August 7, 2017
Mile 1484 to Castella
Castella to Mile 1505.2 (on a switchback turn just past West Fork Sulfur Creek)
Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike: Day 94
Got into Castella, they miraculously had our resupply boxes. Found out yesterday that the clerk in Minneapolis sent them to Los Angeles, not Redding/Castella, because tracking said the box was bouncing back and forth between the two. My parents were calling post offices and postmasters while me and Al booked it to Castella, fully expecting to resupply out of the gas station. But they had our stuff, so we actually ended up putting some food in the hiker box. My parents sent more than we needed, so why didn’t we ship some ahead instead of wasting it? Well, the woman at the post office didn’t know how to use the postage machine, so to mail it forward we would have needed a few dozen stamps. She was out of stamps. Amarattis was out of stamps. How to people mail anything in this town? What is the point of a post office that can’t ship anything?!
Oh well, we are carrying most of the extra food and just dropped a few bags of Lentilicious meals and superfood bars.
We bought a few beers, moseyed across the road to the state park, sat leaning against a ranch fence and chatting with thru-hiker Ted while we repacked our food. He did the PCT in 2013 and got snowed out of Washington. When I asked him what exactly it meant to get snowed out of Washington, he said they post rangers at the trailheads and tell you the trail ahead is closed. You’re forced off. Well, fuck. I didn’t know they could force you off the trail due to snow. If that happens, I’m road walking to the monument.
Oh, and pushing miles to Etna? I had this feeling that, since we had finally put ourselves in a position to get there in time for the farmer’s market, somehow there wouldn’t be a market that day. And, yep. I checked their Facebook and they posted that it’s the ONE day all summer that the farmer’s market in Etna isn’t happening because of a county fair. FUUUUUUUCKKKKK. We hustled so hard to get in position for a Saturday arrival. And for what. I messaged them on Facebook in my frustration, though I kept it friendly. Just that we were sad we’d miss it and hustled to get there. I felt like I needed someone at the farmer’s market to know how excited for it we were, to know that we had thought about them for so long. Womp womp.
On a cheerful note, Ted carries three rolls of toilet paper with him at all times, yet his base weight is about 6 pounds. I asked him why he didn’t use rocks or twigs if he’s so ultralight. Or wet wipes for a better clean. He’s tried, he says, and he just knows that it’s bad news if he’s caught without toilet paper.
We’re sleeping on the turn of a switchback because we spent miles and miles trying to find a flat spot to camp and the only places were either in a mosquito swamp or far, far from any water and very rocky and steep. The turn in the switchback is wide enough and we’re camping late in the night enough that we felt okay setting the tent up here. No, it’s not comfortable but it’s about 9:30pm and it’s necessary. We’ll get up before anyone walks by so we’re not in the way of trail. I know this is frowned upon and it’s certainly not something I’d like to be doing, but there’s no way I was making up another 2,000 foot climb before my body collapsed into sleep and exhaustion.
Mt Shasta!
