Chilling with Bears, Old Station & Burney Lodge – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [33]
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Part 32 ‘The PCT Halfway Point and Lassen Volcanic Wilderness’
Day 100 (17/07) – Amongst the Bears!
I felt hungover when I woke at 4am at my Drakesbad camp. Initially, I couldn’t get up, despite only having two beers the evening before. Eventually, at about 5am most of us got up, and we set off. Almost immediately into the hike, we had a river crossing with a log, but it was a relatively easy crossing.
Further along the trail, I noticed Rocky and Peaks (ahead of us) signalling to Stats and me. They were pointing to the left of the trail to a black bear and her cub. We immediately stopped. The two bears were to the side of the trail, in between our positions.
Mamma bear had now relocated to behind Stats and me by now, and was tearing apart the remains of a stump, where (I’m assuming) she was looking for grubs or other insects. Whilst this was happening, the cub lingered in the original position, where the mum left it. We were now between mamma bear and cub, and it was a little nerve-wracking! However, mamma bear didn’t seem to care, and we ended up hiking on with no incident. It was a spectacular sight to witness bears this close in the wild.
For the most part, the day was some of the easiest, flattest hiking I’ve done so far. However, this also meant it was kind of boring. I ended up finishing the ‘Mountain Man’ zombie audiobook series, and had a lengthy conversation with Stats and Bee Bop whilst hiking together. Some parts of the PCT are amazing to immerse in nature with no distractions, but having audiobooks or podcasts to break up the less interesting or just long days, in general, was really nice.
After many hours, and into the early evening, we arrived at a tiny town called Old Station. This is one of those places that has a post office, gas station and a café and that’s it. The folks at the gas station were super pleasant, and we purchased some snacks and drinks there, and camped behind in the reserve. Rocky and Peaks (a newly married couple) were also there.
I asked if I could get refills with my soda from the dispenser, and the lady said yes – I kept coming back for more and more over the course of the day. Peaks had later told me that when he asked the lady, she said she didn’t think the hiker getting refills (me) understood you were still meant to pay half price for refills. I was just walking in and refusing and then walked out! Oops! We all had a laugh over it, and I went back in and paid!
Distance hiked: 27 miles (43.45 km)
Total PCT hiked: 1374.5 miles (2,212.04 km)
Day 101 (18/07) – Old Station, Subway Caves and Hat Creek Rim
I hung around at Old Station for most of the day to let the day cool off, and hike late in the afternoon into the night. Stats and Bee Bop also had the same idea, but the others left early after breakfast at the café. We met Rattler and RockDoc there and all seven of us had breakfast.
At 3pm, the three of us made our way to the cave system nearby called Subway Caves – a lava tube remaining from past volcanic flows. It was so cool to explore inside, I had wanted to stay inside the cool dark caves forever, but we needed to hike on.
We started hiking around 5:30pm when it was much cooler, and traversed the exposed ridge of the cliff above Hat Creek. It was probably the fastest hiking I’d done on the whole trail, as it was relatively flat and straight.
The problem was, as it got darker, we couldn’t see the outlines of the lumpy volcanic rocks below our feet, and we often kicked them, stumbling afterwards. It was quite amusing, because we all kept doing it. Just after you started laughing at someone stumbling – it would happen to you too!
Before it got completely dark, we had a snack whilst watching the sunset behind the mountains. It was pure… natural beauty!
We began hiking in the dark, and needed a headlamp. As before, we still stumbled – I called it ‘night stumbling‘ instead of night hiking. We finally reached the only water source in the dry stretch – Cache 22, where someone put a water tank in for hikers. Thankfully, Rattler and the others siphoned some of the last inches of water out for us, knowing we’d arrive late. It was good because there were a lot of hikers camping there, and we didn’t want to wake them.
We ended up hiking 1-2 more miles and cowboy camped in a random spot. I used the late-night opportunity to grab a star shot!
Distance hiked: 18 miles (28.97 km)
Total PCT hiked: 1391.5 miles (2,239.4 km)
Day 102 (19/07) – Burney Lodge
The 4 hours of sleep were lacking, but we all got up sluggishly and left around 6:30am. We wanted to get to Burney Lodge before it was too hot.
Like the day before, it was easy hiking… aside from the lumpy lava rocks! We often caught up with Rattler and RockDoc along the way.
We passed a fish hatchery along the way, the only water source we’d seen in miles, and eventually, the last small climb before our destination.
Finally, Burney Lodge! Here was delicious free… sweet… cold… ice cream, along with a cheap burger for lunch. If you spend $25, you can camp in the yard, shower and do laundry, as well as receive a free breakfast the following morning. There was also a small shop where you can grab anything and add it to a little sheet you were given. It was an honour system, where we pay the total when we leave.
The place was amazing and the quality of the food was exceptional. Bee Bop, Stats and I played some pool inside the air-conditioned room before the two eventually took off to continue hiking. I enjoyed hiking with them briefly, but I needed to resupply and wanted to take a break – so I camped. It turns out I wouldn’t see those guys again after, but it happens!
I got in touch with Rex, who was going to meet me ahead on the trail somewhere on Saturday, and enjoyed the afternoon off.
Distance hiked: 16 miles (25.75 km)
Total PCT hiked: 1407 miles (2,264.35 km)
Next Post:
Part 34 ‘Burney Falls to Dunsmuir’
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