Burney – Chester

Total miles 1322.8

Approx 200 miles missed due to fire closure

Day 72 Mon Sept 4th
Burney Church – Word of light – Burney Mountain Guest Ranch
1236.1-1244 4
Approx. 561 ft ascent + 236ft descent
8.3 Miles

I woke up early. Sleeping in a sports hall is somewhat novel and the sound of others snoring, whilst sleeping below us on the basket ball court didn’t help.

We both showered quick and got ready as we had town admin to muster.
I snuck into the kitchen to edit the blog notes made on trail.  In hope of a little peace and quiet and a cheeky cup of coffee.

We also splashed out and ordered a load of expensive dehydrated Peak meals + Range meal bars for the stretch from Sierra City to Lake Tahoe. This was partly due to the poor resupply in Sierra City and also because we wanted to see if we could experiment and reduce our food weight with this new approach.

Superstar Dennis also popped in and gave me more expert advice and even more fishing gear.  What a guy! It would have been nice if we had more time as I would have loved to spend a day fishing with this kind ninja.

Before leaving we made a hearty breakfast sharing it with a couple of other hikers – Sazkia and “Good Spot”.
Good spot told tales of being stung by 15 wasps whilst taking a pee on a wasp nest by mistake.
She had also been disturbed by a bear whilst sitting almost naked drying her clothes after the rain. Both stories proved amusing.

We left the church hostel and managed to get an easy hitch back to Burney Falls.

Burnley Falls was still teaming with tourists + Sarah wanted a pre-trail ice cream from the visitors centre, I was more than happy with this plan of attack.

We finally got back on trail around 16:00! This was a new record for starting back late on the trail, but after such a great day at the church we didn’t care.
Due to the fire closures we hopefully have  a bit more breathing space to reach the Sierras before mid October  (or at least we hope we do).

We backtracked to where we had left the trail along the Headwaters Creek.
The water that flows through Burney falls
comes out of the ground just 1/4 mile before the epic waterfalls and originates all from snow melt.

As we left the creek it was so hot that there was a haze forming over the horizon.

We disturbed a couple of groups of deer that bolted through the undergrowth as they went.
A large lizard skittled across the trail in front of us climbing a tree, the underside of his belly perfectly matched to the bark of the tree making it hard to spot.
It was interesting to see that the number of trees started to thin and were replaced by scrubland with the occasional oak.
We noticed large pine cones in amongst the reddish soil which were much larger in diameter than what we had seen so far. We found out later these were from the Ponderosa pine tree.

This new landscape reminded Sarah of her time in Swaziland due to the reddish tones of the soil and the scrubland.

Due to the later start we made little progress today and at around 8 miles in we were ready to call it a day.
We had heard about Burney Mountain Guest Ranch was apparently allowing hikers to stay, although wasn’t offically open. So with heavy packs and tired legs we felt we should check it out.

Before we approached the junction to the Guest Ranch we walked underneath power lines. They buzzed almost like the wings of an insect stuck in spiders web, resonating as we walked past.
Someone had joked on Far Out that they could feel the 5G buzzing in their fillings.

As we approached the ranch Ospreys nesting on the top of power lines sounded the alarm.

The ranch was completely unexpected and we were both blown away by it.  The property was around 140 acres in the middle of nowhere with a number of wooden guest cabins dotted around the property as well as an impressive main building with swimming pool.
This place was amazing!

Christine and Kyran made us extremely welcome and we felt very privileged to be only the 12th people through their doors this year.
They even offered us in to their home for dinner where we ate roast pork + salad consisting of spinach, feta, pecans and cranberries. It was amazing to have some real food.
The couple shared with us details of their dream and plans for the future at the ranch.
It was like something you might find on the Ben Fogyle show “Lives in the Wild” and this off grid style of living was right up our street.

After dinner we sat chatting sharing ideas about what hikers might want whilst staying at ranch. Both were very interested in our input and it was a really nice evening sharing whatever ideas we could.

Christine told us how she had killed a rattle snake that had got too close to the property. She had kept the tail of the snake + it still rattled like a child’s toy.
We also learnt that you can tell the age of a rattlesnake by the number of rings that form its tail.
Christine also told us the “proper” name for the berry bushes the bears had been so keen on eating was Manzenita.

I have developed a nasty sore just above my hips. This is because I’ve started to lose some serious weight and I think my pack is not fitting me quite as well as it did at the start.
Nurse Sarah fixed me up with a bandage before we called it a night.

Day 73 Tues Sept 5th
Burney Mountain Guest Ranch – Water cache 22 / forest road
1244.4 – 1260.6
Approx. 2218 ft ascent + 853 ft descent
16.3 MilesDay

Sleeping in a real bed was amazing and we both woke up feeling well rested.
Christine and Kyran had also insisted we join them for breakfast, which set us up nicely for the day.
Once again we wanted to thank Christine and Kyran their awesome hospitality. We wish you all the best for the future with this amazing place you have.

We got back on the trail around 09:00 and hiked towards Baum Lake. Dennis had recommend this as a good fishing hotspsot.

Oak trees line in the sides of the trail with crunchy brown leaf letter and acorns covering the ground.

As we walk down towards the lake we could again hear the sound of Ospreys flying overhead and we could see one of them carrying off a fish held between its feet.
We could see fish jumping taking insects off the surface, so I waded out to my waist into the lake and fished my heart out.

Fish were jumping all around me but didn’t seem interested in taking the fly.
I took Dennis’ advice and switched to another fly and within two casts a large rainbow trout came up from the deep and took the fly. Unfortunately this didn’t last long and within a couple of shakes of its head it snapped my line.
Even though I lost the fish it was a great experience + I had some stiff competition from the diving Ospreys effortlessly plunging into the water catching fish.

We then paid Crystal Lake Hatchery a quick visit. In the hatching pools there were trout of all different shoes n sizes. We asked one of the guys who worked there where we’d find the bigger ones and he pointed us over to the far corner of the hatchery.
We were both amazed by the size of the fish, with the biggest being around 15 pounds. True monsters of the deep.  The guy working there had said they were anomalies + had been rescued or removed from waterways and had just been allowed to grow super big in captivity.
Back on trail we are now facing a 30-mile water carry.  This will be the longest water carry we’ve had to do so far.
The plan is to fill up at the next creek just past Hat Creek Power Station. 
Then carry 2.5 litres each and hope that a 1 of the smaller water caches in between us and water cache 22 (our final destination today) has water.  Otherwise we will be in serious trouble!
The next section was extremely exposed and my watch recorded 32 degrees underneath the shade of my sun umbrella.

We saw Ponderosa pine cones high up in the pine trees like bunches of coconuts.

The mountains seem to have temporarily disappeared only to appear on the distant horizon. Instead we are walking through flatter desert like terrain through some kind of basin.

The trail is littered with volcanic rocks. Similar to what we’ve seen before in Oregon, but much older and more eroded. The plants and vegetation are also much more advanced and established.

Back walking on the broken lava rocks is again proving hard on our feet. Particularly
as our trail runners have clocked up way over 500 miles now.
The amount of cushioning starts to break down after around 500 miles + we both are looking forward to picking up our new shoes in Belden.

As we hike our sun umbrellas catch the leaping grasshoppers and crickets like a net.

The water we collected earlier from a cold stream is now luke warm. Similar to a bottle of water left in a hot car + no longer refreshing.

Around 17:30 we climbed out of a basin up onto a 6 mile ridge.
Later we found out that this was the start of Hat Creek Rim. One of the most arid and dry places on the whole trail.
Looking back we could see the Beum Lake in the distance. The sunlight blinding us as it reflected off of the waters surface.

During the climb we saw a large snake approx 3-4 feet long sprawled across the trail. It almost looked dead as it didn’t move an inch.
We gingerly moved around a snake so not to disturb it as it wasn’t moving an inch.
Once out of harms way we looked and cross referenced it against a picture Sarah had sourced from town. Luckily it was a non-venomous Gopher snake.
On closer inspection we could see it’s small black tongue slowly sampling the air.

The yellow and black snakes we’ve seen previously have also been identified as Garter snakes.

We’ve also seen a number of smaller green snakes still to be identified.

As we walk along the ridge the air is filled with the wonderful smell of sage.
Sonic gave us a tip that we should collect sprigs of sage to put in our sleeping bags and or backpacks to keep them smelling fresh. As I say this Sarah is happyily taking cuttings.

There was more of a breeze now which was a godsend and around 18:30 it was a perfect temperature to hike.
With this new lease of life we pushed on towards the water cache.

We spotted a pond to our left and almost thought it could be a mirage.
Looking on Far Out the comments suggest that we should only take water from here if we’re really desperate. Someone had seen a cow feeding in the middle of the pod, whilst at the same time pooping into the water.
Suddenly we were no longer too thirsty even though our water filters would handle this.
We hiked into the darkness. We disturbed what we thought was a bear, only catching a glimse of its rear furry end as it crashed off into the bushes.
The evening orchestra was louder than ever.
So loud that we would have no chance of hearing a rattle snake. 
We popped on our head torches to illuminate the trail, to make sure that we could see anything that was hiding.

We arrived at a Forest service road and followed the instructions in the comments on Far Out to locate the water cache.
Luckily there were plenty of flat tentspots, right next to the water container, adjacent to a coral used for cattle.

Sarah went about filling up our water bottles with cold fresh cold water and I set up the tent.
We then started to hear moaning noises coming from the bushes behind us. We both looked at one another and assumed that it was a bear, or maybe the bear we had seen previously.
I started banging our hiking sticks together and Sarah was on the drums on our camping pot. The noise stopped…
But before long it started up again + appeared to be getting louder. This was not good!
I went off into the bushes to try and get a better look + saw a pair of eyes reflecting back at me.
The spacing between the eyes looked 6-8 inches + I realised it was not a bear at all.
Instead it was a large bull and he started coming straight towards us making snorting and moaning noises.
Luckily he seemed more interested in the water cache and passed us by. Phew.
Let’s hope his heavy footprints keep well clear of the tent tonight. As we can still hear him moving about in the darkness not too far away from where we are pitched.
We have reinforced the camp and surrounded it with branches. We know these will not stop him, but may act as an early warning alarm system, so we don’t end up getting trampled in our sleep.
We eat our dinner looking up at the night sky. It’s so clear and there are so many stars. You can even see he milky way beaming back us. Who needs television with all this entertainment.

Day 74 Wed Sept 6th
Water cache 22 / forest road – Hat Creek and Tent site
1260.6 – 1284.4
Approx. 1952 ft ascent + 1719 ft descent
23.9 Miles

Fortunately we had no further runnings with the bull.
It looked like he may have been making an appearance last night to try and protect the rest of his harem. We noticed a mumma cow and 2 small calves in one of the corals near where we camped.
Strangely the gate to the coral was open and as soon as it got light the mumma cow and family ventured out to graze.
Maybe they were wary of predators in the area which made them take overnight refuge in the saftey of the coral, under the watchful eye of the bull?

We started the day by refilling our water bottles as again today looked super dry.
There was a potential water source in 8 miles called the Lost Creek Trail, but the comments on Far Out suggested it was down a very steep slope.
The next water source was at the Subway Cave trailhead 16 miles away.
As we continue along Hat Creek Rim we’re given glimpses of Mount Lassen in the distance.

The uneven spacing between the rocks is making us super clumsy. With our feet catching and tripping on them today. Luckily our trekking poles are working well catching our falls.

We watch a lizards sun bathing on a bleached branch in front of us. It appears that he’s lost his tail and as we watch him he’s doing press ups to help warm up.
The trail seemed to bend round like a horse shoe and it wasn’t long before we were looking back at where we had just walked.

We have been out here for approx 9 weeks
and we are getting closer to the halfway point just after Chester.
We worked out the start of the Sierras are approx 300 miles away. This is around 2 weeks worth of hiking. The Sierras should take maybe 2-3 weeks to get through.
All totalling around 5 weeks from today. This should mean that we are still on track to get through the Sierras before the middle October, when the first winter storms generally hit.
That just leaves the desert section, which is 700 miles and approx 4 weeks.
Meaning that we we have around 9 weeks left to complete the trail.

Around lunchtime we passed the PCT trail register, that also signifies we are nearing the halfway point.
We looked through the names of the people that had passed through and it was nice to see a lot of familiar faces. The rest of the gang are around 3 – 4 days ahead. Strangely we didn’t see an entry from Fred or Sophie + we hope they are ok.

We passed a Lost Creek spring and opted to carry on as we were in good shape and had plenty of water remaining.

A snake had shed its skin and left us a gift on the side of the trail. I picked it up for a closer inspection trying to piece it together and figure out the type and size of snake.

Our sun umbrellas are a god send and are working like a treat to keep the worst of the sun off of us.
It has taken a bit of practice but you can attach them to our shoulder straps so you have both hands still free.
Both of us look like satellite dishes as we’re looping our way around these mountains. You just need to make sure that you take the corners wide so not to catch the umbrelllas on any overhanging trees or bushes.

The sage bushes along the trail are all in flower attracting lots of insects and butterflies. The yellow flowers contrast nicely against the sage green plants.

At 14:00 we reached a water cache, but unfortunately all the water bottles had already been rinsed.
We headed on towards Subway Cave trailhead which also featured some interesting caves and lava tubes. Fingers crossed we will find water as there is meant to be a water spigot here.
The lava tubes are a series of caves that were created as a result of lava.
We walked through the network of caves and the temperature was cool and fresh. A stark contrast to the scorching temperatures outside.

It’s been great having the trail to ourselves. We’ve only seen 1 nobo today and a familiar sobo trailname “Dog treat”
He told is how he’d road walked round the fire and had been doing 40+ mile days. And how he’d fallen sick and was burnt out.

At Old station Sarah and I headed to a gas station and grabbed hot dogs, sodas and ice creams.
We made sure we also got refills of Doctor Pepper that we tranferred to our water bottles for later.
We shared our hot dogs with ‘Dog Treat’ outside the deserted visitors centre and he kindly gave us a couple of beers.
We figured this would make for a decent early dinner and would mean we wouldn’t have to cook later.
By the time we left the temperature dropped and we all headed towards Hat Creek Creek and Tent site.

We struggled to keep up with Dog treat.
He’s in his early 20s and has a few years on us as well as an incredibly light setup. He has compromised one comfort for another resulting in incredibly lightweight baseweight which allows him tomove faster.

Again we arrived late at camp under the cover of our head torches.
We pitched our tent close to the raging creek. Its cold and the air is damp. Sarah is snuggled up in her sleeping bag asleep as I finish this entry and that’s exactly what I know need to do.

Tomorrow we enter Lassen volcanic national Park boundary. You need to pass straight though the 19 miles otherwise you need to carry a bear cannister.  Therefore it’s gonna be another busy day in the office. So it’s nighty night for now.

Day 75 Thurs Sept 7th
Hat Creek and Tent site – Lasson national park boundary spring
1284.4 – 1307.8
Approx. 3455 ft ascent + 2497 ft descent
23.4 Miles

As we headed towards the Mount Lassen National Park Boundary we followed a series of switchbacks surrounded by Manzanita plants.

It was interesting to see that the Manzanita weren’t yielding as many berries, if any in places.  Also what was present were not ripe.
Maybe this is due to north facing slope or the increased elevation as we are now around 5000ft.
We walked with Garrett Aka “Dog treat” for most of the morning. He was talking about hiking into Chester which involved a 38 mile day, which is a little bit too much for us to muster.
Sarah also keeps referring to our new trail friend as “Dog biscuit” which is very amusing.

After spending some time together I think we may have been a little too quick to judge Dog treat. He was decent company and it was a pleasure riding with this young gun. We just wish we had his legs as he makes it look so easy!

We made a good start to the day and covered 12 miles by 12:30.
We parted company at two Lower Twins Lake and Sarah and I found an idyllic spot for lunch looking across the lake and the mountains.
We spotted prints in the sandy beach near where we sat and dried our tent and sleeping bag whilst we ate.
Lassen national park had some interesting volcanic features as well as a lot of burnout trees.
Although it was exposed without tree cover there was a cool breeze ,which seemed to reduce the temperature throughout the day.

Sarah has decided to be brave and is hiking in her underpants to maximise her sun tan and get rid of her tan lines.
I joke she looks like a Neapolitan ice cream. Her tanned legs contrasting against her white feet and hips.

I’m feeling pretty tired today after a late night last night.  I was editing the blog to gone midnight. It’s starting to take its toll and I need an early night tonight.
Whilst Sarah had a call of nature I rolled out her sleeping pad and laid down closing my eyes for a few minutes.

Power nap complete it was time to roll our sleeves up to avoid having to stay in the park tonight.
If you overnight you are required to use a bear cannister. I think this must be just a national park regulation. Or maybe because of the fires there is less natural food available?

We dropped into Warner Valley campground. There was a sign saying the campground is closed to all including PCT hikers. The campsite looks shabby tired and forgotten. It was an abandoned and a former shadow of what it may have used to be.

We then hiked past Boiling Springs the smell of sulphur was heavy in the air.
The pool was clay like, chalky in colour and steam rose from its surface. You could hear it bubbling and gurgling like a casserole coming to a boil.

Nearing the border of the National Park towards dusk, we realised it was completely silent. Not even the chirp of an insect could be heard.  It was a stark contrast to a couple of days ago when we approached Burney.
No insects means no birds or other animals. The food chain had been destroyed by the fire and this place is desolate.

Finally around 20:30 we reached the boarder between the Lassen National forest and Lassen Volcanic Park. We were both relieved to find a tent spot in among the burnt trees.
We made sure we looked up to make sure no widow maker burnt branches were likely to fall on us.
We had managed to cover nearly 24 miles today after starting at 08:00 and having a 2 hour lunch break. Sarah is rustling up a dinner of rice, beans and chicken.
Then its straight to bed for us as we are cream crackered and both hurting tonight.

Day 76 Fri Sept 8th
Lasson national park boundary spring – Soldier creek
1307.8 – 1326.1
Approx. 2589 ft ascent + 2982 ft descent
18.3 Miles

So today we are walking towards a town called Chester. It’s approximately 15 miles away. We hope to get there by lunch time or early afternoon + planning on an F1 style pit stop to save some time.

Spikey green bushes are either side of the trail around ankle height. Their thorns about an inch long and sharp + we need to be careful where we put our feet.
We met a local called Dennis that lived in Chester. He was out collecting wood for the winter.
He told us how the Dixie fire (which happened 3 years ago) had completely changed the landscape and ripped through the area causing over a million acres of devastation.
Fortunately Chester had been saved but nearby Greenville was lost to the fire.
It must be sad to remember what this place used to look like as he had lived here all of his life.

He was cutting down lodge pole pine for his winter fuel supply. Apparently it burns better than some of the other pine trees found in the forest.
I asked why people didn’t try and salvage some of the burnt trees, as only the outer bark may have been torched
He explained that the trees can only be salvaged for a couple of years following a burn. After the bark has dropped off leaving the clean bleached timber skeleton behind.
Harvesting the timber before this has happened causes such a mess, due to the charcoal when cutting and transporting the timber back into his home.

It was interesting to see large craters in the ground where trees used to stand.
Due to the amount of resin in the trees, they would burn so fiercely that nothing would be left of the tree, including the root system.

We stopped on a bridge going over the Feather River for our first break of the day.

I took the opportunity to test some of Dennis’s new flys. After a couple of casts I managed to catch a small brook trout.
As soon as we crossed the river it was like we were in a different world. The trail was nicely graded lined with bleach blonde gravel + the trees either side the trail healthy and green.

Although this was short lived as on the last descent towards Chester we walked through yet more burn.
Burnt Manzanita plants looked like coral either side of the trail. There spindly white skeletons contrasted against the black burnt charcoal pines + fresh green growth that  was coming up from below.

Around 15:30 we got to the highway + it took a long time to get a ride into town. Finally we were picked up by a lovely elderly couple called Ron and Barbara who took us into Chester.

We resupplied and then grabbed a hefty portion of Chinese food. The portions were huge and it went down a treat.
The fortune cookie also read something very apt:
“Destiny is calling you. Trust the path that is unfolding before you”

During the meal the man sitting on the neighbouring table told us how he had visited England and bought a blood hound from Stow on the Wold, back home in Oxfordshire.
He claimed the dog was barking crazy like his ex wife. When he divorced he gave her the dog saying they were a match made in heaven.

We decided to skip doing laundry and taking shower this time. Instead we made use of the very clean restoom and gave ourselves a good wash n brush up. Cheeky I know, but needs must.
Compared to a lot of hikers I would say that we are probably some of the less stinky. Where many are way more far gone than us!

It was hard work hitching out of Chester but fortunately a kind soul called Bill took pity on us. We arrived back to the trailhead at 19:15.
We achieved our objective of a short day in town. Only sorting the bare essentials.
Being back on trail tonight also ensures an early start tomorrow, without the logistical faff of getting an early hitch.
Hopefully this will set us up nicely as we need to get to our next town of Belden on Sunday.

Leaving the highway we have a 10 mile climb although the sun is setting behind the mountains. How far we get tonight is anyone’s guess.

Soldier creek and meadow was an unexpected shock to the system due to a bridge being removed. As a result, we had to wade through thigh deep water to cross the trail. All all under the light of our head torches.
We swapped our trail runner for some hiking sandals to avoid our shoes wet and gingerly waded through.
Once through we switched back to trail runners and were straight into the climb.

We noticed millipedes and other strange looking nocturnal visitors on the trail, that were keeping us company as we hiked up the mountain.
Again we were hiking through a burn zone and because there was no overhead tree canopy we had a great view of the stars.

Sarah had checked on Far Out and had located a few possible tent spots to pitch about 3 miles up.
Although we knew at what mileage to look for these spots, navigating our way off trail to find these in the dark was tricky.
These kind of things are much better done whilst there is at least some light.
We found a spot thay only just fitted the Durston had to be creative in how we have staked out the tent, but we made it work and at least we had a comfortable spot for the night without having to continue into the darkness.