July 9:The Hat Creek Rim

We were thoroughly warned about how horrid the Hat Creek Rim was going to be. It's this ridge you walk along for nearly 30 miles, and much of it had burned in a fire, causing it to be shadeless and barren. Not only is it shadeless, but it is also waterless, and the temps were predicted to be around or over 100 degrees. Luckily there are two water caches through this 30-mile waterless stretch; it felt like we were back in the desert.

We had hiked about 7 miles when we hit a parking lot and an overlook. There we found a great surprise: trail magic...food! There was a family who was on vacation and the husband knew the trail was nearby. So they bought some food and sat at a picnic table until we happened by and just fed us! It was so great. The best trail magic is almost always the one you don't expect! (If you are reading this, THANKS again! It was great meeting you!).

We timed things perfectly: we had a couple miles of trees before the barrenness, and we managed to leave the trees right around noon. We then hiked to the water cache, 20 miles away and got their right at 5pm when it started to cool off. Genius.

But it was HOT. Probavly the hottest day we've hiked in yet. Hotter than the desert. And yes, it was miserable. Luckily it was relatively flat, with just enough up and down to keep you focused. There were about 10 of us all hiking together, and at one point we had all 10 of us squeezed into the shade of the one tree we found. It was great! I wish we'd taken a picture.

We hit the water cache and were relieved to find gallons of water waiting for us. We knew there were a handful of hikers ahead of us, so it's always hard to know how much water will be there, and we still had 12 miles to the next water source.

We hung out there for awhile before packing up and walking on for a bit. We planned on walking 1-1.5 hours and camping, but the rim turned ridge-like, and we were stuck walking until almost 9pm before we could find a decent place to camp. We were very thankful to lay down, although the night stayed relatively warm, and we roasted in our 15 degree bags, even unzipped. We were even more thankful to have that stretch of trail behind us. We need t-shirts that say, "I survived the Hat Creek Rim." :)

Total Miles:1405.2
Miles Today:27.5
Camp 73:Hat Creek Rim

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