July 13:Trail Magic

We continued along the ridges, pretty much out of bushwacking country. The trail was still overgrown in places, but it was manageable. Pretty soon we found ourselves at Squaw Valley Creek taking a break in a very scenic and beautiful canyon. Apparently there was a trailhead nearby, because a family soon came walking by. When they mentioned that they lived in Shasta City, where we were headed later that day, we began asking some questions about the town. The son (Chad- who had kids of his own), soon said, "Hey...let me give you my phone number; when you get to I-5, call me and I'll come pick you up and give you a ride into town." This was very exciting news. He seemed very nice, and we didn't have to hitch. It was funny sitting there talking to him and thinking that we still had to hike 17 miles before we'd give him a call.

From there we had a grueling climb of 1600 ft, and we kept on moving all day, with the goal of town in mind. We had made Dunsmuir a mail drop, but Shasta City was bigger and had an outfitter, so we decided to head in there and hop the bus to Dunsmuir the next morning to get our mail (it was just a few interstate miles away).

We hit I-5 around 4:30pm, and gave Chad a call. He soon showed up in his Westfalia camper-van and managed to pile 8 hikers and their packs in. We hadn't been able to find a cheap hotel in town, so we had planned to go to the KOA Campground in town for our first night and look for a hotel the second night. When we mentioned this to Chad, he replied with, "Would you like a backyard to camp in?" Heck yeah!

It was awesome. Chad and Jennifer, his wife, were so completely hospitable. They let all 8 of us campp in their backyard (Mark and I scored a tent that was already set up), take showers, and they lived two blocks from the downtown area where the grocery store, restaurants, outfitters, and laundry were.

I must also say that Shasta City is so far our favorite trail town. It sits right in the shadow of Mt. Shasta, and is very compact, yet has a lot. Very hippy-ish and cute. We loved it!

We hit up the local favorite, Billy Goat's Tavern, for some great burgers, and then the grocery store for some ice cream.

Chad had dinner plans, but he kept popping in on his bike, and seemed excited to have 8 strangers living in his backyard. It was such a gift and we couldn't have asked for a better setup or a better evening.

Total Miles:1506.5
Miles Today:24.9
Camp 77:Chad's House- Shasta City

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