Week 15: Highway 36 - Summit Lake Road
- scarlson51
- Sep 9
- 4 min read
Approximately Mile 1,332 through Mile 1,454
Sunday, July 27th - PCT day 92
Short walk to the highway to get into Chester this morning. Tried to hitch with a French couple for an hour before the woman found us George, a trail angel, to pick us up. Supermax & Fruit Loop also showed up about 5 minutes before our ride arrived, so they came with. Supermax, Fruit Loop and I got breakfast at Cravings. I had the corned beef hash w/gravy, two eggs and avocado. To wash it down, I had a lavender mimosa, a tall glass of cranberry juice and two cups of very good black coffee. Supermax invited us to stay at the Airbnb he was renting w/Salty, Baby Yoda, Bear Fucker, the gay chick from Sweden, and two others. We had such a blast hanging out, haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Freaking awesome. Greek salad for lunch & Shawarma for dinner from Aslan’s Mediterranean Cuisine. Goodnight.
Monday, July 28th - PCT day 93
Rode out of town around 9:30 with Fruit Loop. Wandered with her and “Uncle Dave” for first half of the day. Talked about gender and spirituality while admiring the great views of Lassen to the north. Entered Lassen Park in the afternoon. Met Bush Pilot & Poppins, a Canadian couple from B.C. Went to the Drakesbad Guest Ranch for dinner w/them. Great beer, chicken pot pie, roasted veggies and the best key lime pie I have ever eaten. Talked about Mormons and Mennonites over dinner. Camped with Fruit Loop, Bush Pilot, Poppins and Last Strap. Interesting conversation about when trans kids are old enough to decide for themselves and the risks of malpractice. Goodnight.
Tuesday, July 29th - PCT Day 94
Super chill terrain today, only ~2,000 feet of climbing over 20 miles, and almost all of that in the first 7 miles. Hung out w/ Last Strap, Robin, Bush Pilot, Poppins and Fruit Loop for a bit at Lower Twin Lake. Flat but very fucking hot afternoon. Took a swim in Hat Creek to cool off. Going to try for 30 miles tomorrow. Goodnight.
Wednesday, July 30th - PCT day 95
Found a gold pan last night in Hat Creek which was awesome. On the way to Hat Creek Rim, I passed some awesome lava tubes, the largest must have been 40 feet from floor to ceiling. The view from the rim was spectacular all day. Lassen Peak showed boldly to the south with mile upon mile of flat lava flow covering the valley floor to the west. And to the north Mt. Shasta could be seen glowing white against the blue sky. The sunset from the rim was something that looked like it belonged more in Heaven rather than the Earth of mortal man. It was a great way to round off an awesome day.
Thursday, July 31st - PCT day 96
The sunrise from the rim this morning was beautiful. Not much of note today. Mostly just mixed juniper and cedar among fields of grass. Got a hitch into Burney from Jessica. Got my package, then ate ~2 lbs of Mexican food which was washed down with ~1/3 of a gallon’s worth of Margs. Got a hitch back to the trail from Francisco. Walked ~1/5 mile & set up camp.Bush Pilot walked by and gave me a doughnut, which was rad. Goodnight.
Friday, August 1st - PCT Day 97
Ran into Bush Pilot again this morning. Cool mixed forest this morning, many oak, lodgepole and ponderosa pines. Had a swim in a reservoir before I ate my lunch, very refreshing! After lunch it was a climb for the rest of the day. Saw a juvenile bear while I was taking a break which was cool. Ran into Bush Pilot again and walked with him into camp at Peavine Creek, unfortunately he continued on. Campsite was on an abandoned road above the creek tucked into some bushes. Goodnight.
Saturday, August 2nd - PCT Day 98
Last night, sometime 3:00 AM I guess as the moon had set, I was awoken by a bear snuffling around about ~3–4 feet from where I lay. As soon as I awoke I knew it was a bear but somehow also knew that it meant me no harm. I felt no fear at all, didn’t even utter a word, just shook my tent lightly to get it to move on and rolled over and went right back to sleep, hoping to resume the pleasant dream I was having. Sadly no luck. Awake again with the grey light of dawn & went about my business. Not many views day as it was mostly forested. Did have lunch w/Fruit Loop and Game Boy which was nice. My view from camp on a logging road was fantastic — a perfect view of Shasta. The sunset was amazing, golden yellow followed by wildfire oranges, reds fringed w/ purple & violet. Goodnight.
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