First off, I need to wish my parents a Happy 67th Anniversary. Like Brooks in the Shawshank Redemption, they have become institutionalized. They’ve been in for so long, they don’t know what it’s like on the outside anymore. In today’s world, not too many make this milestone. I’m proud of them and love them both. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad.
Now back to the trail. I kept getting up periodically through the night for reasons beyond my control. The snow eventually turned to rain and the steady sound of rain hitting the tent constituted an old man uncontrollable reason to urinate. Actually, the sound of the rain punctuated by gun shots which were, in reality, huge blobs of snow falling out of the tree on to our very taut tent. The snow accumulated to well over 6” blocking all signs of the trail.
By morning, the rain had melted the snow back down to about 4” but we had already made up our minds. If we had been carrying more food and fuel, we might have considered pushing on. We were nearly out of fuel (the General Store at Burney Falls doesn’t carry fuel and we were planning to buy some there). I checked the maps and found a road route back to the dam. When I say road route, that turned out to be inaccurate as several of the roads were overgrown or just washed out entirely.
Throughout the night, we had heard thunder. As we were walking out, we discovered several mud slides and fallen trees very near to us. These could have provided the rumbling sounds we heard which makes more sense than thunder. Once we passed below 4000’, the snow all but disappeared. We were going to be begging for a hitch claiming we were snowed out and soaked when there was no evidence of any bad weather at all.
After about 8 miles of walking, we finally got to some roads that looked like they actually could support traffic. Could support, but not while we were walking down them. We finally made it back to an area we recognized as running above the PCT. We could look down and see the trail to determine exactly where we were. We could jump back on the trail and in 5.4 miles be back at the dam, or continue on the road for another 2 miles just past a mineral plant and hope for a hitch. It was only 2 which would put us at the plant around 3…shift change.
We walked past the turn to the plant at ten before three. Now all we had to do was stick out our thumbs and look pitiful. A string of cars passed us without anyone even acting like they might slow down. It was all quiet again. We made it to the dam road without hope. We’d have to go back to Burney Falls and try to yogi a ride there. One more truck came up behind us and asked if we were ok. We told him we were trying to get into Burney because of snow. Douglas was the plant manager of the diatomaceous earth plant we had passed and he lives in Burney. He agreed to give us a ride into town as long as we called him a trail angel. A horse by any other name is a horse. Trail angel it is because that’s what he was for us.
Douglas dropped us off at Shasta Pines Motel right in the heart of town. It’s not a big heart because it’s not a big town, but it would turn out to be our home for the next 5 nights once we checked the weather reports for the area we were hiking through. We decided to go back out Wednesday morning because it was the first day that didn’t have snow in the forecast.
We did all the usual town stuff—laundry, resupply, eat, shower, and eat some more. We got so bored with being stuck in our room watching TV that we decided we needed some outside activities. The only option available to us was bowling. Bunny claimed that she used to be on a children’s league and then a couple’s league with her first husband. I asked with all this experience, why does she suck so bad at the game. I had pity on her and didn’t put any effort into the third game so she could win one.
Over the course of 5 days, we ate at every restaurant in town (all 5 of them, 6 if you include McDonalds). We filled out our application for Entry in Canada (like the snow is ever going to melt enough for us to make it that far), got massages, watched TV (we missed the finale of Big Bang Theory but had to endure 2 nights of the Voice), and bowled. I was so sick of being in town that, against my better judgement, I let Bunny force me back onto the trail. I know we are probably heading out too soon, but a good husband always does as his wife pesters.
EFG
Episode 12 of our journey