6/29/17 – Slow Miles
Day 67
Miles: 1,432.10 to 1,447.55
Total miles hiked: 863.70
I wish we could have a site with a view every day. It was awesome to wake up and see Mt. Shasta basking in the first morning light. The show of colors did not last long, and it was probably a good thing because we had miles to make and quite a few distractions to slow us down.
First we said our good bye to Tetris, Spider Mama and Hitch who camped with us last night. We hope to see them again later in the trip if we decide to skip back to the Sierra.
About a mile further we met up with our friends Unicorn and Monarch, who also skipped to Ashland. We spend a decent amount of time chatting with them, comparing notes from the stretches we’ve done since we parted in Lone Pine.
More great views
Water stop took another twenty minutes of our time, and then finally we got going, until something started pinching in my shoe.
Shasta again
The trail was not too steep today and decently treed. Not as much as yesterday but we weren’t in direct sun for long stretches which was good.
Still it got hot and the warm day tired us our. 13 miles got us to a last stream before a ten mile waterless stretch and we decided to take a little break here and cool off a little in a shade under large evergreens. Our little break turned into an three hour siesta. I really needed that nap.
Not much snow left at this stretch
It was easier to hike in the cooler evening air. We decided to hike little over two more miles to a campsite that was supposed to have a nice view.
The site itself was tucked in the trees but a rocky knob next to it was pretty good spot to sit and enjoy the remaining hour of our day.
Yet another shot of Shasta
I’m curious about the snow situation tomorrow. We crossed few snow patches in the evening, nothing major but given the terrain into which we are heading, snow on the trail would not be much fun.