On the trail again!

After such a large break, we were excited to get back on the trail. A night of beers and dancing made it a little harder to get on the trail, but after a hot breakfast we got going. It was around a 12 mile climb out of Belden. It was not very fun, but we did it. It was our way of earning being back on the trail. Emily's ankle was strong and the miles went by. We hiked to a cold spring and stayed in a cow pasture. The water was cold and delicious. The next day we met back up with Vanish, a hiker we have been yo-yoing. We were planning on doing great miles, but we got held up by trail magic! It was the most wonderful thing to stumble upon a group of lovely people with a table and food. At first I thought I was interrupting their camp, but P came up and made sure I took off my back and sat down. He got a sandwich ready, fresh fruit, and drinks. Needless to say, we stayed there for hours. Then, another trail angel group showed up. They were serving BLTs with blackberry and cream. Nom. We called it a trail angel off, and everyone won..... mostly just us. We left the parking area with an extremely full stomach, a BLT for the road, and a beer for our soon to be midway point!

We headed out and hit the halfway point! The post was at 1305 or something around there, but it is marked for 1325. Either way, we made it half way. We had a celebratory beer, and just enjoyed the moment.

We hiked a couple more miles, for the evening and called it good. The next morning was......MY BIRTHDAY!!! My family had sent cards that I was to open on my birthday morning. It was a wonderful surprise. That day we hiked through Lassen National Park. The volcanic rocks were fascinating, and there were boiling lakes.

We hiked 30 miles, a first for me. We stayed at a lake and had freeze dried ice cream cake! A wonderful way to celebrate.

The next day we woke up and headed into town. We said goodbye to Lassen and headed to the valley. 

I stumbled into Old Station. It turns out it is mostly just a RV park, post office, and gas station. We found a cafe to eat at and a cave! Subway Cave was formed by a lava flow tube. It was pretty cool.

We camped by the cave, and got ready for the hyped up Hat Creek Rim section, a 30 mile exposed, hot,and dry section. 

What a beautiful view it was. In the morning we climbed up to the rim and caught our first view of Mt. Shasta!

The picture doesn't do it justice. Mostly because you can't really see Shasta, but I promise it is there. 

Anywho, we meandered our way across the rim full of beautiful views. The water less stretch was broken by Cache 22, a beautifully shady shelter with all the water. 

After a shady break, we continued on to a fish hatchery. It was a soft grassy area with a view of the stars for the meteor shower that night. 

The next morning we woke up and walked a couple miles to trail magic! The Wild Bird Cache. It was the perfect hiker trap. It had chargers for phones, food, solar shower, and soda. Amazing. Needless to say, we were there for awhile.

Eventually we dragged ourselves out, and made it to Burney Falls State Park! What a beautiful park, with soft serve ice cream. :)