Day 89
Start: 0730 - Soldier Creek
End: 1730 - Warner Valley Campground
Miles (today): 23.5 (21 PCT, 1.5 alternate, 1 off)
Miles (cumulative): 1389 (1238.5 PCT, 93 alternate, 57.5 off)
Another successfully fun day!
Within the first 1.5 hours of hiking we came upon a cache of trail magic from Piper's mom. We don't know Piper (she's on the trail somewhere ahead) but the magic was great - it included soda (I still don't like soda and I love that some of the real-life Beth is still in there somewhere), water, fresh fruit, a place to throw away our trash (that's huge because we accumulate a lot of it and carrying it around is a pain), and a trail register (so I can see how far behind we are in comparison to hikers we know]
Nick and SPF enjoying the magic
After the morning trail magic, I didn't see Nick until Drakesbad Guest Ranch, our planned end to the day. In between, there was some hiking - I went up and down a lot of hills, I enjoyed the view of Lassen (getting closer and closer), I had lunch at the North Fork Feather River, I stumbled upon more trail magic, I went up and down more hills, and I took the alternate route to the guest ranch to see some hot springs because I mistakenly thought I would be able to get in.
another view of Lassen
North Fork Feather River, where I had lunch and where I washed my socks and feet
The Thompsons left a cooler of Gatorade and this box full of hard candy, granola bars, fruit cups, and toiletries. And a trail register so I could, once again, see how far behind we are.
well, that's no fun... So much for exploring
the hot springs I couldn't get in
At the Drakesbad Guest Ranch we were able to shower and do laundry, which was nice. I ran into Boyscout and caught up with him a bit - he said Ducky is a few days behind us (she stayed at VVR several days waiting for her calf to heal).
After getting clean, we waited with the rest of the hikers for dinner - we were served after the "real" guests. It sort-of felt like we were second class citizens, but then again we weren't paying full price for the meals (good thing, too, because we didn't get dessert), we didn't make reservations (they need to know in advance how many people are eating dinner so they can plan accordingly), and the staff at Drakesbad were very friendly and helpful and just all around awesome... So I didn't mind waiting. Besides, the food was worth the wait - we had wedge salad and vegetable lasagna (they ran out of the prime rib by the time it was our turn to eat.)
Dinner was shared with SPF, Phantom, 4 Cheese and Sangria, Mobius, Fed Ex, and Giblets. It was a great mix of people and I really enjoyed their company. When I introduced myself to 4 Cheese and Sangria, they recognized my name from when Coppertone asked them if they knew where we were when we missed his trail magic by Bucks Lake - they said its almost like we are famous. Ha!
After dinner I was still hungry - the pan of lasagna we shared was eaten so quickly! Thankfully, someone from the kitchen brought us a pan of stuffed tomatoes, chicken fingers, and corn dogs (leftovers from lunch?). I ate so much I'm stuffed (although I still managed to make room for some of the dark chocolate that Fed Ex gave us)
Now we're all camping at site 11 of the Warner Valley Campground, a mere 0.5 miles away from the Guest Ranch.
Along the trail:
another national park!