Snakes, blisters, and bears… Oh my!

There are so many stories that make up this crazy week of hiking for us. And we are stumped by how to relay all the amazing tidbits to you without droning on about each one. I mean, it might interest you to learn that we hiked 15 miles (our longest day yet) to arrive, unexpectedly early, at a guest ranch serving us a three course, cloth napkins, meal. But do you really need to know the details of each delectably amazing course? Um, yes. Yes you do.  

 And you’re probably a bit intrigued knowing that Bling got a blister so bad she hiked 4 miles one afternoon in a flip flop.  

But do you really want to see the blister? Or the subsequent shoe surgery that allowed us to continue hiking? (We almost cut out early due to the pain.) Oh, you do? We appreciate your interest! Click for blister and shoe surgery pics.

But really, the tidbits do go on and on… And in between those tidbits we did some of our strongest hiking yet through beautiful volcanic Lassen Park and along the incredible, and incredibly exposed, Hat Creek Rim. So maybe it’s best if we relay the week in pictures instead of words.

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

  

 

And we met a trail crew who let us help out for a few minutes. 

 

 
 

 
 

   

 

Picture pause for a few words on the hat creek rim experience… Hat Creek Rim itself is a 23 mile section of mostly exposed trail in the middle of a 30 mile waterless stretch. The guidebook and handbook warn about how hot it can be and recommend hiking as much of it as possible in the late evening and early morning. And hikers seem to share their Hat Creek Rim experiences in a where-were-you-on-9/11 sort of way. We followed the recommended plan, hiking through the evening and again very early in the morning to complete the rim in about 18 hours.  We carried seven liters of water each. Although we certainly didn’t experience the hottest temperatures possible (one PCT thru-hiker said it was 115 degrees at night when he hiked it in 2013), we got a good taste of the heat in our second day as we finally finished the rim at 1:30pm, well after the recommended get-down-off-the-rim  time. 

While the heat is usually the primary topic when it comes to Hat Creek Rim, we were struck by how incredibly beautiful it was. We had our first real views of Mt. Shasta and beautiful views of Mt. Lassen’s snowier north face, Hat Creek Valley, and lots of wildflowers. We hiked a small portion at night – a moonless night – and so had incredible views of the Milky Way too. All in all, the beauty outweighed the heat, our heavy packs, and our achy joints, making for a delightful experience.

 

 
 

 

Suffice to say, it was an exciting week. And we are glad to be hitting town for a rest day complete with hamburgers and milkshakes!