Trail Magic Part III

The chef was introduced to us later on and was applauded. The meal was that good. And she wasn't even the head chef who was off that day. I know whatever I say can't adequately explain how exquisite this meal was (and when have I ever even used the word exquisite before), but the least I can do is recommend that you try to get there once in your life. Now, you won't get all that for $10, not by a long shot, so for you it won't be the best deal in the country, but it will be one of the best meals you'll ever eat.

Also, actual guests of the resort gave us beer and food for the trail. Bam!

Another 3/4 of a day later (23 miles well before 4:00) we hit Old Station where the Heitmanns live. They're trail angels who've been supporting hikers for years, so this stop was expected, but no less welcome.

Shower and laundry again (if you're counting, that's an unheard of three days in a row), homecooked dinner and breakfast the next morning, Internet, beer - another great stop.

The Heitmanns also are the ones, along with one other guy, who fill water caches for the Hat Creek Rim section just after Old Station, the hottest, driest, most miserable place on the entire PCT.

And wouldn't you know, the next day, just before we went into the hottest, driest, most miserable portion of the Hat Creek Rim, there is a trailhead parking area where we met a family who is trying to get rid of some extra food. At this point I start shaking my head because I just can't believe it, but can't believe it even more when the mom pulls out this huge bag of roast beef slices. A double take would not have been inappropriate. So we feasted on Skittles, chips, grapes and roast beef. They had Coors Light too, but I didn't want to dehydrate myself or drink a can full of piss water.

The next day we hike eight miles to highway 299 and go into the town of Burney. What is reputed as the hardest hitch on the entire trail takes us a combined total of 30 minutes to get one in and out. J.B., another guy hiking with us, catches a ride from a guy who takes him back to his house and oil wrestles with him in a kiddie pool in his basement...just seeing if you were paying attention...let's him use his shower.

After resupplying and feasting in Burney (forgot to mention that a woman drove up to me Neighbor and Chickety and gave us a bottle of water) we hiked a grueling, body destroying eight miles more to Burney Falls State Park where we camped for free and got to sample all the goodies the park store had to offer (which wasn't all that much different from a 7 Eleven, but still, junk food is junk food).

But the store did have beer, which caused everybody en masse to buy a six pack, all of which were fair game, leading to many a drunk hiker and me writing drunken blog posts for all to read.

Two days later we get to a place along the trail called Ash Camp and there's a guy hanging out there who gives us all yogurt and soda. He also, when Slider tells him about the busted sandals he's wearing, gives him the sandals off of his feet to hike in. The sandals off of his feet! Claimed he didn't like them anyway.

The next day we get to I-5 and a few guys are there ahead of us. Slider met a guy who lived in Mt. Shasta City while hiking who offered to come pick us up and drive us into town.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, the guy pulls up, loads eight of us into his van (a VW Vanagon that is incredible shape for its age) and takes us into town. On the way there he asks us where we're staying, we tell him that we're looking for a cheap place in town, he says, "How about a backyard?"

Lets us camp in his backyard, use his shower and bathroom as we need to and (this one I couldn't believe) tosses the keys on the table on his deck and tells us to use it for whatever we need. Two hours later after posting my bail, he tells me drug running was not what he meant.

Well, this one is true anyway. He and his wife own a spa in town and said we could have massages at a discount, so I ended up getting a 30 minute foot massage and a 25 minute leg massage for $46. Ballin'!

Two nights we ended up staying there, and amazingly that's not the end of it. But the other bit of trail magic happened before all of this and is part of another story that I'll tell you later on.