Day 111 – 11 Jul 19. Cool Caves and Hot Hills

Today 39.8 km (24.7 mi), Total Distance 2249.7 km (1397.9 mi) 9 hours 40 minutes 0700-1825 less 1 h 45 min at restaurant and cave)

I was up early with the incentive of a cooked breakfast in 4 miles (6.4 km).

The trail was largely flat through the forest with one section in the open. I caught the guy who passed my tent last night at the start of this open section.

After this was a slight climb and then along the edge of a steep hill before dropping and crossing a more open area to the road.

Here I went off trail following the road to the small town of Old Statin and the famous JJs Cafe for a lovely breakfast. I then went to the gas station to buy some water bottles and headed back to the trail.

I was only on the trail for a short time before turning off to visit Subway Cave, just 0.4 miles off trail. It was really impressive, much bigger than I expected. It was a huge Lava Tube that was a few hundred meters long with a few larger chambers. I went to the end and then rather than exiting and returning above ground I headed back through the cave again. It was a lovely temperature, a relief from the heat outside.

Once back on trail I had a small section of flat through the thick shrubs before climbing a large hill.

Most hills seem big but are smaller as you start climbing them but this one seemed to just keep going up and up, much more than I was expecting.

There were two southbounders but they were focused on food. The first one didn’t even reply to my greeting but the second one, a girl, did.

I was rewarded for my sweat from the hot long climb with great views of Mt Lassen behind and Mt Shasta in front. At the top of the climb was a carpark, view point and toilets. There was a decent size water cache at a picnic table which I did not use as I was fine for water.

This section is just over 48 km (30 mi) without water sources except for a cache at 25 km (16 miles). As the last reports for the cache said it was nearly empty I was prepared for doing the whole stretch. I had 3 ¼ litres of water with me.

After the view point the trail dropped slightly to another picnic area which had a cooler labelled “PCT” but was empty.

The trail crossed some flat open ground and I met two ladies and three dogs out for a short hike.

Now the trail started heading over to the top of the rim, this being Hat Creek Rim. It then followed along the top, occasionally leaving the edge to go around stream gulleys. It was open ground alternating with small and bigger shrubs and the occasional tree.

Conveniently each time I felt like stopping for a break or lunch I was able to find nice shady spot under a tree. There were a few southbounders but none stopped for a chat.

I was feeling good and absolutely loving being in the open with the amazing views. I still had Mt Lassen behind, Mt Shasta in front and the large valley way below.

Not long after lunch I had a big detour away from the edge and then heading back south to get around a large ravine. As it started heading north again there was a fancy trail register and I saw Claire was a few days ahead. She had left a message for me asking how the air was back there, winding me up for being behind her.

The afternoon continued much the same with the wonderful views, lovely wildflowers and warm temperature. I was fortunate for having the slight breeze which was keeping the temperature manageable.

I passed a communication tower and knew it was only a couple more miles to the water cache. 1 mile later I passed two guys and then arrived at the road. I turned left and a little way down was the water cache.

It was a large water tank. There were 3 females and an older guy there, all heading south. The girls left shortly after I arrived.

I chatted with the guy as I filtered water, drank, filtered, drank and finally filled up my bottles. I still had 1 ¾ litres when I arrived so could have continued without the cache but I made the most of it by fully hydrating and filling up. The two guys who I passed arrived as I was doing this.

Finally finished I left the lovely shady spot and continued. It was downhill now and the trail started to become soft dirt that was puffing up at every step, I was definitely going to take a while cleaning up tonight!

I passed a few southbounders heading up the hill who all asked about the status of the cache.

Once down the steep bit it flattened out and I passed a small pond which I had not realised was there. There were some cows nearby so definitely would need to filter if using this.

Now the trail was in the open, clear of scrub and the trail was rocky, with volcanic rock. This is more what I was expecting Lassen Volcanic Park to be like.

After a few miles I was back on the edge of a big escarpment looking at the valley below. This was more impressive as the escarpment was practically cliff. The trail was now alternating between forest and more open areas.

I wanted a campsite on the edge of the escarpment but could not find one clear of vegetation so I went off trail under some trees and found a clear patch of dirt that had no holes indicating ants nests. It was really warm and I had both tent flaps open.

Later that night as it started getting dark I could hear a rustling noise that sounded like a mouse walking on my plastic tent footprint. I shined a torch but could not see anything. The noise continued but I still could not see anything.

When I went to get up to go to the toilet I shone my torch down and saw there were hundreds of big ants everywhere. I had to shake my shoes vigorously to get them out.

Once back in my tent I was happy to zip up the mesh. A couple of ants had gotten in during the brief time the door was open. They had climbed up my hiking pole and come over the top of the door as I was getting back in.

I lay there listening to the rustling sound all around me, now knowing what was out there. I was worried they would eat through the tent floor but thankfully they seemed happy just walking around. This was a night I was glad I was not Cowboy Camping (camping outside a tent just lying on the ground.

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