LEAVING BURNEY 

PCT DAY 83: Mile 1408 – Mile 1416.5
Tuesday July 5, 2016:  8.5 Miles (12.5 km)

Overnight in the Charm Motel in Burney did not produce a great nights sleep for either of us. I was wide awake at 1am finally falling asleep only to wake up just after 4am. Not a good way to prepare for a day of hiking in the heat. 

We lingered in the room this morning as we had to wait for the post office to open so Hammer could pick up his new shoes and to drop some food boxes for resupply further north. He ordered his shoes way back in Sierra City. When he tried to order mine at the same time  his credit card was blocked by the bank. It took us till Chester to sort this out with the bank, but it was too late to order mine to get to Burney in time. So now I am hiking in trashy shoes with hardly any grip or foot support left while Hammer can burn up the trail in his brand spanking new ones.  

We had lunch at the Blackberry Patch on the way out of town and we were set for another 100 or so mile leg to Dunsmuir. Surprisingly we are still not tired of hamburgers and fries washed down with a chocolate milkshake. It was warm and the skies were clear when we left the cafe.

We intended to do a short hike to Burney Falls State Park and camp there overnight. By the time we left the diner it was almost mid-day and hot. We waited for less then 10 minutes to get a rude back to the trailhead. Kelvin and his Dad stopped in their Subaru station wagon. Kelvin was 6 months old and was in daddy day-care. Daddy is a super nice guy and a trail runner. Kelvin woke up just before we were dropped off. Opened his gorgeous blue eyes and smiled.  What a lovely send off on the trail. 

It was hot as we started on the trail and I immediately regretted the burger with fries and milkshake. I felt really uncomfortable. But we did not have far to go so we slowly made our way  towards the Falls. About a mile from the highway we came across the Wild Bird Cache. Cold soft drinks, bananas, pretzels, lollies and a table with umbrellas for shade. Wow what we would have given for a cold soft  drink yesterday when we reached the Highway.

We got to the Burney Falls Campground in the mid-afternoon. It was not overly busy which was nice. We paid our $5 camping fee each and headed up to the walk-in section of the park to camp. There was one other camper there, Reindeer from Denmark whom we met yesterday at the  motel. He is meeting up with his parents in Castella to travel with them for about 5 days. 

It was wonderful to stop early. My lack of sleep last night plus the heat is catching up. We are camped amongst tall pines which are swaying gently in the light breeze. It is 5 pm Hammer is reading and I am falling asleep.


 

Category : Pacific Crest Trail 2016, USA