I looked out the tent and saw a light in Charcoal’s and Struggle’s tent. It was still dark. We definitely aren’t hiking with Sassy any longer. I had no idea of the time but knew my life was too valuable to attempt waking Bunny. Like a good husband, I went back to sleep. Next thing I knew, Bunny was shaking me and telling me to start her coffee. Like a good husband, I did as told. Charcoal and Sassy were just leaving camp. It was 6:45.
After the coffee was made, like a good husband, I listened to my wife’s snoring and decided, I, too, should go back to sleep. I am very aware that we are in California. I awoke to the ground shaking. Worse than an earthquake, it was Bunny demanding proper temperature coffee. I prayed I hadn’t slept too long. From the ripples in the coffee, it appeared as though we were having aftershocks. She liked it, hey Mikee! Jallelujah, I live to hike another day.
With the late coffee start, the oversleeping while cooling, and the slow packing, we managed to let our start time slip outside of our normal range of 8:15 – 8:40. It was 8:45 when we left camp. Bunny hadn’t stretched as much as usual and the day started with a moderate climb. A stiff Bunny combined with a steepish climb equals the apocalypse. For the first hour, I heard a constant “I can’t do this! It’s too hot! This is horrible! This is the worst day of hiking we’ve ever had!”
The climb was less than 2 miles. At a little over 1.5 miles, we reached the border of Lassen National Park. At 1.2 miles, the worst of the climb was over and the hyperbole stopped. I’ll admit, the first mile took us almost an hour, but that was mainly due to the fact that the old gray hare just ain’t what she used to be. Once we made it to the top, Bunny was warmed up and unstoppable. She averaged a little more than 3 mph all the way to where we had agreed to meet Charcoal and Struggles for lunch.
Guthook comments mention multiple bear sightings in Lassen NP. As thru-hikers, we are required to have bear canisters to camp in Lassen. We saw a momma and 2 cubs yesterday. Some horse riders told us they saw a bear ahead of us. Things were looking promising for us to see this species of giant raccoon. We were hopeful for seeing some bear today. We were disappointed.
We managed to reach our lunch spot about 10 minutes after Charcoal and Struggles made it. They had already filtered water and gotten their feet wet. I was worn out from running to try to keep up with Bunny. The hike wasn’t really that bad except for walking through 6 miles of burn area in full sun. As a reward, a doe and her fawn joined the four of us for lunch.
For the next five miles, we walked together. Charcoal set the pace followed by Struggles, Bunny, and me in the rear. We’ve had a few changes in personnel, but the order of preference hasn’t changed. Put Easily Forgotten in back. In case something happens to him, we don’t have to stop. We talked about our experiences this year. I told them about Bear using a water bottle as a level to find flat spots to set up the tent. Charcoal was ecstatic to hear of that idea. They spend almost as much time as Bear and Sassy do picking tent spots every day.
Like Bear and Sassy, Charcoal and Struggles take breaks every 2 miles. Unlike Bear and Sassy, they drop packs and take off shoes. Bear gets in a groove and hates to stop. Charcoal’s groove is the daily mileage. If he doesn’t do 15, he’s afraid he’ll lose his will to continue. I’m afraid we might ruin them since we don’t have any sense of urgency at present because of the fire ahead of us.
With 2 miles to go and a 500’ climb ahead of us, Charcoal and Struggles decided to let Bunny take the lead. Bunny hates to set up in the dark. She prefers to have camp set up, eat supper, and be in bed just before it starts to get dark. Letting her have the lead is like being on a horse ride where the horses know they’ve made the final turn and are headed back to the barn. I was running to keep up with the Bunny.
The hardest part of the final 2 miles wasn’t the climb, it was the descent over loose stone slabs interspersed with scree. It was quite steep with a grade 800’ per mile, but it only lasted a few tenths of a mile. I was very happy to see the campground appear before us. Not because the trail was rough, but because of the picnic tables and pit latrines. It’s the simple things that make me happy.
We set up our tent and we’re getting water just as Charcoal and Struggles arrived. We ate while they were setting up and getting organized then talked with them while they ate. It was already dark before we headed into the tent. A rarity for us. Charcoal and Struggles seemed to think 8 was early. We may be in trouble. We’ve hooked up with early rising night owls. Bunny is going to have a hard time consistently getting her 12 hours of nightly tent time.
EFG