Day 91 - Catching Up To Butterfingers. 1415.9 (23.9)

Kevin Silvernale January 23, 2017

Today reminded me of the hot, dry desert of Southern California. While it wouldn't take me too terribly long to arrive at my next water source, it was hot enough that by the time I arrived at the small stream, I had drank all of my water.

It was not the most interesting of days on the trail. I walk over a lot of rocky trail and I passed by a couple of water reservoirs which contained fish hatcheries, but the coolest stop along the trail was Burney Falls Guest Ranch. Run by a couple of nice women who had recently purchased the place and were working to get it back on the map for weekend vacations and the like. This time of year, the only people showing up were PCT Hikers, and the ladies were happy to help us. There was ice cream!!! sandwiches, soda, cookies, and all the other snacks a hiker could wish for while being in the middle of nowhere, or rather the PCT.

I was in a serious debate over where to camp this evening. I had a resupply box 5 miles ahead at Burney Falls State Park (SP) and Butterfingers was there, who I hadn't seen since Day 66 when she, Early Bird and The Worm went into the Yosemite Valley from Tuolumne Meadows.

After debating over staying at the Ranch or hiking an additional 5 miles, all while eating my second and third ice cream cone, I decided to continue hiking to meet up with Butterfingers. While I had enjoyed walking solo for a little over a week, I was looking forward to seeing her familiar face.

Along the last 5 miles of trail, I walked across countless roads, some larger (leading into the town of Burney) and others... just simple dirt roads. Only a couple miles before tonight's campsite, I was walking along listening to some music when, what do you know, trail magic! All of the candy was gone, but there were still a couple cans of soda. It was nearing sunset, so I took a soda to-go. It did recharge me for the last bit of the day, which allowed me to push it and arrive in camp with just enough daylight to setup camp and hang out with Butterfingers.

Butterfingers knew I was coming to camp with her tonight, so without me knowing it, she picked up my resupply box from Burney Falls SP (a little over 1 mile ahead on the trail) and then carried it back to camp with her! I was rather delighted and impressed. She had carried it in her arms for the 1 mile walk back to camp because her pack was already full from her own resupply. Thanks Butterfingers!

I was pretty tired and was lights out fairly quickly after catching up with Butterfingers and eating dinner. Organizing my resupply box would have to wait until the morning. We plan on going to Burney Falls (the actual water fall) and hanging out there for the morning.

Day 89 - A Long Flat Trail. 1367.2 (19.6)

Kevin Silvernale January 19, 2017

I was up, bright and early. With plans to get as close to The Old Station (a restaurant and gas station near an important intersection) I pushed up the only hill of the day which consisted of 500 feet of elevation gain... That's it.

Around 9 miles for the day, I stopped for a small snack and refilled my water at one of two very large lakes. Together they make up the Twin Lakes of this area. While refilling, I had an eerie sense that something was watching me. I didn't know it at the time, but a few hikers left Drakesbad last night and had camped at these lakes and had major issues with a black bear all night long. If you remember from yesterdays post, this was the area I was wanting to camp, had I left yesterday evening.

Without seeing anything in the area, I moved along quickly, checking my six every few minutes. Eventually I calmed down and tried to settle into a rhythm. I was on the second, of few noticeable flat sections on the PCT. Without any elevation gain, you'd think I'd be able to hike 25 to 30 miles. But I was never really able to find a rhythm, in fact the slight downhill the trail had seemed to make my legs and feet ache.

Nearing the 20 mile mark, the trail walked along a large river for a short distance and had a few very nice campsites. Though early in the day, roughly 4:00 pm, I stopped early and relaxed around camp, eating dinner and soaking my legs/feet multiple times in the cold river water.

Day 88 - Drakesbad Guest Ranch. 1347.6 (9.4)

Kevin Silvernale January 18, 2017

The short walk to Drakesbad Guest Ranch was wonderful, though being there was even better. This location is a summer vacation ranch that caters to higher class. Though it has the feel of a rustic cabin settlement, they offer 4 and 5 course meals, swimming pool, hot tub and some of the nicest bathrooms and it's practically on the trail!

Some hikers have had their bad experiences though. Lost packages and poor service topping the list. Even the day before I arrived, a worker at the Ranch couldn't find a hikers package, so the hiker left to resupply at the next town (a days hike away). The hiker told the Ranch employee to put the contents of his box into the hiker-box should it show up. Later that same day, the box was found (the employee had just missed it) and it had some really good stuff in it. Score for us hikers who arrived here today.

I mostly did Zero day things for the rest of the afternoon. Shower, laundry, organize my resupply and relax. In the evening time, Vertigo, Strapless, M&M, Nav and Hobbit had dinner at the meal house. All of the Ranch's guests ate until around 7:00 pm. The deal for PCT hikers is, after 7:00 pm, eat what ever they have extra of (minus the Salmon!). It was a 4 course meal with the best Desert I had on the entire trail. So good, I forgot to take a picture of it before it was gone. Guess you'll have to go try it out yourself.

Earlier in the day I was considering going into Drakesbad to resupply, then hiking 9 additional miles before setting up camp. This would keep me close to the 18.4 miles I needed to walk each day. Once I experienced the comfort at Drakesbad, I had very little motivation to leave early and follow through with my plan. This, I would soon find out, would be an incredibly good decision. I would, plan on getting up early tomorrow and hiking at least 19 miles.

Also a note about the last picture. The mileage shown to Canada is WAY off. Nevertheless, I thought it was a very cool work of art.