Day 95, July 21: Chester/Mile 1331 to 1345
Start: Hwy 36/Chester - Mile 1331.3
End: Mile 1344.9
Miles: 13.6
Ascent: 2510 | Descent: 1573
I didn’t sleep all that great on the stage in the park, but at least I slept better than all the poor hikers who set up on the grass because the sprinklers came raging on at 12:30am. I felt so bad for them! (And very relieved it didn’t happen to me. 😬)
I packed up my bag, did a quick inventory of my remaining food, and walked back to the Kopper Kettle Cafe. I considered checking out a different restaurant but I was too tired to care and I knew they had charging outlets, which I needed for my power banks. I sat by myself, ordered eggs Benedict, and worked on my blog while I ate.
Once I was done, I walked to the grocery store to do a minimal resupply. How I still managed to spend $90 is beyond me (though I did buy some expensive multivitamins). There were some tables and chairs inside the grocery store so I sat at one of them and repackaged some of my snacks and organized my backpack. I loitered around for a while longer, not in a rush to get out of the air conditioning and back onto trail.
But back onto trail I must go. I walked across the main road and stuck out my thumb to a coupe cars. But then I remembered I had seen a local Trail Angel named Drive Thru leave her number in a comment on FarOut, so I decided to try that. I texted her and she called me back right away and said she was two minutes away, woohoo! I hopped in and two other hikers joined as well- Val from France and Hobbit from Israel. I was feeling so sleepy and out of it on the 10 minute drive back to the trail.
We got back to the trail and ah! Trail magic! A man named Chipmunk was set up with his EZ up and donuts, cereal and milk. I had a glazed donut and a bowl of Cap’n Crunch, and it definitely hit the spot. It turns out that Chipmunk was also born in Pasadena. It was nice to chat with him a bit, as well as the handful of other hikers there.
I could’ve easily sat there all day, but I figured I better get going. I started hiking out and it was hot hot hot. Not even 2 miles in I was looking for some shade to take a break in. On and on I hiked through more burned forest, until I reached some that was actually still green and alive! It was beautiful and there were pockets and then blankets of shade. A wonderful respite from the day’s heat.
At one point, I made it to the North Fork Feather River. I soaked my feet blissfully, filtered water, and ate a bunch of snacks while sitting in the shade under the bridge. It was a lovely afternoon break.
I kept hiking on and the forest returned to blackened burned trees. I found a good camp spot far away from any dead trees on a ridge overlooking a valley and with Lassen Peak in the distance. For the first time on trail, I set up my tent without the rain fly and it was quite nice to watch the sky gradually get darker overhead. I can’t wait to see the stars tonight. Goodnight!