Day 76 – Etna
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 28 into Etna for the night (mile 1597)
As I described yesterday, the camp spot I woke up in this morning was absolutely dreadful. I could not, for the life of me, stay up where I was supposed to be sleeping. Instead, I was sliding further and further down towards the foot of the tent, tangled up in a mangled mess of limbs, backpack, and all of my things that had also made the trip down to be with me.
After waking up for the 20th time due to gravity’s effects on my sleeping body, I decided that it was time to wake up and start hiking, because I wasn’t really even sleeping anymore. It was 5:20AM, and as I packed up my stuff in my tent, I saw some headlamps round the corner to the spring and stop to fill up water. So early! I guess everyone is just trying to beat the heat these days. I don’t mind being awake really early because I find it quite peaceful to be awake before the rest of the world and I get to see awesome sunrises if it’s early enough. Today, it was early enough and the smoke, clouds, and sun combined for some beautiful scenery.
I didn’t have too far to walk to get into Etna, but I wanted to be at the road by around 4PM so that I could get an easy hitch. Since I unintentionally started really early, that meant that I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery as I slowly made my way towards town. This included what I have to assume is one of the last views of Shasta I might have, since we’ve been slowly circling it for days now.
I continued onward into the Russian Wilderness of the Klamath National Forest, which was a surprisingly rugged and beautiful section of the hike, though also incredibly uphill. It was certainly nice to have amazing views whenever I stopped for water, because with the heat and the climb, I got to appreciate them quite a few times. I unfortunately needed to filter water again around midday, but that 30-minute endeavor just served to inspire me to get to town sooner to replace the O-ring on my filter. So close!
As I neared the top of the climb, I began to pass through yet another burn area along the trail, which is somewhat sad to see. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned in the past few years, leaving the trail charred and lacking in color. Even more trail is burning at the moment, especially in Oregon, so PCT hikers can expect more of the same moving north. 🙁
I finally finished the climbing for the day as I neared some lovely looking lakes, but they were too far from the trail for me to climb down. There were also great views of a valley and signs of civilization, potentially Etna, where I would be eating like a king later tonight. Oooh I can’t wait for a milkshake and a burger!
I seem to always pick up the pace as I near a town, and today was no exception. Daydreams of delicious food and cleanliness clouded my thoughts as I raced along a ridge towards the road into town. Despite my rush towards modern-day comforts, I still had plenty of time to enjoy my favorite thing on trail: SNOW! Somehow there is still snow in certain places on trail, and I STILL get excited every time I see it! I’ve missed my old friend!
Once I was done playing around in the snow, I quickly made it down to the road, where I found Dusty Roads (or another, less appropriate trail name) sitting and waiting for a ride. He had been there for nearly 30 minutes and had seen only a single car, so we worried that this may be a tough hitch. Luckily, we had made it down pretty quickly and it wasn’t getting dark anytime soon, so I wasn’t too concerned and got to appreciate the nice views as I explored the trailhead area.
As I was coming back to Dusty Roads and now Tamika, I saw a car coming up the road and started yelling at them. This was our chance! I ran back down the trail towards the road and made it just in time to see both Dusty Roads and Tamika hitch dancing and the car slowing down to pull over. It worked! Realistically, Kelly and Tye, along with their son Ashton and their dog Cosmo, were incredibly nice people and would have picked us up anyway, but I like to think that a little dancing can always help. Tye and Kelly were from the area so we got a nice history lesson as we drove down and then thanked them profusely for the ride once we got to the Alderwood Inn/Hiker Hut.
I wasn’t sure whether I was going to stay at Alderwood or the park in the middle of town, but once I got the welcome speech about wifi, laundry, showers, loaner bikes, and a free hotdog/beverage upon check-in, I was sold. Guess I’m staying here tonight!
I borrowed a bike (which didn’t have functional pedals, unfortunately) to get down to the hardware store before it closed, and I walked out the happy owner of 12 replacement O-rings (9 for the hiker box?), purchased for the low price of $1.30. I did a quick resupply from the grocery store to pick up a bit of candy and ice cream before heading back to the Hiker Hut to hang out and do some laundry.
I hung out for a while, but still hadn’t had my burger and milkshake, so I needed to bike back into town (on a better bike!) to Dotty’s Korner Kitchen, one of the recommended eateries in town. I ordered a large strawberry-banana milkshake (YESSSS) and a huge burger, then sat down with a hiker from Australia named Yeti. While we waited for our burgers, he skillfully walked me through the intricacies of cricket strategy until we were brought our delicious dinners and inhaled our food without talking for a while.
After finishing our dinners, we parted ways and I resupplied for the next stretch at the Dollar General, which was WAAAY better than I thought it would be going in. I must have confused it with some other dollar stores, because this was a hiker’s dream store with everything a hiker needs at really low prices. Very nice!
I raced back to the Hiker Hut with all of my new food and threw it into my tent so that I could deal with it tomorrow morning. For now, I’m going to sit around on the porch with a bunch of my hiker pals and discuss whether or not you can use an Australian compass in North America (strangely enough, this IS a real debate). As much as I love hiking alone through the wilderness, it’s always fun to come to town and meet new people and see everyone you’ve met out on the trail. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, an old friend will show up with Fla-Vor-Ice popsicles after skipping up from Lake Tahoe and share them with everyone. It’s amazing how such a small gesture can have such a big impact on everyone’s happiness. 😊 I love how simple life is out here.