Aug 2nd
Burney Falls State Park(1423.6)-Bartle Gap(1450.7)
Today’s Mileage: 27.1mi
Today was the best my body has felt hiking in weeks. I hiked with Liz and both of us were completely spent with the heat yesterday. We got a good start at 6:45am from Burney Falls State Park. There was a lot of uphill today, but it was more gradual and rolling, so it didn’t feel like a lot of uphill. Most of the day was in wonderful shaded forest with a very soft ground. We loved that after the last few days spent on the volcanic rock of Lassen.
We had a nice relaxing lunch break and I was happy to dig into my snacks from the care packages I got yesterday. I even shared some of Dan’s(Thumper’s Dad) homemade cookies with Liz. After lunch, we were treated to views of Mt. Shasta and we wound closer as the day went on.
Later in the afternoon, the trail got pretty covered with brush and that was annoying. It lasted for a few hours and I really didn’t like it.
It was just a nice day and I look forward to more days like this the rest of the week. Other than at Burney Falls, we did not see anyone the whole day again. We are both happy to have each other around, cause it would have been pretty boring and less motivating to do this section solo. It’s been rough both physically and mentally for many of us lately. There is a lot of time pressures and our bodies are tired. Liz has a really healthy outlook on it that I’m working on adopting. This is a year like no other and we have to be proud of what we’ve done to make it this far. In the end, we can only do the miles we can and hope for an indian summer in Washington. Fretting and stressing about it will only take away from enjoying the present, so I’m really going to enjoy it now and just let everything work itself out in due time. After all, it’s more about the journey and not the destination! Everything will be okay:)
On a side note, if anyone has any Mt Shasta connections, let me know. Liz and I plan on coming in on Friday to resupply and possibly shower/do laundry. I don’t think there are trail angels there.
