is very thick and dense, and in many parts we cannot see the ground we are walking on. Even with our long pants, the branches try to scratch our legs. Once we break out of this mess, the trail is rocky, and then slowly starts to improve.

It’s Only a Rabbit

I spot a snowshoe hare on the trail in front of us. His feet have not yet changed their color from winter white. He seems oblivious to us and at one point, hops right towards me until about 5 feet away, he notices us and hops off into the underbrush. We continue on and get back into the forest. A little before 1030, we reach the half way marker for the trail. We are now 1325 miles from the Mexican border, we started at and 1325 miles from Canada. There is a Japanese girl there and we take her picture and she takes ours. Her trail name is Mickey Mouse.  The trail is still evolving and is longer now than it was when commemorated. There are still some areas that are in the process of changing and rerouting so the marker is more symbolic than exact, but it is close.

Half Way to Canada

After our pictures, I notice that we have cell reception, so we call my brother. While talking to him, a weird wasp like bee starts to bother us. It has a wasp body but the stinger is long like a dining needle. We shoo it away as best we can and say goodbye to my brother. Then as we are getting our packs on, a deer comes up the trail behind us, goes into the woods and starts to follow us as we begin hiking. We are being stalked by a killer deer. I stop and we stare each other down and the deer decides that I am probably more deranged than he is and stops his stalk.

We start to hit  more serious part of our descent and even though the trail is a pretty good grade, the terrain on either side of us starts to steepen dramatically. We meet a couple of girls hiking southbound who had flip flopped to Ashland because of the Sierra snows. They are from Colorado and we chat with them for a while. Their trail names are Beast and Forget Me Not. After our chat we continue our descent. Carol is behind me and I hear her start to talk. When I turn around, she is chatting with another girl, going in our direction. They are stopped, but I want to keep moving so I slowly walk on. After a bit I have lost sight of them and stop to sit on a trail side rock. Carol, the social butterfly and her new friend eventually come around the bend. This girls name is Last Call and she has made it through the Sierras but says that the hike is losing its luster. She was hiking with someone but they have now quit and Last Call is losing her drive. Carol encourages her to keep pushing on and she will most likely find other people to hike with over time. We talk a bit more and then she is on her way at a much faster pace than us. As we get close to the end of the long descent, we reach Soldier Creek, our destination for the night. It is only 1:30 and Last Call is here getting water as well as two other hikers. We are 3.3 miles from Highway 36 and a hitch into Chester. We have reservations fro two nights in Chester starting tomorrow. While sitting and checking for a cell signal, the thought passes by that maybe we should call and see if by some miracle our hotel has a room for tonight. Carol is very open to this idea and we have a signal, so she calls the hotel. At first the guy says they do not have a room nd Carol says, OK we will see you tomorrow then. He asks if she has a reservation and she says yes. Then he says well I may have a room but it is a handicap room. Someone else is thinking about it but if they do not take it , he will call us back.

While we sit and wait for a return call, Last Call and the other hikers go on their way. A short while later, Shannon comes down the trail. Kym is behind her somewhere and we catch up on the days events. We figure that Joy is behind us and will most likely find her way here tonight. We all have pretty much gotten the same impression of her. Not that she is a bad person, but seems to want to manipulate everyone into hiking her hike. Kym shows up, exhausted and ready to be done for the day. A little after two Carol checks back with the hotel, verifying that they will call us either way so we know whether to set up camp or not. We talk with Shannon and Kym for another hour and have not heard anything. The phone all of a sudden shows a missed call, so Carol immediately calls the hotel. They have the room for us if we want it, and Carol does her magic by asking if there is anyway they can pick us up at the highway trail head. They agree to get us at 5:25, the earliest they can do it. This gives us plenty of time as we have two hours to go 3.3 miles.  We have been hydrating while sitting here and we pack up our stuff, say goodbye to Shannon and Kym, who are not going to Chester, and start hiking again. The trail is still all downhill and even starts to have the occasional level stretch.

Cold Soda Trail Magic

We make great time and take a break in an area that passes through the private land of a ranch. Carol calls her mom to get an update on her dad who has fallen and is in the hospital. He fractured his back in two places and they are doing some tests on him. We hike the last mile to Highway 36 and it is flat until the last quarter mile which is straight up hill. One last big sweat and energy drain before we make the highway. We get there at 4:45. There are some coolers with cold soda and snacks so we each grab a drink. Cold anything with flavor is always a good thing and much appreciated. Our stats end up being 13.7 Miles hiked at a 2.6MPH pace. The high point today was 7618 feet and we are at 5050 feet at the highway.

Our ride shows up on time and it is the owners son. He is a nice kid and asks abut our hike and tells us about some places to eat in town. We get checked in and do what needs to be done. That is take a shower and wash away natures suntan from our bodies. Then on to the second thing which involves a nice meal and cold beer.

Big Cold Beer Smile

We eat at a place called the Sports Locker and our meals are very good. Ribs for me and Fish and Chips for Carol. While we are eating, we get a text from Shannon saying that  they will be coming in to Chester tomorrow and Kym is quitting the hike. She asks about our plans and whether she might be able to join us. No problem from our point of view and we tell her we can discuss things tomorrow when she gets to town. Dinner done and beverages consumed, it is now time to enjoy our soft bed. Good night