It was another cold morning with a late start. We slept among the log piles in the manicured forest well enough, but the trees blocked the morning sunlight.
The plan was to skip breakfast and go into the town of Old Station to eat, at a well-recommended place called JJ’s Café.
The plan worked out fine. The town food was worth going hungry for a bit — and wasn’t too expensive, either. And, they had a charging station where I could charge my phone while I ate.
That was great until another hiker stood up to open a window, and knocked over the charging station, shattering my phone’s screen and touchscreen. “Woah…” he said. He ate his food quickly and left.
Old station is a town of 50, so there is no cell phone repair there. The nearest city, Redding, seemed to only have stores that fixed Apple and Samsung phones, so I’d need to ship my Motorola for repairs.
I’ll have no phone until at least Mt. Shasta.
I left JJ’s, and put together a resupply at the gas station. After a lunch of ice cream, snacks, and orange juice, we were off.
What followed was the Hat Creek Rim walk, an area with only 1 water source — a difficult one — in 30 miles. And, it had a reputation for being brutally hot, even for people who had hiked the Mojave.
The weather had no such cruelty in mind, however, and we had warn but not hot sun, with a pleasant breeze most of the day.
The water source had a steep climb, but also didn’t live up to its reputation for difficulty, and the water was clear and cold.
Unfortunately, we did need to carry a lot of that water — 5 liters, for more than 20 miles. I hadn’t carried that much water since about 700 miles ago. My back hurt. But being thirsty is no fun, so I carried the water.
The Hat Creek Rim Trail proved to be full of surprises. There was the pleasant weather, of course. But there were many more.
And then at the end of the day there was Coppertone, making is root beer floats, serving us watermelon, and chatting until after dark. I pitched my tent by the side of the road, wrote these notes on a notecard, and went to sleep.
